SUPER DRY......SUPER STYLIN'......!

In Ireland, you are never far away from a Taxi man with a political opinion and a huge urge to share it….. Well today – by my scientific reckoning – you are never more than six feet away from a bit of Superdry clothing either. You know Superdry clothing even if you think you don't. Look around: on the bus there'll be someone carrying a rucksack with Japanese writing. On a rush-hour train several suits will be wearing a lightweight jacket with too many zips. Turn on the TV and Jamie Oliver will be ripping up some basil for Sainsbury's wearing a checked shirt. Your guy in the local Centra is wearing a vintage-looking T-shirt with a huge number printed on it, which looks familiar but doesn't appear to mean anything. These are all Superdry clothes: sporty yet not technical; designed but not designer.
Superdry was set up in 2003. Julian Dunkerton, who owns SuperGroup, already owned a brand named Cult Clothing that sold vintage-looking, skater-ish clothing and logo T-shirts to students in cities such as Galway, Dublin, Limerick and Cork. One of the labels that Cult stocked was Bench – a skater brand known for its hoodies and T-shirts. When Bench's founder and designer James Holder left, Dunkerton approached him and ta-da the Superdry clothing baby was born.
Since then the label has consistently outperformed the competition. It is the label most likely to be worn by a papped celebrity carrying a Starbucks. David Beckham, Justin Bieber, Neyo, Ben Stiller: celebrities all the way down the food chain to Cheryl's ex-mate Derek Hough are willing to actually pay for it (a feat in itself in the celebrity world of "gifting"). Superdry is a modern sartorial phenomenon. And yet it still flies under the radar.
And we here at NoPolka.com are dedicated to bringing you the latest trends, styles right to your door step, so we knew Superdry would be the perfect fit for our site. The appeal of Superdry clothing is hard to pinpoint, in some part owing to the broadness of its reach. It can't be put into a neat fashion category, as other high-street labels can. Zara fits into a box labelled "catwalk trends on the cheap".
Superdry clothing lives within a messy Venn diagram. It's sporty in a way that appeals to people who like the idea of snowboarding but who don't actually go; it's faux-vintage and authentic for those who don't like rifling through rails of second-hand clothes. It combines Americana with Japanese fonts, yet the company is based in Cheltenham. Its branding is a masterpiece, huge statement logos and tags, without being offensive or in your face. So with all that being said, I have put some of my favourite piece together from the latest range available on NoPolka.com.

Enjoy, Niamh xx

TOMMY BOWE SHOE LAUNCH

Last Saturday, 6th October, Tommy Bowe visited the Replay Menswear store in Newbridge to promote his Tommy Bowe shoes collection. The fans formed an orderly line out outside REPLAY store in White Water shopping centre from the moment the centre opened…… die-hard fans or what!! And not all the typical dads and sons rugby crew, ohhhhh no Tommy is fast becoming the pin up of the rugby world, so as you can imagine there was a scattering of young(and some not so young) girls, patiently waiting to get a picture and a kiss from the Ulster player.

Now, I'm not huge into my rugby, and I'm ashamed to say it, but before last week, I wouldn't have been able to pick Tommy out, in a line up, so when he arrived into the back of the store, I was pleasantly surprised. Okay, obviously, he a good looking lad, but he is a really nice guy too. Getting straight to work, taking pictures with two little boys who had to dash off to football training.

 

When the doors opened, the crowds flooded in….mainly giggling, as a herd of girls had appeared from somewhere, and were applying lippie and fixing their hair in great anticipation of meeting the 28 year old Ulster naïve, who signed everything from posters, to phone covers (which I thought was a fairly clever idea, by all involved….!!) He took picture after picture, and handed out sweets from  the token Christmas tin of Roses chocolates, for over one hour without getting a cramp in his face from smiling……professional!!! Then, as quick as he arrived, he was gone, but not before I grabbed a sneaky picture and bit of banter out of him!!! Off to do it all again in another shopping centre.

His third range of shoes for Llyod & Pryce, is available in store at REPLAY Menswear Whitewater shopping centre, or online at NoPolka.com

I LOVE BODY & SOL Unisex sunless tan........

 Fake tan is a mine field......! Streaks, stripes, dirty knuckles, and dodgy foot colour, are just a few of the more common tanning dilemas.  So when I was sent BODY & SOL unisex sunless tan I, as any other false tanning devote would, got rather excited.

While, I am not very pale skinned, my preference is for more than a hint of colour, and I usually have to use two applications of tan, to get my desired shade of "natural"......So I couldn’t wait to give it a whirl.   On the first spray of the Body & Sol, I was quiet surprised.....there was no hideous false tan smell, there was a slight coconut smell in the room afterwards, but it was kind of nice.  It spayed on really well, and there was no blending involved and the slight guide colour help you get a really even colour.  You know that "waiting for tan to dry" stance that every girl has? The relaxed zombie swinging movements we employ while patiently waiting to get dressed.....well not with BODY & SOL, it dried really quickly....like really quickly, couple of minutes and I was dry as a bone.!!

The next morning, I hopped out of bed, had a quick shower, and was delighted when the guide colour rinsed off......I was really brown, not the usual false tan brown....just back from two weeks in the sun brown....and there were no streaks, or dodgy foot tan, which I put down the airbrush effect, coz the tan just sits on your skin.  When I went out at the weekend, everyone commented on tan, which they couldn’t believe wasn’t natural and acquired on a cheeky late summer holiday in the sun.

So it’s fairly safe to say, my year long struggle to find a false tan that suited my skin and is absolutely fool proof is over.........!! Definitely worth a spray ladies.....you won’t be disappointed.

Here comes the science............ Rich in antioxidants, vitamins and botanical extracts, BODY & SOL enriches your skin with radiance boosting power and energy. It is precisely formulated for bronze perfection, intense skin firming and hydration in one innovative spray. Its unique natural and organic based spa formulation fades slowly and evenly, giving a rich, deep, exotic looking cocoa dipped tan.

BODY & SOL Ultimate Sunless Tan is available to purchase online now and in certain stockists nationwide (please contact us for further stockist information)

BODY & SOL 150ml aerosol - only *24.00 euro