Author: Amy Holmes

We’re just wrapping up for the year here at Kingston Lafferty Design and we’re full on getting into the festive spirit!

The past two weeks have seen lots of lovely activities, from our Christmas party day to designing Christmas cards to receiving lovely gifts from all our closest friends.

Our Christmas cards have been sent out all across the country and hopefully people are enjoying the little treats we’ve added, just a little thank you to all of those who have worked with us over the year and continue to support us in our little (but growing!) dream.

Some complimentary treats tucked in with Maurice the Deer, hopefully everyone has gotten to gobble these up (there may have been one or two tasted when the boxes arrived..)

For everyone we don’t yet have on our Christmas card list we wish you the merriest, brightest Christmas!

Here’s also a sneak peak into our Christmas Party antics! Ever tried Aerial Yoga?? It’s such a laugh! What a great combination of relaxing yoga and fun aerial acrobatics.

In full swing…!

A few action shots taken by a very bemused bystander!

All the KLD team!! Happy out with our efforts feeling lovely and loose after all that hanging.

We later continued our celebrations with Cava, nibbles, and getting dressing up in the KLD home, followed by a delicious Christmas dinner at Farmer Browns in Ballsbridge. Unfortunately we were so focused on the food (and presents!) that we took no photos. Except for this one…of the lovely red that helped us on our merry way.

Such an enjoyable day and a fantastic way to say goodbye to our brilliant parisiene intern Olyviane who has left us to return to her studies, we miss you!

Merry Christmas everyone! We will be back fresh-faced and full-bellied in the new year to continue doing what we love and bringing beautiful design to great people!

A whirlwind of activity at Crouch End has seen the start of our Tootoomoo restaurant transformation.  This beloved venue is getting a face lift while heroically staying open (customers, we apologise!)

The artistic industrial grunge has had its time and served Tootomoo well, establishing the restaurant as a casual, fun, and friendly location to enjoy the fantastic Pan Asian food they are renowned for. Now we take a step towards a more polished, but equally as charming and eclectic, Tootoomoo vision.

Above: Previous industrial-style shelving and the Tootoomoo Crouch End spray paint mural by street artist Milo Tchais, completed in 2012.

The bright colour tones are to be pared back to rich reds, deep teals and warm walnut. Vibrancy is added with pattern tiles like the blue Vives Guell (tiles.ie) and the black and white Bertie tile (tons of tiles). For a touch of the bizarre we’ve switched up the angle of the tiles in the back nook, continuing them up the wall for full effect.

A few tweaks happening here to get it just right!

We’ve also brought the outdoors in and added extra contrast with bright, lush bamboo foliage and Madagascar palms behind the banquette seats.

Our materials are starting to shine through too with the brass table legs getting installed on site today! The white marble tops are to follow for the completed look in our Little T front bar area.

All coming together now.

We’re very much looking forward to seeing our work completed in the new year, and we hope you are too!

My name is Lucy Gillmor Murphy and I am the milliner behind LGM Hats.

My education lies in both fine art and fashion as I studied fine art for 4 years in IADT and at the same time I completed a night course in fashion at Dublin’s Grafton Academy. In my Final Year Exhibition I was lucky enough to sell my design work, and the summer after graduation I had my paintings accepted into a commercial gallery in Dublin. Although I was off to a great start with these accomplishments I still felt I had not yet found my passion. 

With this search in mind I decided to go back to the Grafton Academy to study Millinery. Here I was tutored by Ms. Aileen Keogan who turned out to be a wonderful mentor with a wealth of knowledge on the traditional methods necessary in the craft of millinery.

In 2010 I created a small collection of winter hats that were stocked in a handful of boutiques in Ireland, since then my business has grown and LGM Hats has taken on a life of its own! I now have some of the most fantastic stockists in Ireland, England and the US.

I am very lucky to have such wonderful stockists and to be able to create collections to show to boutiques each season. However, the real fun lies in making one of a kind creation for private clients that come to see me in my Enniskerry based studio. I have made everything from a towering flower filled hat for Ascot to a wonderfully classy lace and pearl encrusted cloche for church on Christmas morning; it is over past few years however that I have become rather a specialist in creating hats for mothers of the brides.

Although every mother of the bride, and mother of the groom for that matter, is different there are a few important factors that I would always take into consideration when making a hat for such an occasion. A mother of the bride will be photographed a lot on the day so it is important that the hat does not cover too much of the face or cast a large shadow.

Before even looking at their outfit I would have them try on a few different shapes to get a feel for what suits them and how comfortable they feel in a hat. I don’t have any rules about what hats tend to suit what face shapes, I think it is a case of try everything on and you will know the one that suits you best.

After choosing the general shape I then begin to discuss how we can make this the perfect hat for that particular client. Some women have a very clear idea of what they want, so we would discuss colours, fabrics and embellishments; then I can go ahead with making their idea a reality. Others, once I show them the general idea of what I am thinking, are happy to let me create them something from my imagination.

Lucy’s Top Tip: I would always recommend having a hat that goes with the whole outfit rather than one that matches it perfectly. For example if you have a powder pink dress and shoes I would recommend a cream or gold hat, perhaps with only a hint of pink, this makes for a much more styled look. Many women are happy in the knowledge that they know their own style but a hat is not an everyday accessory so I am delighted when I get the chance to help create the perfect hat to finish off a look for a special occasion.

Lucy Gillmor Murphy

LGM Hats
www.lgmhats.com
lgmhats@hotmail.com

Check out Lucy’s beautiful designs on her website: www.lgmhats.com

Below: Some LGM designs on the catwalk