Fashion Vault: Jennifer Rothwell

In Grainne Mahers' Fashion Vault we have a selection of scarves by Irish-based designer, Jennifer Rothwell. They range from £65 to £135 respectively.

Jennifer, herself has an extensive background in the fashion industry. She graduated with honours in 1995 from the National College of Art and Design, Dublin, Ireland. For her achievements, she was awarded with the 'Brown Thomas Designer Award' at Dublin Fashion week in 2007.

''New York born Dublin resident Jennifer Rothwell’s superb tailoring, innovative designs and beautifully cut feminine dresses caught the eye of Brown Thomas Buying Director Stephen Sealey and Head of Fashion Direction Shelly Corkery.”

— Brown Thomas, Dublin Fashion Week, 2007

Her designs themselves do not necessarily follow the trends, yet are beautiful and exquisite in rich colours.

Most recently her print collection inspired by Harry Clarke was featured in the Irish Times in 2015.

 

December 2015

Well it's that time of year again! December flies in and Belfast is ever busy for it with the Christmas holidays fast approaching! It feels as though all of Northern Ireland descends upon Belfast with the lure of the Christmas market, ever enticing people into the heart of the city. Traffic becomes a nightmare (particularly at weekends) so try to avoid at all costs if possible.

Late night shop openings I find are great as I work a 9 to 6 job currently. I loathe going out on my lunchbreak, as Victoria Square is just too crowded for my liking. As for Christmas itself, I'm pretty much sorted getting presents for everyone as I started ages ago in late September. Things that I may invest in are household decorations though - with my previous move in Easter buying decorations hasn't been the top of my list but I may start getting a few as I don't plan to move anytime in the near future.

Presents I found relatively easy to buy for this year. For my mum I got her a L'occitance Divine Gift Set. She always asks for testers of it and generally loves the brand, yet finds it hard to justify the amount of money it costs. For my dad, I got 2 big knitted jumpers. My dad is generally the most awkward to buy for - he never wants for anything really. I decided to get him clothes as it's the one thing he never buys for himself.

Many people say I'm hard to buy for - quite different to the contrary actually. Personally, I think I'm super easy to get for, as I'm quite girly so any of the staples would go down a treat - jewellery, perfume, spa gift sets, clothes, that kind of thing.

Being nostalgic, this year hasn't been so bad at all: I moved into a great house, got baptised, got a new job and booked a nice holiday away for next year. 2016 is shaping up nicely and it has not even started yet...

As for plans next year, I do intend to get a healthier work/life balance. Specifically, I want to become fitter by going to the gym a lot more regularly, training well and generally eating a lot better. So from the 1st of January I'm going to log it all in this blog (one way of trying to motivate myself and others is by focusing on it more this way via a public platform).

October/November 2015

This time of year is always a mad busy one in October and November, with a decline in one aspect of my working life at the end of November. In my ways I am glad to be finishing teaching on the 26th of November; time-wise it really is a struggle this year to get everything done with very little personal time. I find it's taking it's toll on some areas of my life and will be glad of a break (to say the least).

I had my birthday in mid-November. I'm a real big kid in some ways and always think I'll want a birthday cake no matter what age I'll be. This year instead of grabbing a quick, mediocre cake out of Tescos I decided to get one made personally by a baker who I couldn't recommend more! I got a lemon and raspberry cake slathered in pink buttercream, milk chocolate drip decorated with chocolate shards and gilded berries.

Long story short the cake didn't last long at all.



I find I'm settling more into my other workplace now and seem to finally be coming out of my shell. I always seem to find that a problem still; I'm quite quiet, shy and reserved in comparison to most people when I first meet new people. Most be an only child thing in some ways - I never had to vey for attention from my parents since I was the only child in the house. 'Shy, quiet, yet conscientious' were common phrases seen in school reports from an early age throughout my teenage years and even commented upon when I started my degree. Now, my job requires me to be outgoing, friendly and approachable. I'm getting there and find inner confidence is just going to be a work in progress for me.