Designer, stylist and creative director Alison Conneely shares her most treasured wardrobe posessions …
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Tales From My Wardrobe, a style series that explores the wardrobes of THE GLOSS community, is a love letter to the pieces we reach for again and again, the hard-earned investment purchases that make us smile with each wear and the items that supercede mere ‘clothing’ to carry memories and foster emotional connection. In this instalment, designer, stylist and creative director Alison Conneely opens up her wardrobe which is at once avant garde and ultra-practical. Conneely’s investments, which reflect an appreciation of high fashion – think Ann Demeulemeester footwear, dresses by Simone Rocha and vintage Maison Martin Margiela – mingle with Blundstone boots, cashmere jumpers and mens Barbour jackets. It’s the sartorial evidence of a dual life, divided between city and country: Conneely bought a farm next door to the one she grew up on in May 2022 and has spent the last two years doing renovations. When she’s not summering in Connemara, she lives in Portobello in Dublin. Here, Conneely shares stories about her bespoke pieces that are the zenith of considered fashion, how she bought her entire wedding look in under ten minutes (!) and why she’ll never be an online shopper.
My favourite piece in my wardrobe right now is an ebony lambskin mantle cape from one of my previous collections Makers Myth in 2019, pictured above. To make this garment, I fly to Bologna, take an hour’s cab ride to a village outside the city. There, I handpick the lambskins from an ancient tannery. This mantle is the ultimate in quiet luxury. I tend to dress it down with a pair of blue Levi’s 501s and my Rick Owens ruched calfskin boots. It is my absolute go-to for funerals, award ceremonies and everything in between. The most sentimental piece I own is a coral mohair dress, pictured below, embellished with 3D hairpin lace, crafted on a tiny handmade loom. Renata, a former student of mine, who worked on this dress alongside me, is no longer with us. This dress is a reminder of the transitory nature of life and the immense joy we get from the simple act of making.
The most recent thing I purchased is a vintage Lanvin blood orange, draped silk dress, in Montmartre, Paris. I will more than likely never wear it as I am more inclined towards an androgynous style. However, it was so beautiful, I couldn’t leave the store without it in my arms.
The biggest bargain in my wardrobe is my wedding outfit. I had two weeks to plan my wedding, and less to find an outfit, in August, the worst month, as the AW collections had not yet landed in stores. But the gods did shine down upon me. On a sale rail in one of my favourite stores Havana in Donnybrook, I found a black net dress with an interesting, distorted form, a leather slingback with a perspex heel, pictured above, and a mother of pearl headband, all by Simone Rocha. I was out the door in ten minutes and on to find a venue…
Although I don’t seem to take my Blundstones off these days, one of my biggest investments has been in Ann Demeulemeester footwear, of which I have a lot, pictured above. They’re architectural, sculptural and always worthy of a ‘still life’. Speaking of shoes, the pair that paid for themselves in cost-per-wear, are my beloved and battered Maison Martin Margiela Tabi boots from 2001, pictured below. The delicate leather sole has been replaced twice. I dread the day when they leave me for good.
Currently, I don’t leave the house without my menswear Barbour jacket from Stanleys in Clifden, pictured below. The least ‘fashion’ thing I own that I wear all the time is a black menswear cashmere crew neck from Monaghans Cashmere. The warmth and delicacy of ultra-fine cashmere against your skin is nothing short of heavenly. I am not an online shopper. I need to feel and fall in love with the object in my hands. I like shopping to be a spontaneous act, and so my treasured finds have been from flea markets I have stumbled upon in cities around the world from Palermo to Phoenix, Ljubljana to Lagos.
As for dream fashion buys? Living in Connemara these past couple of years has utterly quenched my desire for clothing. All I research, lust after, and purchase these days, is art. However, I will be in cities for work commitments come September and I know I will be lusting after many things by Loewe, Junya Watanabe and Standing Ground.
My most hard-working accessory? My light-tint Balenciaga sunglasses – perfect for cloudy Connemara skies.
The piece I own that has a story to it is one of my silk twill scarves from We Come in Reveries of Change, my collaboration with the United Nation’s Population Fund (UNFPA) which was conceived in 2019, in the uplifting aftermath of the Repeal Referendum in Ireland and birthed in the devastating wake of the overturning of Roe v. Wade and the toppling of reproductive rights in the US. This ensemble of scarves are interventions, stories reclaimed and retold, wearable actions, symbols of solidarity and declarations of bodily autonomy.
Follow Alison on Instagram @alisonconneely. Got a wardrobe worth sharing? Send us an email at digital@thegloss.ie.
