The Glamorous History of Dublin’s Lost Department Stores
RTÉ, June 2023
You know Brown Thomas, Arnotts and maybe even Switzers, but what about the rest? Fashion historian Ruth Griffin explores the glamour and glitz of Dublin's forgotten department stores.
A brief history of Dublin's seaside fashions
Bathing dresses that fall to your ankle. A special machine to enter the water. This is Ruth Griffin's description of bathing in Dublin in the early 1900s.
A Mini Clery’s
Come, lets step back in time to Dublin of 100 years ago…
A Dublin Wedding Trousseau
While I’ve been planning my post-lockdown wedding for the end of July I have been enjoying the opportunity to research bridal fashion history in Ireland.
The Lost Fashion of The Liberties
Thanks for joining the 4th tour in my series and welcome to me jewel and darlin’ Liberties. I have a line-up of hidden fashion and textile gems for you, please scroll along these pictures while we are walking to get a view of how people and places looked in the places I am highlighting on the tour.
Switzers at Christmas
Switzer’s Department store is something which conjures up a lot of nostalgia at this time of year. For many who remember seeing the windows as children all lit up with glittering toys and figurines they were what Christmas dreams were made of.
No Idle Day
This Saturday I will be doing a very special Lost Fashion History of Dublin Tour for No Idle Day with all proceeds going to Dublin Simon Community.
Xanadu
Over the years I have heard amazing stories about Xanadu vintage store from many different people, whether it was tales about how wonderful it was – an Aladdin’s cave of amazing vintage…
The Lost Fashion of South William Street
Welcome to the Lost Fashion History of South William Street tour. I hope you enjoy. I have posted images above and below which will help you visualise the street and the many guises and fashionable inhabitants who have lived on the street.
On Tour
People often ask me what happens on one of my Lost Tours, what it involves and how I could possibly explain the story of fashion in Dublin over the centuries?
Number 21, Wicklow Street
The famous song a Dublin Saunter has a line that says Grafton Street’s a wonderland there’s magic in the air… but what it doesn’t say is that there’s even more fashion history magic if you turn the corner for a saunter down Wicklow Street.
Lost Fashion of O’Connell St
O’Connell Street as Ireland’s greatest thoroughfare has a wealth of hidden fashion history. Saints and sinners, rebels and Queens, rockstars and Dukes have all strolled down its wide boulevard.
Summer Tours…
Dust off your golden dancing shoes or Victorian walking boots! I am hosting a series of Lost Fashion History of Dublin Tours this summer.
Dublin’s Flower Sellers
Flower sellers on the streets of Dublin have been part of the theatre of the city since Viking times. Fast forward to nineteenth century Dublin when Grafton Street and Henry Street became the shopping destinations of the city. This is when small stallholders began to trade from the footfall of these streets
Dublin’s Best Firesides
There’s a bitterly cold wind a-blowing in Dublin this weekend, so much so it’s shivering the timbers of my little loft. The only thing that can be done is to cosy up by firesides and there is nothing better than the warmth and glow of a real, open fireplace. Here are my top three places to find open fireplaces in Dublin – perfect spots to sip a Hot Toddy, read a book or warm the cockles of your heart.
Rua Ruth loves
There’s lots to love about 2015. Here are some of my favourite things I collected from around the web this week to get you started…
Fashion on Bridge
Arthur Fields was the Man on Bridge who for 50 years took photos of people walking over O’Connell bridge in Dublin’s city centre capturing the changing times, people and style of everyone who crossed the bridge.
Arty Friends
There is a townhouse on South Leinster Street (that’s the street that flows from Nassau to Merrion Square to you and me) which I have often passed by and enviously looked in the windows of. It is an eighteenth century house which has been beautifully woven into the modern wing of The National Gallery and is accessible only to Friends of the National Gallery.
Ghost Signs of Fashion’s Past
I am a curious person and I love walking - put these two things together and you get an unhealthy interest in everything from old buildings to all the weird and wonderful things you discover at street level.
Victorian Dublin
As part of Dublin Book Festival I was delighted to join Dr Frank Cullen on his walking tour of Victorian Dublin to promote his forthcoming book Dublin 1847: City of the Ordnance Survey (RIA). For a city which is known for it’s Georgian architecture it is great to see Dublin from another angle- the Victorian angle.