Welcome back to our post-analysis episode of Desert Island Dress. Every other week, we take a moment to reflect on the stories and choices shared in the main conversation and pull on one of the threads that caught our attention.
🎨 This series features hand-drawn sketches of each of our guests by artist Louise Boughton @louiseboughton_
✨ Stay connected with Desert Island Dress:
📸 Instagram: @desert_island_dress
🌐 Website: www.desertislanddress.com
💌 Our ask this series: share your favourite episode with a friend, or follow and subscribe on your podcast app — it really helps us grow!
Welcome to our final guest episode for Series 4 of Desert Island Dress with Marie Kelly, a writer whose work moves effortlessly between fashion, culture, art and everyday life.
Beginning her career in London before returning to Ireland, Marie has spent more than two decades telling stories across luxury magazines and premium brands, with clients including Victoria Beckham, Stella McCartney and previous guest of Desert Island Dress, goldsmith, Nigel O’Reilly.
Most recently, Marie has co-founded Só Consulting with Gavin Manley, a luxury consultancy rooted in the Irish idea of só: a state of ease, comfort and contentment, defined not by status or spectacle, but by moments of genuine connection.
In this episode, Marie brings a thoughtful, considered perspective to her choices. As you’ll hear, each piece is carefully chosen, with her flair for storytelling illuminating the deeper meaning behind every item.
We are delighted to welcome Marie Kelly to Desert Island Dress.
Welcome back to our post-analysis episode of Desert Island Dress.
Every other week, we take a moment to reflect on the stories and choices shared in the main conversation and pull on one of the threads that caught our attention.
🎨 This series features hand-drawn sketches of your podcast hosts Dee & Katriona, and each of our guests by artist Louise Boughton @louiseboughton_
✨ Stay connected with Desert Island Dress:
📸 Instagram: @desert_island_dress
🌐 Website: www.desertislanddress.com
💌 Our ask this series: share your favourite episode with a friend, or follow and subscribe on your podcast app — it really helps us grow!
For more stories, news and updates — including our first live show in Copenhagen with the Embassy of Ireland and recently published articles in RTÉ Brainstorm — visit desertislanddress.com.
Today, we are thrilled to share a conversation with someone whom both Katriona and I have admired for many years in our academic lives. When studying and teaching fashion, her work has always been a guiding force. She is the sociologist, feminist thinker, and cultural scholar, Professor Angela McRobbie.
Our discussion with Angela travels across countries and decades, bringing us into the creative and political energy of 1970s Glasgow, the feminist debates and vintage-hunting culture of Birmingham, and the vibrant artistic worlds she later encountered in London and Berlin. Along the way, she reflects on how clothing becomes a way of thinking - a way of positioning oneself intellectually, politically, and personally.
It’s a conversation that mirrors Angela’s lifelong commitment to understanding how what we wear both shapes us and reflects the worlds we move through.
And truly, our own interest in the stories behind the clothes we wear has been deeply informed by reading culture theorists like Angela McRobbie. In many ways, Desert Island Dress is inspired by pioneering researchers such as herself, which makes it especially meaningful to share this episode today.
We hope you enjoy listening as much as we did.
Welcome back to our post-analysis episode of Desert Island Dress.
Every other week, we take a moment to reflect on the stories and choices shared in the main conversation and pull on one of the threads that caught our attention.
🎨 This series features hand-drawn sketches of your podcast hosts Dee & Katriona, and each of our guests by artist Louise Boughton @louiseboughton_
✨ Stay connected with Desert Island Dress:
📸 Instagram: @desert_island_dress
🌐 Website: www.desertislanddress.com
💌 Our ask this series: share your favourite episode with a friend, or follow and subscribe on your podcast app - it really helps us grow!
For more stories, news and updates — including our first live show in Copenhagen with the Embassy of Ireland and recently published articles in RTÉ Brainstorm - visit desertislanddress.com.
Hello Desert Island Dress listeners, and welcome. We hope you are enjoying the series so far, and today we are so very delighted to share this week’s guest with you – Irish musician, singer, and songwriter, Liam Ó Maonlaí.
My first recollections of Liam were as the lead singer of Irish band, Hothouse Flowers – I was probably about 9 or 10 years old, and we’d have the anthem ‘Don’t Go’ blaring on our family road trips from Dublin to Mayo. This, interchanged with The Saw Doctors, helped keep us upbeat as we’d crawl through inevitable bottleneck towns like Kinnegad in the midlands of Ireland.
