Why do few Irish women buy Irish fashion?

FinoBlad

Seems lots of Irish women are happy buying from the high street chains and seem to lack an individual sense of style :rolleyes:

Theres lots of Irish clothes designers to suit all budgets out there. So why dont you wear some Irish designs? Is it?

Dont know where their shops are....
Clothes are too expensive....
Styles are not for me....
I dont like to look too different....
I always buy brand x....

CathyMoran

Most of the Irish designers have to get their clothes made abroad at this stage as it is too expensive to get them made in Ireland though there is a small industry here. My dad was a fashion designer and I would still buy decent Irish clothes if available but they are hard to find.

Attol

I'm guessing that they just don't really like the styles available. How someone dresses is a personal choice. You can't tell them they should be buying something if they don't like it.

AWear is Irish and it seems to be pretty popular.

Pythia

I don't know of any Irish designers who are relatively cheap.
Names?

dudara

Most irish designers seem to think fashion is long over-elaborately knitted cardigans layered over white linen shifts. I'm being a bit overly generic here, but i genuinely haven't seen any irish fashion that i want to buy

FinoBlad

LadyLotts wrote:

I'm guessing that they just don't really like the styles available. How someone dresses is a personal choice. You can't tell them they should be buying something if they don't like it.

Soo true, I agree.

CathyMoran wrote:

I would still buy decent Irish clothes if available but they are hard to find.

Theres quite a bit of marketing needed Cathy I agree with that.

dudara wrote:

Most irish designers seem to think fashion is long over-elaborately knitted cardigans layered over white linen shifts. I'm being a bit overly generic here, but i genuinely haven't seen any irish fashion that i want to buy

Interesting point but I dont agree, theres some doing contemporary knitwear alright but theres lots of other designers around.

Azureus

i have a pretty individual style, and most of it comes from chain stores charity shops and sesi, mainly because of the prices. a lot of people cant afford unique irish designer prices-ofen those considered cheap are still relativly expensive.
just because people shop in high street stores doesnt mean they lack individual style, its how they put their clothes together that makes it appear generic and trendy.
Saying that, im not aware of any affordable irish designers-im sure there must be some around?

simu

I have some stuff by Quin & Donnelly but most Irish stuff is hard to find, expensive and not always fitted for young women.

Siogfinsceal

I buy what I like the look of I dont ever consider where it was made as affecting my choice. If there was more irish fashion in the shops then Id see it more and maybe more likely to buy it. There used to be some nice stuff in georges arcade allright. id never buy something that was slightly dearer than a foreign make just because it was irish that wouldnt make sense? my mates a desginer and Id buy her stuff but thats because she makes stuff especially for me if I ask her to

michaelanthony

Ireland is too arty. People aren't exactly flash here

Scraggs

Dont know where their shops are.... Tick
Clothes are too expensive.... Tick usually as I'm only a poor lickle student
Styles are not for me.... Tick as someone said already too arty, and very haute couture
I dont like to look too different.... X I buy what clothes I like and can afford
I always buy brand x.... X no I like a whole variety of clothing and buy what styles I like

magpie

Because they tend to be tweed heavy and "celtic" - ideal if you're an extra from Braveheart but not appealing to anyone under 60. If Avoca is anything to go by.

vibrant

I can't think of any high street shops that are Irish, except for A-Wear and Sasha. Sasha is a dump and A-Wear can miss the target an awful lot. There are Irish boutiques of course, a lot of them do not carry Irish-made clothes.

The only Irish designer I can think of off the top of my head is John Rocca... I have looked at his clothes in Debenhams and left empty handed and un-impressed. I have no idea who his clothes are aimed at, as I've never seen anyone walking around head to toe in his gear! Perhaps I'm not moving in the "right circles" for that though

By the way, I don't think that "not buying Irish" shows that people have a lack of individual style, it just means that we have a lot more options and we're happy to avail of them!

rocketman

I just bought some Lingerie from an Irish company ( www.milaslingerie.com ) who were suggested to me by someone on a boards.ie forum.

Irish people need to start supporting Irish companies and keep their money in Ireland.

Attol

But if they don't like the products Irish companies are buying then why should they?

rocketman

I totally agree with you.... But even if the product is not irish you should still buy them from Irish companies

SexyD4Lady

I can think of a few successful Irish designers. Paul Costelloe being one, Orla Kiely being another. Irish designers tend to be very expensive, as are all designers, but the same prestige isn't associated with clothes designed by Irish designers as with French or Italian couture designers or fashion houses. In Ireland, people buy for names, not for talents. They'd happily buy a Gucci over a Paul Costelloe becasue the label is way more "LOOK AT ME!" In a way, it makes us stuck up- we're not very cultured, we just follow the fashion mould.

JustCoz

For the most part they are just too expensive like Louise Kennedy and Quinn&Donnelly. I don't really know many Irish designers that are less expensive