When I got the news from Marie Barry-Murphy of The Beautmum that I was chosen as one of 20 VIP Bloggers for #corkfashiontrail and would treated to a fabulous day out visiting the best Retail Stores and Food Establishments that Cork City has to offer – to say I was thrilled would be an understatement!!
On Saturday 4th March I made my way to Starbucks on Opera Lane for the VIP Bloggers Breakfast to meet with Marie, Shell – Shell La Belle, Ebony – The Little Things Company, Sarah – Merry Me, Rebecca – Rainbows and Fairy Dust, Clodagh – All Things Nice, Yvonne – Putting It Out There, Lei – Style Preacher, Caroline – Caroline’s Days, Patricia – My Life the Event, Sinead – Bon Fashioniste, Shin – Thinking Out Loud, Meggan – Cardigan Jezebel, Rachel – The Rebel Review, Eli In-Photoland, Flo – One Hour Behind and the very dapper Damien Broderick. Phew I hope I haven’t left anyone out!!
We were brought upstairs into a very stylish room, warmly welcomed by Julie Evans, PR and Marketing Manager of Opera Lane Cork and treated to Coffee and Croissants. We were also kindly gifted a Tote Bag, T-shirt and Neck Piece each from the ONLY Store!
Natasha Crowley, Fashion Stylist and Personal Shopper for Opera Lane, talked us through the Spring/Summer Trends for 2017. From gingham, frills, bright pink, floral prints, breton stripes, double denim to dresses over jeans, there are lots of stylish and on trend pieces to be found on Cork’s Opera Lane #theoperalaneway
You can even avail of Natasha’s services on www.operalane.com for a FREE 2 Hour Personal Styling Appointment – how amazing is that!!
The first stop on our #corkfashiontrail was to Olori a luxury boutique located at 131 Oliver Plunkett, run by two sisters SusanJane Corbett and Lisa Grainger, offering stylish clothes and timeless pieces from a mix of both Irish and International Designers. On entering this beautifully decorated store the first thing that hit us when we walked in was the gorgeous scent floating through the air, the second was the lovely friendly welcome we received from the two girls. They treated us to Prosecco and Chocolates and we really felt the VIP Experience here from the get go! This Boutique is not to be missed if you are in Cork City and looking for a distinctive and timeless outfit.
Myself and Ebony Phoenix meeting for the third week in a row at an Event – we’re even starting to finish each other’s sentences at this stage!! We are both Craft Bloggers and very like minded! I also found out today she is the niece of my Wedding Photographer – small world!
Our next stop was to Miss Daisy Blue located at Unit 12-14, Market Parade, 51/53 Patrick Street. The decor in here is just so retro and I loved that they had a vintage style bicycle in the rafters upstairs! They stock beautiful original vintage dresses from the 1930s right through to the 1980s, including vintage menswear and vintage bridal by appointment.
We were treated to some lovely cakes by the Girls in Miss Daisy Blue while Marie tried on some of their fabulous pieces including this Vintage Glittery Jumpsuit!
Next on our #corkfashiontrail was a visit to Saville Menswear and I think Flo and Damien were in their element!! Located at 43/44 Oliver Plunkett Street and in business for 40 years, Saville has established itself as the leading menswear destination in Munster and beyond.
Saville Sales Consultant Damien Buckley gave us a fantastic tour of the store spanning over three beautifully decorated floors. The Ground Floor is home to Casual Wear, the Second Floor houses Corporate Wear and the Third Floor is where the magic happens – made to measure and in-house tailored suits for Weddings and Special Occasions.
The decor in Saville is very Italian inspired with a gorgeous glass top dome ceiling and winding staircase, sure it would have been rude not to get this Photo Op before we left!!
Speaking of Photo Ops, I couldn’t resist this one when we stopped off at Seventy Six on the Mall for a quick cuppa. I was getting serious Downton Abbey vibes with the luxurious armchairs, beautiful wall panelling and Damien in his three piece suit! I think I imagined the shot better in my head though as he completely out-posed me ha! I didn’t stand a chance…maybe if I had borrowed a vintage outfit from Miss Daisy Blue?!!
