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Old hat a winner in the fashion stakes judges

Galway races outfit a hit with

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By Louise Hogan
Friday Aug 7 2009

THE winner turned heads. Individuality, creativity and a lively walk to get to the head of the ever-growing queue appeared to be the favoured traits.

Never mind the horses, it was Ladies' Day at the Dublin Horse Show and a riot of luminous hues were contrasting starkly with the tweeds.

The bounty of women heavily festooned with eye-catching feathers, ribbons, and even a rather unusual Mongolian hat, sent the line spiralling out of control across the jam-packed band lawn.

The bedazzling array of frocks, and a few suits sported by the gents, had judges Amy Huberman, the fiancee of rugby star Brian O'Driscoll, and couturier Synan O'Mahony, glued to their chairs for three hours assessing the record 350 entrants. After her recent, and much publicised holiday in the Californian sunshine with her soon-to-be hubby, the newly published author was recovering from jetlag.

The holiday was brilliant, 'The Clinic' actress enthused. "I'm still there in mind, here in body.

"We went to the States, we went to San Francisco and Santa Barbara, and we went to the beach and drove down the coast," she said.

But so much for visiting movie studios, the nearest they got to a Hollywood set was the famed Alcatraz. Many of the ladies were keen to learn if a certain rugby player was in the grounds.

"It is relentless, they are already training. He was back in work on Monday," said Amy.

And, as for her other career, there may be another book in the pipeline after the first spent three weeks at number one.

"I'll let my poor brain rest for a minute," she quipped.

There were many recession conscious fashionistas in town. This included the actress herself who wore a €68 dress from Topshop and a pair of canary-yellow shoes purchased for a €50 bargain in the sales.

Many had trawled Ebay, granny's wardrobe and even resorted to re-painting their hats to avoid splashing out on new attire.

But those Kerry folks are determined, as some have found out to their detriment. And, it was second time lucky for the Blossom Hill Ladies' Day winner, who bagged a trip to Milan and South Africa, with €2,000 spending money.

A combined family effort landed Emir O'Shea (33), from Killarney, the top prize for her Coco Chanel-inspired trouser suit.

Her family own the Envy boutique in the town.

Peering out from under her oversized gold hat, which was enduring its second Ladies' Day test, the mother of two confessed: "I was in there at Galway Races last week, I was holding on to it for dear life in the wind."

Her husband, Billy O'Shea, the former Kerry football captain who broke his leg in the 1997 All-Ireland senior football final, was yesterday at home minding their two children.

Her sister Clodagh Irwin Owens had whipped up the suit, while her other sister Niamh Stack had created the hat.

"She did nothing, just showed it," Clodagh joked.

It wasn't all about the fashion, there was a bit of politics in the mix.

Encourage

Four ladies from 'Women for Europe' were doing the Government's work for them as they turned out to encourage females to vote 'Yes' in the upcoming Lisbon referendum. Some 56pc of women ticked 'No' last time round.

With the endurance test now behind them, the mass of fashion hopefuls faded off into the sunset armed with free blister patches to ease the stiletto-inflicted pain.

Most of the famous faces will be flocking to the RDS today where all eyes will be firmly returning to the horses.

Ireland holds high hopes of reliving its glory days of show jumping with the Irish team reckoned to have a strong chance in the Nations Cup.

- Louise Hogan