Ireland’s First Carbon Neutral Vintage Fashion Show

Emission and vintage fashion boutique Quack + Dirk played host last Thursday to Ireland's first carbon neutral fashion show. The Sycamore Club, in Dublin's Temple Bar was the appropriate place to have the show as it is Ireland’s first Carbon Neutral Nightclub. The club has incorporated a number of Eco solutions into its design including; a heat exchange system, bio ethanol stoves in place of patio heaters and rain water harvesting system for the club’s grey water supply.


Now to the show itself. It was spread over the venues three floors and its open top roof on the third floor let in the perfect amount of fresh air to the 250 vibrant crowd of guests in attendance. The music was loud with kicking beats such as Springsteen's, I'm on fire remixed. This accompanied with the balmy summer evening made for a perfect setting.

Running through the list of clothes which were to appear in the show my colour taste buds were set alight. I spotted a cobalt blue cami, a bumble bee dress, pink cocktail dress, turquoise nautical dress and many other little colourful creations.I instantly couldn't wait for the first model to appear.

With the most expensive item on the list costing 79 euro, I wondered as to why I and many others don't shop more often in vintage shops. Was it because we're afraid vintage couldn't possibly be up to date enough for 2011?...I would certainly find out.

Conor O'Riain, founder of Emissions Zero announces over the microphone that the show is to start, the beat kicks in and up walks the first model.

It's an Alice in Wonderland bright and beautiful outfit. A soft yellow dreamy knit cardie with a well made mint striped skirt and both pieces cost an incredible 47 euro! A blue floral wrap blouse follows with a long pink skirt. The skirt is an intense neon floor length pink creation. It is amazing.

As each model delicately walks up the stairs and poses for the cameras, the 1950's set TV show, 'Mad Men' pops into my head. The show is a wonderful display of below the knee skirts in floral prints, unusual blouses, lace bits here, unusual collars there. Some look like what you may wear at a drive thru movie theatre or maybe what you would go for a walk in on a sunny day. But we don't have drive thru movies in Ireland or many sunny days.. I'm waiting to see what I'd wear...I don't wait too long.

A white playsuit fitting perfectly with a beautiful blue scarf . I am struck suddenly by how on trend these vintage pieces are. The styling of the show is done to perfection. One of the models dons a binoculars bag with a blue and white striped playsuit. I am most definitely going to raid my Dads old bits to find one of these.

As I scribble down notes,  the crowd suddenly oohs and aws. There were plenty of dresses suitable for dinner parties, summer weddings or just for days when a girl feels like looking pretty in a dress. What suddenly appears before me as I looked up from my notes is to be worn to no such place. A hot grey mini dress. It is sexy, delicate, light grey mink and the lace trim made it look simply stunning.. The model oozes confidence in the piece. I imagine her being at the trendiest nightclub opening fighting off men in it!

My favourite look of the show was the Vintage red and grey blouse with a red high waisted mini. The mini looked like it had hand painted leaves on it. It had a story to tell. You don't get that on the high street.

The show proved to me vintage fashion will stand the test of time. What's more we need to show case more vintage fashion shows and show what's already out there that people can get their fashion hungry hands on. It's about time the world uses what it has instead of churning out more and more poorly made cheap garments. A very well done to Ciara O'Connor pictured below right who organised the night.

To have a look at wonderful vintage pieces from the show and more go to http://www.quackanddirk.com/