Dapper dressing inspired by menswear, this week on Smart Casual

Smart Casual is IMAGE’s first fashion podcast, in collaboration with Kildare Village. In our bi-weekly chats we examine why we wear the clothes we do and deal with personal style in a way that speaks to you. 

How many items in your wardrobe have you stolen from the men in your life? How many blazers, suit pants or brogues have you donned after being inspired by menswear? Good tailoring and masculine influences have been around in women’s fashion for decades, and the idea of dressing dapper is what we wanted to discuss on this week’s Smart Casual.

Dressing up with nowhere to go is a great way to give yourself confidence, but for some reason, we seem to be a bit averse to it here in Ireland. The idea of ‘notions’ comes up again and again on Smart Casual, and how we Irish love to begrudge others for getting their glad rags on. But our hosts are big believers in the art of dressing up for no reason, and this is a big topic of discussion on this week’s episode.

Tailoring and masculine pieces are wardrobe classics for a reason – as Dominique says: “there is nothing sexier than a woman in a suit”. Harking back to the first icons of masculine dressing, like Katherine Hepburn and Marlene Dietrich, all the way up to the present-day suit trends, we love some good tailoring here at Smart Casual. Each of our hosts discuss the ways that they incorporate masculine influences into their wardrobes, and even the pieces they steal from the boys to make their own. What’s your favourite menswear piece?

As a guest for an episode dealing with dapper dressing, we could think of no one better than Darren Kennedy – presenter, columnist and one of the most stylish men in Ireland. He and Dominique chat about his childhood, career and the earliest indicators that he was going be interested in fashion. They also chat about how Irish men utilise self-care, and why we should all make more of an effort to look after ourselves.

Episode 4 of Smart Casual, in collaboration with Kildare Village, is available now on SoundCloud and iTunes – make sure to like, subscribe and rate us wherever you enjoy your podcasts. Smart Casual is hosted by Dominique McMullan, Marie Kelly and Niamh O’Donoghue, and produced by Erin Lindsay. If you can’t wait to download, have a listen to the new episode below: