TURN UP THE HEAT – TROPICAL PRINTS IN A DULL ENVIRON (IRELAND)

Tropical prints are giving me some serious heat and it’s multiplying. But first, coffee. Nah, just kidding. You don’t need any more basicness from me!

OC-DIVA

First, I have a confession to make. I, Mary Cate Smith, am an obsessive compulsive. I an Instagram-eater. Like a man-eater but much, much worse. I devour those small quadrilateral boxes like it’s the last supper and there ain’t no loaves or fishes. But the prophets that are my crew are turning water into Prosecco on a daily basis and I can’t get enough. Guess what? I. DON’T. CARE. I have connected with an amazing community of women from my homegrown homies, 2T, Trish from the Savvy Sartorialist, Kole from A City Girl’s Story and Terri from The Style Coop to British beauties Donna from Sulky Doll and Joanna from Love Style 40 to  and Canadian babe Bec Abbot and loads more Irish and UK bloggers which I will give a shout out to in my next blog. And something I’ve learned from these vibrant, stylish women is that you don’t need to be going out to dress up and good clothes don’t need to be banished to the back of the closet.

TROPICAL PRINTS (CHARMING)

My 7 year old niece told me yesterday that every time I walk into a room, she sees something she loves about me. Yesterday she went to the fairground in Tramore (we call them ‘the amusements’ in Ireland) and brought me back a little unicorn sitting on a cloud. She said ‘I figured you’d love it because anything I love, you love.’ And I did. I saw this floral cold shoulder dress in Warehouse and instantly fell in love. Also, the colour scheme is like a copy-and-paste tricolour so it’s a win-win situation! Éire Abú!

EMBRACE YOUR DIFFERENCES

Love your idionsyncracies, unless they’re of the macabre variety. Then, get help. I mean sartorial choices, of course. I used to think that I should conform to a sophisticated uniform of monochrome, Breton stripes, cigarette trousers and black blazers. Reaching a certain age, I thought it was no longer chic to wear a pizza bag and gaudy earrings. But let’s face it, I’m not a Gallic waif who likes to smoke cigarettes in Parisian street cafes and exude aloof cool. I am not a high powered business woman in need of a pant-suit to deliver  my Ted Talk on running an 8 billion dollar corporation. I’m a kooky, clumsy, pale, arty Irish gal with a dark and cheeky sense of humour, a killer pair of strong thighs and a side eye that could knock you out cold with one glance. But most of all, I like to embrace the fun in life. And while I went through a phase of wearing Uggs and leggings (don’t judge but 2 and a half hour commutes, 12 hour days and three jobs will do that to you) where I only wanted comfort, I now make an effort to wear something that makes me smile when I glance down! I like tropical prints and I cannot lie!

MATCHING YOUR ACCESSORIES FOR A TOTALLY TROPICAL (PRINTS) TASTE

I love a novelty bag and originally I thought this one was fruity print but someone pointed out to me on Instagram that it’s actually a calzone pizza. I love it even more.

THE NOT SO TROPICAL FLOWER SELLER

Pearl, my esteemed photographer and I decided it would be really cute to have a bunch of flowers to match my outfit so we headed up Grafton Street to buy from a local flower peddler. I say peddler because the gum-chewing brute verbally attacked us when we decided to go with a €5 bunch from the seller adjacent to her. Not only did she give us an earful, she launched into the poor auld one beside her. Not very tropical behaviour at all! Maleficent doesn’t have a patch on this wan!

The moral of the story? Give boring black the cold shoulder and get tropical. Let’s sip Lilt and while away the hours lounging in Stephen’s Green and feeling tasty!

SHOP MY OUTFIT

DRESS: Warehouse

BAG: Zara

EARRINGS: Mango

SLIDERS: Zara

SIMILAR STYLES I LOVE

1. Tropical print dress & Other Stories
2. Tiger print button through dress, Warehouse
3. Printed floral maxi @ Next
4. Strawberry wrap back dress @ Warehouse
5. Finery London Amazon print dress
6. Tropical print dress @ Mango

FAB NOVELTY BAGS

1. Hillier Bartley bunny clutch
2. Watermelon clutch at John Lewis
3. Moschino Teddy bear clutch at Farfetch (35% off at Italist – the best bargain online)
4. Christopher Raeburn rocket bag at Farfetch
5. South Beach lemon clutch @ Asos (this is soooo cheap!)
6. Lipstick clutch at Rare London

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links which means if you click on an item, I will be rich, RICH beyond my wildest dreams and by rich I mean, I get approximately 10c.

All photos by Pearl Phelan Photographer