The Shoe Suite was our next stop, located at 16/17 Maylor Street, where we were spoiled with lots of sweet treats and a €20 discount voucher for each of us Bloggers! As if that wasn’t enough inside one of the envelopes was a surprise note and Clodagh of All Things Nice won a Guess Wallet – so generous!
The shoes in here are just divine and if you were watching my Snapchat story you might have noticed I was a bit obsessed with the Brogues!! How gorgeous are these?!
We were brought to Duke’s Cafe on Carey’s Lane for lunch and they had a great selection of tasty bites laid out for us. I loved the Rustic feel in this Cafe and also how they had sockets at almost every seat upstairs – it was the perfect set up for us Bloggers to refuel ourselves and recharge all our devices to continue with our #corkfashiontrail coverage!
Our first stop after lunch was to Phoenix V located at 8 Maylor Street and we were kindly greeted with some bubbly, cakes and a 10% Discount Voucher! They have a stunning collection of dresses for all occasions whether it’s for the Red Carpet, Ladies Day, Wedding, Debs, Graduations or Mother of the Bride or Groom, Phoenix V have you covered. Their dresses can be purchased in standard sizes (6-16) or can be custom made to fit you perfectly. Marie tried on some dresses for us as you might have seen on my Snapchat story and because she looked so amazing in them I genuinely forgot to take photos!
Swarovski located at 42 Princes Street was our next stop and here we were spoiled with bubbly, chocolate covered marshmallows and a goodie bag containing a gorgeous keyring and a lovely crystal star decoration. We also received a 20% discount – very generous!
They have such stunning designs in store so I will definitely be back to spend more time browsing around. Just take a look at those Beauty and the Beast pieces!!
Our last stop of the day was to The Athlete’s Foot located at 120 Oliver Plunkett Street. We were greeted with Goodie Bags containing a T-shirt and a Cap and they also gave us a massive 25% Discount. It wasn’t hard to put that discount to use as they have a huge range of brands to chose from and also have a fantastic sale on at the moment. I bought a pair of Pink Chuck Taylor Converse which only cost me €33.25 as they allowed us to use our 25% Discount on Sale Items also which I thought was extremely generous!
The Staff in The Athlete’s Foot were just so nice and really ended our #corkfashiontrail on a high!
It was then off to the Clayton Hotel for our Wrap Party! We were treated to delicious Finger Food and Cocktails where we raised a glass to Marie and congratulated her on all her hard work and effort she put in to organise such an amazing Event!
As cheesy as it sounds, I feel extremely lucky to have been invited to take part in the first ever #corkfashiontrail and it was an honour to spend the day with all these great Bloggers that I now get to call my friends! We really were treated like VIPs in every single place we stepped foot in, everyone was just so lovely and accommodating and to also be showered with goodies and discounts on top of all that is just unreal!
I am so thankful to all the Stores who kindly gave us all these gifts and discounts! I purchased the Converse in The Athlete’s Foot using their very generous discount.
As a Craft/Interior Blogger I never post outfit photos (I’m normally just covered in paint or doing the School Run in my Jeans!) so in honour of the #corkfashiontrail here is my first OOTD post! Top (now reduced to €10) and Skirt (old stock but link is to a similar one) are both from New Look and my Grey Faux Suede Ankle Boots (also old stock) are from Pretty Little Thing but seem to be no longer available on the website…disastrous fashion post really, I’ll just stick to Crafts and Interiors I think!!
Thanks for stopping by
Jessica x
This looked like an absolutely incredible day. Going mad I didn’t have the opportunity to apply being away in Dublin but hopefully there will be another one really soon
It really was but I think you had just as good a day as us!! 😍
Thank you so much for such a fab post Jessica. Delighted you enjoyed the day 😘
I had an amazing day thanks to you and all your hard work! Congratulations on organising yet another successful event ☺️💕