Listening back to those songs, brings me straight back to that time, the journey, the excitement to see Mayo relatives, the chaos of a jam-packed car, the expectation of the summer holidays ahead. The power of music transports me back, but also, looking at the music videos and posters of Liam with the band, and the aesthetic of the late 1980s/early 1990s also has that power to transport me – I am remembering older kids from my neighbourhood I haven’t thought of in years that dressed similarly, just snapshots of memories – the way they’d walk, what they wore, the waistcoat over a paisley shirt, long shoulder length hair, sideburns ... maybe they’d flick their hair just as Liam characteristically did, and still does! The power of clothing can be just as powerful as music to tap into the senses and memories.
The day before we were to record this episode, I attended a friend’s launch of a short docu-film, sharing stories of displaced people in Ireland. Coincidentally, and unknown to me at the time, Liam features in the film, and he arrived to speak at the event. He sat down beside me, and I took one look down at his light blue Crocs, paired with a dark suit, and I quietly thought to myself, we would have a great chat the next day!
And that we did – Liam was so generous with his time, and his storytelling, and there’s a really beautiful moment in the conversation, when the sun just brilliantly shone in through the window for a moment, highlighting the star, the Réalta, that is, Liam O Maonlaí.
🎨 This series features hand-drawn sketches of each of our guests by artist Louise Boughton @louiseboughton_
✨ Stay connected with Desert Island Dress:
📸 Instagram: @desert_island_dress
🌐 Website: www.desertislanddress.com
⭐ Don’t forget to follow, rate & review the podcast — it really helps more people find us.
💌 And if you're enjoying Desert Island Dress, please do share your favourite episode with a friend!
Welcome back to our post-analysis episode of Desert Island Dress.
Every other week, we take a moment to reflect on the stories and choices shared in the main conversation and pull on one of the threads that caught our attention.
✨ Stay connected with Desert Island Dress:
📸 Instagram: @desert_island_dress
🌐 Website: www.desertislanddress.com
💌 Our ask this series: share your favourite episode with a friend, or follow and subscribe on your podcast app — it really helps us grow!
For more stories, news and updates — including our first live show in Copenhagen with the Embassy of Ireland and recently published articles in RTÉ Brainstorm — visit desertislanddress.com.
This week, we are joined by Dana Thomas, journalist, author, and one of fashion’s most insightful voices. Based in Paris, Dana has spent her career exploring how the fashion industry really works, from sustainability and supply chains to the inner worlds of luxury and design.
We first came to Dana’s work through her writing — I discovered her book Fashionopolis, while teaching sustainability on a Sociology of Fashion module, and Katriona through Dana’s excellent books, Gods and Kings, and Deluxe: How Luxury Lost It’s Lustre - when teaching a luxury fashion principles module.
It’s a testament to Dana’s extraordinary range — a writer who understands fashion from every angle.
Today, she reflects on the garments that have accompanied her through a life immersed in fashion, storytelling, and change.
Here’s Dana Thomas on Desert Island Dress.
🎨 This series features hand-drawn sketches of each of our guests by artist Louise Boughton @louiseboughton_
✨ Stay connected with Desert Island Dress:
📸 Instagram: @desert_island_dress
🌐 Website: www.desertislanddress.com
⭐ Don’t forget to follow, rate & review the podcast — it really helps more people find us.
💌 And if you're enjoying Desert Island Dress, please do share your favourite episode with a friend!
Welcome back to our post-analysis episode of Desert Island Dress.
Every other week, we take a moment to reflect on the stories and choices shared in the main conversation and pull on one of the threads that caught our attention.
✨ Stay connected with Desert Island Dress:
📸 Instagram: @desert_island_dress
🌐 Website: www.desertislanddress.com
💌 Our ask this series: share your favourite episode with a friend, or follow and subscribe on your podcast app — it really helps us grow!
For more stories, news and updates — including our first live show in Copenhagen with the Embassy of Ireland and recently published articles in RTÉ Brainstorm — visit desertislanddress.com.
As Ireland celebrates the election of Catherine Connolly as President, it feels timely to reflect on the women whose work helped make this kind of leadership possible.
This week’s guest is one of them.
Ailbhe Smyth — academic, feminist, and lifelong activist — has helped shape Ireland’s social conscience for more than five decades.
From the early women’s movement to the campaigns for marriage equality and reproductive rights, her voice has been one of determination, conviction, and courage.
Her activism runs alongside that of women like Catherine Connolly — both championing equality, inclusion, and the belief that political life can be grounded in empathy and integrity.
We recorded this conversation in early summer, before Catherine announced her presidential campaign, but its release now feels fitting. As you’ll hear, Ailbhe’s choices and stories capture the spirit of women who’ve helped change Ireland for the better.
For Ailbhe, there were signs of this determination right from the cradle … keep listening to hear more of Ailbhe’s coveted pair of little red shoes!
🎨 This series features hand-drawn sketches of each of our guests by artist Louise Boughton @louiseboughton_
✨ Stay connected with Desert Island Dress:
📸 Instagram: @desert_island_dress
🌐 Website: www.desertislanddress.com
⭐ Don’t forget to follow, rate & review the podcast — it really helps more people find us.
