FASHION NEWS: GUEST SPOT – GOING MAD FOR EMMA MANLEY

Anti-Halloween, Anti-Winter, Anti-the-feckin-bleedin-lot-of-it!*

I read the weather forecast today, oh boy. Damp and dull, it said. Further drizzle it, said. TURNING COLD ON THURSDAY, it said. This evening I stuck the heat on full blast, donned my woolly socks and took the laptop to bed to write this post.

For about five minutes every year, I get excited about the thoughts of pulling out the parka and snuggling up under a chunky scarf. Then I remember… the practicalities of a night out. It’s too cold not to wear the coat, scarf, gloves and hat. But once you get to the pub, you need two stools. One for you and another one for all your Tom Crean gear.

That’s why when shots of Emma Manley’s SS ’13 collection landed in my inbox today, my heart leapt. I can nearly smell summer at the sight of them…

Manley’s trademark buttery-soft leather and studs are back but this time in a more ice-cream colour palette. The collection’s influence is ‘every girl’s search for love’ apparently. The pieces do hint of dreamy-ness, particularly the aquamarine studded dress with over-sized Peter Pan collar. There’s a nod to her urban street wear too throughout, which links all Manley’s collections together.

But the star of the show for me is this metallic gold number. It was this top that lifted me out of soggy old Dublin for a moment, and transported me to back to summer nights outside Ambar on the Rambla de Raval in Barcelona. From under my umbrella, I could get lost in that reverie, and forget about the 48-hour Dublin forecast.

Now I don’t hate winter. But when I see images like these, I long for it to be over. Although, I do love Christmas… and next year that gold top teamed with white shorts could make a fine alternative colour scheme to the heady purples and blacks, velvets and sequins, that typify the party season…

*nah not really. I aint not killjoy!

What Will I Wear Today Contributor  Aideen Finnegan @aideenfinnegan

Pics courtesy of Emma Manley