Buying occasion wear in Ireland

[Taytocrisps]

I was chatting to a friend recently and she was telling me that her sister is getting married during the summer (all going well with restrictions etc.) and she'll have to buy an outfit for the wedding. That got me thinking about clothes shops. Debenhams would have been my go to shop for occasion wear in the past, but obviously that's gone now. I know you can order online from most UK shops but I'm a bit old school and if I'm buying an expensive outfit, I really want to try it on in the shop. I can't be bothered with the hassle of returning clothes and paying for postage etc. And I don't know what impact Brexit will have on online shopping from the UK - will we have additional charges/taxes going forward? Just wondering what physical shops you'd recommend? I might add that I don't have any big occasions coming up myself - I'm just thinking ahead.

I'm unsure if your friend lives in the UK or Ireland.
If in Ireland there are quite a few boutiques in Gorey in Wexford that are well known for selling wedding outfits.
Mc Elhineys in Donegal too have a big selection.
With restrictions lifted and travel allowed she could combine a night away with shopping if finances allowed.
It depends on where she lives. There are lots of lovely boutiques in towns and cities around the country.

If you're near a Coast shop they really are the go to place for occasion wear the only problem is you might (as l've seen at a few weddings) end up wearing the same outfit as another guest!

I was recently on McElhinneys website - it’s much improved from I last used it, so would give you a flavour of what they have before making the trip

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Avoca have some quirky stuff

There are some awful Wedding Outfit type places. I think McElhinnys might be one!

I would actually have gone to House of Fraser in Dundrum often for things like that, I haven't mentally adjusted to the fact they're gone! Arnotts or BTs, or smaller boutiques. Its going to be odd seeing how physical shops have been decimated after COVID. I also prefer trying things on and looking at lots of brands, never found anything in Debenhams but usually think Arnotts is decent. And then I guess just lots of individual shops.

Aren’t Coast gone?

@CliffsofMohair not sure if the bricks and mortar shops are gone but their website is still up and running, they have a sale on too!

@namechangemarch21 l'm the same, Dundrum centre is going to look a lot different when l start shopping there again.
I know that the top floor of what was House of Fraser is being taken over by Pennys, which suits me just fine as l'm a Pennys girl heart, I still have runners and tops that l bought there yonks ago.