💌 And if you're enjoying Desert Island Dress, please do share your favourite episode with a friend!
Welcome back to our post-analysis episode of Desert Island Dress.
Every other week, we take a moment to reflect on the stories and choices shared in the main conversation and pull on one of the threads that caught our attention.
✨ Stay connected with Desert Island Dress:
📸 Instagram: @desert_island_dress
🌐 Website: www.desertislanddress.com
💌 Our ask this series: share your favourite episode with a friend, or follow and subscribe on your podcast app — it really helps us grow!
For more stories, news and updates — including our first live show in Copenhagen with the Embassy of Ireland and recently published articles in RTÉ Brainstorm — visit desertislanddress.com.
Today we have another wonderful guest for you — the creative, singular, stylish disruptor and artist, Gavin Friday.
We first met Gavin back in May at the launch of a new exhibition at the National Museum of Ireland. The exhibition, curated by Gary O’Neill, celebrates Dublin youth culture, street style, and subcultures from the 1960s to the 1990s. Gary has spent the last two decades collecting materials from the public, photographers, and photojournalists — and if that sounds like your kind of thing, the exhibition runs until March 2026 at Collins Barracks.
What struck us that evening was Gavin’s enthusiasm for the Desert Island Dress project, and the care he put into choosing his four items to bring to the island. From challenging ‘fashion norms’ on the streets of 1970s Dublin, to celebrating the craft of a well-tailored three-piece suit by the late 1980s, Gavin never shies away from contradictions. Instead of shedding one identity for another, he layers and curates them — creating a fusion of all he has been, and all he is becoming.
As his most recent album title suggests, we are invited to Ecce Homo - “Behold the Man.”
We hope you enjoy this colourful journey through time, subcultures, and shifting institutions — with the absolute gent that is Gavin Friday.
Welcome back to our post-analysis episode of Desert Island Dress.
Every other week, we take a moment to reflect on the stories and choices shared in the main conversation and pull on one of the threads that caught our attention.
✨ Stay connected with Desert Island Dress:
📸 Instagram: @desert_island_dress
🌐 Website: www.desertislanddress.com
💌 Our ask this series: share your favourite episode with a friend, or follow and subscribe on your podcast app — it really helps us grow!
For more stories, news and updates — including our first live show in Copenhagen with the Embassy of Ireland and recently published articles in RTÉ Brainstorm — visit desertislanddress.com.
Kicking off our fourth series, we are so excited to welcome Jo Ellison to Desert Island Dress.
Jo Ellison, as many of you will know, is the editor of HTSI/ How to Spend It at the Financial Times, and formerly Fashion Editor at the Financial Times and Features Editor at Vogue. Having Jo spend time in the “hot seat,” as Katrina would call it, was a dream come true, and we really hope she enjoyed the conversation as much as we did.
We were particularly delighted to learn how influential Ireland and Irish culture have been for Jo — from her early teenage crushes, through her first journalistic job in Cork at the Cork Examiner, cutting her teeth as an apprentice, to spending the last 30 years in domestic bliss with a previous guest and friend of Desert Island Dress, Irish playwright Enda Walsh!
What a fabulous guest to kick off the series! We absolutely loved chatting with Jo, and we left the conversation as total fangirls of the one and only Jo Ellison. Enjoy this episode!
🎨 This series features hand-drawn sketches of each of our guests by artist Louise Boughton @louiseboughton_
✨ Stay connected with Desert Island Dress:
📸 Instagram: @desert_island_dress
🌐 Website: www.desertislanddress.com
⭐ Don’t forget to follow, rate & review the podcast — it really helps more people find us.
💌 And if you're enjoying Desert Island Dress, please do share your favourite episode with a friend!
In this post-analysis episode, we reflect on our conversation with Mandy Johnston and explore the themes that stuck with us—effort, authenticity, and the subtle power of getting dressed.
From the blurred lines of post-COVID workwear to the quiet authority of a well-chosen outfit, we discuss why what we wear still matters. We also share a standout clip from The Diplomat that perfectly captures the politics of appearance in public life.
Don’t forget to catch Mandy’s full episode from earlier this week, and follow us to stay updated on what's happening next with Desert Island Dress.
In this episode of Desert Island Dress, journalist, broadcaster, and communications expert Mandy Johnston joins us to share the stories behind the clothes that have shaped her life.
From career-defining purchases to sentimental staples, Mandy reflects on the power of dressing with intention, the fine line between fashion and style, and why great clothes—like great friends—stand the test of time.
We also explore the shifting boundaries between workwear and leisurewear, the emotional weight of investment pieces, and how fashion plays a role in confidence and communication.
