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.
I’m writing a book
I'm Writing a Book
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.
By the Seaside
If you are hoping to be by the sea-side this summer, I’ve got some of the best sea bathing tips to share with you from Irish women’s magazines from the early 20th century.
Lady of the House
The Lady of the House and Domestic Economist was one of Ireland’s first women’s monthly magazines which catered to educated, upper middle class women. It ran from the 1890s until the 1920s when it reformed as Irish Tatler after Independence, a publication we all know and love today.
Lost Tour on Tv
I’m delighted at the interest the #LostTours and my contribution to Irish fashion history has been garnering over the years, see some of the highlights in the press and on TV below…
National Treasures
National Treasures looks at history through a sporting, social, political, design and fashion lens. From Currachs to Crolly Dolls, bottles of Blue Nun to black mourning veils all of Irish life is reflected in its many guises through the objects on the new RTÉ show. Read about my 'whistle-stop tour of what happened stylewise in Ireland'.
Fashion Detectives
Photos are the best fashion history records because they don’t just show clothes they show you how gloriously people wore them! There is an exhibition on at the National Photographic Archive at the moment called Photo Detectives…
Mystic Nylons
Researching fashion history is an interesting process. One of my favourite ways to do it is to spend time in the library sifting through old Irish newspapers, magazines and reference books.
Snáithe - The Story of Irish Fashion
I am excited and delighted to be making a cameo appearance this Wednesday in Snáithe. The series was created and directed by the lovely Ciara Nic Chormaic (who has been a regular tour goer on the Lost Fashion History Tours) and who poses some very interesting questions about Irish fashion.
Ireland’s Fashion Radicals
I believe Ireland has always been fashionable but we have over the mists of time seemed to have forgotten this fact.
Style on the Square
That wintry chill is in the air, a touch of Jack Frost is adding a little glitter in the early morning and flamboyant wreaths are hung on the colourfully painted doors of Merrion Square. Yes, it’s time for Christmas on The Square an annual event which hosts a whole range of fun Christmassy activities tomorrow
National Treasures
I come from a long line of hoarders who have saved and collected everything they found interesting over the years in garages, garden sheds and barns! From old grandfather clocks to family memorabilia and much more besides.
Threads of Sligo
This weekend I went home for the June Bank Holiday to spend some time delving into research for a special event for a collective I am part of for the Lily and Lolly CraftFest.
Fashion in Art
I had a whirlwind trip to New York last September which meant I had a chance to see all the cultural delights the city has to offer. I returned with a memory card full of photos and a head full of fashion stories which I would like to share with you here, starting with the amazing Fashion in Art tour I took at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
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.