Keeping it real at Ennis Fashion Fortnight

A UNIQUE fashion show catering for women of all ages, shapes and sizes was one of the highlights of the Ennis Fashion Fortnight, which draws to a close this Friday.
Last Thursday, the popular Cloister venue staged the Real Clothes for Real People Fashion Show, with a host of first-time female models taking to the catwalk for their first time to showcase some of this season’s most popular and wearable looks.
Gwen Culligan of the Ennis Fashion Fortnight committee said that the event was very popular and a lot of fun. “Hardly any of the ladies who agreed to model at this fashion show had ever done so and were understandably nervous because of that. But once they got out on the catwalk, they looked like pros and did a fantastic job. Their nerves soon went and some of them have even said that they’d love to model again. They all looked a million dollars for the fashion show and modelled with real confidence,” she commented.
Each of the volunteer models went through a few training sessions with model agent Martina Costello, who took them through the basics of how to walk and pose on the catwalk.
“There were women from different parts of Clare modelling, with a majority from Ennis. The fashion show was to raise funds for the Éire Óg Club and the Clare Crusaders and many of the models came from those two organisations. The event was aimed at showing clothes that women would wear for a range of different occasions and also clothes that would suit a range of budgets. But the other aim of the night was to raise money for those two organisations, so we an important goal in mind too,” Gwen added.
The fashion show covered sizes eight to 18, and a range of lengths to suit short women from 5ft up to taller women.
“It is true that fashion shows don’t often cater for women who are small in height, so we did want to include that in our Real Clothes for Real Women Fashion Show.”
Many different styles were modelled in the fashion show, including debs and occasional dresses, party wear, clothes for socialising, day wear for both casual and work purposes.
“Many of the clothes shops in Ennis were featured in the fashion show, which showcased a good mix of what the town has to offer shoppers who want to buy clothes here. We were delighted with the representation and we feel that the event would have benefited them also,” Gwen explained.
She added that the fashion show was a big hit with the audience who seemed to really enjoy the atmosphere, as well as the clothes on view.
“I imagine it will be an event that we will run again in coming years during the Ennis Fashion schedule. It would seem that a lot of the audience liked the fact that the fashion show covered a range of styles to suit different shapes and sizes, which meant that there was something relevant to every women in the show.”
Ennis Fashion Fortnight continues until this Friday, with a few events still scheduled. The main event, the Most Stylish Person in Ennis Award and the fashion show from the Limerick School of Art and Design, due to take place in the Temple Gate Hotel on Friday night, has had to be cancelled due to a poor uptake of tickets.
For more information on this story see Ennis page 21 or www.ennisfashion.ie.