📌 Follow Mandy Johnston on Instagram: @mandyjohnstonpr
📌 Learn more about Mandy's radio show Taking Stock on Newstalk: https://www.newstalk.com/shows/taking-stock-834298
📌 Keep up with Desert Island Dress on Instagram: @desert_island_dress
Next Episode: We’ll be back this Friday with our post-analysis episode, where we reflect on Mandy's choices and dive deeper into the themes that emerged in this conversation. Make sure you’re subscribed so you don’t miss it!
🎧 Desert Island Dress is available on all major podcast platforms. Subscribe, rate, and review to help us keep sharing these incredible stories!
In this post-analysis episode of Desert Island Dress, we reflect on our powerful conversation with Leon Diop. We explore his choice to wear a Charles Oliveira hoodie and what it reveals about resilience, identity, and surrounding yourself with positive role models.
We also unpack the cultural urgency of Netflix’s Adolescence, the rise of harmful online influencers like Andrew Tate, and the critical need for young people—especially boys—to see strength in empathy, discipline, and belonging.
From martial arts to mindset, this is an episode about the values we wear and the influence they carry.
📌 Follow Leon Diop on Instagram: @leon_diop_
📌 Learn more about Black & Irish: https://blackandirish.com/
📌 Keep up with Desert Island Dress on Instagram: @desert_island_dress
🎧 Desert Island Dress is available on all major podcast platforms. Subscribe, rate, and review to help us keep sharing these incredible stories!
In this episode of Desert Island Dress, we’re joined by activist, community leader, and founder of Black & Irish, Leon Diop. Through his chosen garments, Leon shares his journey of self-expression, resilience, and identity—exploring what it means to be both Black and Irish in modern Ireland. We talk about the power of storytelling, the importance of representation, and the personal experiences that led him to create Black & Irish, a platform dedicated to amplifying Black and mixed-race Irish voices.
Leon reflects on childhood nostalgia, the impact of fashion as a form of self-expression, and how clothing connects us to our past, our culture, and the communities we belong to.
We also get into an unexpected connection with Mariah Carey, the role of sport in shaping identity, and the importance of finding confidence in your own skin.
This is a conversation full of warmth, humour, and deep insights, and we are so grateful to Leon for sharing his stories with us.
📌 Follow Leon Diop on Instagram: @leon_diop_
📌 Learn more about Black & Irish: https://blackandirish.com/
📌 Keep up with Desert Island Dress on Instagram: @desert_island_dress
Next Episode:
We’ll be back this Friday with our post-analysis episode, where we reflect on Leon’s choices and dive deeper into the themes that emerged in this conversation. Make sure you’re subscribed so you don’t miss it!
🎧 Desert Island Dress is available on all major podcast platforms. Subscribe, rate, and review to help us keep sharing these incredible stories!
In this post-analysis episode, we reflect on our conversation with Havana boutique founder Nikki Creedon—not just through the lens of fashion, but through a wider cultural conversation sparked by her long-standing support of Irish design.
Inspired by a quote from retail expert Mary Portas, who suggested that Irish retailers should "sell the feeling of being Irish," we consider what that feeling actually means.
From the cultural nostalgia of Claddagh rings and Aran jumpers to the modern expressions of Irishness in music, sport, and multicultural identity, we wonder: how is Irishness being redefined by a new generation of creatives?
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review to help more people discover Desert Island Dress!
Follow us on @desert_island_dress
🎧 Listen now on Spotify/Apple Podcasts/any other platform links!
In this episode of Desert Island Dress, we sit down with Nikki Creedon, the founder and owner of Havana boutique, one of Dublin’s most beloved fashion destinations. For over three decades, Nikki has curated a space where craftsmanship, individuality, and timeless design take centre stage.
From her early days working with Paul Costelloe to building a boutique that champions both international and Irish designers, Nikki shares the pivotal moments that shaped her journey in fashion. We explore the influence of her stylish mother, the joy of discovering extraordinary pieces, and the philosophy behind her approach to curating a wardrobe that lasts a lifetime.
Through her chosen pieces, Nikki reflects on fashion’s power to evoke memories, tell personal stories, and create lasting connections. Whether it’s a treasured garment from Japan, an iconic designer piece, or the dress that holds the most profound personal significance, her selections reveal a deep appreciation for fashion as more than just clothing—it’s a way of life.
Join us for a conversation filled with nostalgia, insight, and a true passion for style.
🔔 Don’t forget! Our post-analysis episode drops this Friday, where we’ll unpack key themes from today’s conversation and reflect on Nikki's selections in more depth.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review to help more people discover Desert Island Dress!
Follow us on Instagram: @desert_island_dress
🎧 Listen now on [Spotify/Apple Podcasts/Other platform links]