Guest Editor: Alexia McInerney

Pictured L to R: Houndstooth peplum top from Adorn Vintage on ASos Marketplace, sea green Swarovski bracelet by Adorn Jewellery, Alexia McInerney, pink Swarovski bracelet by Adorn Jewellery .

Alexia McInerney has been a powerful force on the Irish fashion scene for many years. Her impressive CV varies from Fashion & Staff Editor at Dyflin Publications to Visual Display Artist at Brown Thomas. She’s since added photographer, jewellery merchant and vintage e-boutique owner to the list too — check out her wares on ASOS Marketplace as Adorn Vintage.

While her style is practical first and foremost, she does like to indulge in girlie accents like frill trimmings and leopard print. Read on for everything else she has, hates and hankers for.

Your favourite s/s designer collectionMy heart will always be with the Italians - Dolce & Gabbana, Marni and Mui Mui, they style their collections so beautifully – but as I get older and more practical I am returning to the wearibility of the London and New York designers, namely Mulberry, Burberry, Karen Walker, Marc Jacobs and my favourite for this season Preen. This season’s collection has me hooked, from its pixelated flower print to its peek-a-boo trim waistlines and cuffs.

It might sound overly feminine, but unlike this season’s super sweet collections from Louis Vuitton and Meadham Kirchoff, Preen s/s 2012 is utterly wearable with a distinctive edge that’s a must for a Practical Patty like me.

Favourite s/s trend and how you’ll be wearing itTrends are slower to turn around in recent years, a reflection of the slow economy, so we’re seeing popular details such as the peplum, metallics, reworked lace, block colour again and again. But one trend that I am following and waiting eagerly to be embraced by mainstream fashion is ‘Sports Luxe’. We’re not talking Nike or Adidas here (unless, of course, it’s Yohji Yamamoto for Y-3) but the high fashion labels use of details usually found in your local branch of Lifestyle Sports.

This season you will find polo shirts at Stella McCartney, shell suits at Kenzo, neoprene hoodies at Versus, golf jumpers at Christopher Kane, crop tops at Acne and mesh inserts at Alexander Wang. This trend has been bubbling under the surface for years, but with the Olympics just around the corner it’s definitely one to buy into.

On my wish list is the Marc Jacobs metallic peplum hoodie, American Apparels open knit tennis shirt and last years Cynthia Rowley neoprene dress for Roxy. And for when I win the lotto? A pair of Guiseppe Zanotti sneakers thank you very much.

Favourite Indigenous shop in DublinI love Dolls boutique and I also love that a branch opened on the same street that I lived on in Dublin’s Portobello, with a lovely café attached. Talk about temptation! The boutiques are chock-a-block full of under the radar designers and my fashion tastebuds tingle everytime I walk through the door.

Favourite shop countrywideThe soon to open Limerick Craft and Design store. Okay I am biased, I will be selling a collection of jewellery there, but Limerick city has had such a hammering in recent years and it is wonderful to see ventures like this steaming ahead and supporting local artists and designers.

Favourite go to piece in your wardrobeA beautifully cut coat by American designer Elie Tahari. It’s black, it’s wool and it’s three quarter length – very simple – but it has a frivilous frill around the collar that I like to snuggle up to when its cold outside. During the winter I wear it with my a leopard print handmuff I bought in Urban Oufitters on a whim, a nice alternative to gloves.

Favourite shoesNo hesitation, ask me again in ten years and it’ll be the same answer: my Chanel two-tone pumps. Love, love, love.

Favourite handbagI’m currently toting around a silver Marc by Marc Jacobs handbag that goes with absolutely everything. I am a handbag monogomist and wear them in ‘til they fall apart.

Best bargain buyThere are so many! I have been buying vintage fashion for years now and have amassed so much that I have started selling it online on ASOS Marketplace as Adorn Vintage.

But there are a few things that I just can’t part with. A classic black and gold Hermes belt picked up at a thrift market in New Jersey; a pair of disco-era suede and cork wedges I haggled for in Dublin’s Wild Child and a kitsch glass and chain charm bracelet stamped 1975 that I bought in a vintage market in London ten years ago.

Biggest fashion splurgeMy gorgeous leather Orla Kiely bag that holds my laptop and notebooks.

Three words to describe your style Edgy, eclectic and ergonomic (that is, I don’t wear six inch stillettoes).

Top style tipI’m on a mission to get woman into the habit of two things when they’ve bought new garments (otherwise known as pet peeves of mine); one, remove the hanger straps that come with many tops and dresses, nothing ruins a look worse than these hanging out under your armpits; and two, that little cross stitch you see on pleats or vents at the back of coats and skirts? They’re sewn in to keep the fabric flat during transport, and are not a part of the design. Please, for the love of God, cut them out!

Fashion rule you always breakNavy and black worn together, what a load of twentieth century twaddle. I say, this millenium, anything goes!

Fashion rule you never breakGabrielle Chanel asked that we always take one accessory off before we leave the house and this is one piece of advice I live by. How often do you throw on all your fallback favourites only to realise you look like a branch of Accessorize on the first day of the sales? Accessorising is one of my strengths and I have Coco’s advice to thank for that. Less is definitely more.