Desert Island Dress

Welcome back to our post-analysis episode of Desert Island Dress .   Every other week, we take a moment to reflect on the stories and choices shared in the main conversation and pull on one of the threads that caught our attention.     ✨ Stay connected with Desert Island Dress :    📸 Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠@desert_island_dress⁠⁠⁠      🌐 Website: ⁠www.desert-island-dress.com⁠     💌 Share your favourite...

You often wonder what someone is going to be like before you meet them for one of these conversations. And I think with this week's guest, Dr Suzanne Crowe, we were particularly curious, and perhaps even a little in awe of her before she'd arrived.  Katriona and I had both recently read Suzanne's book, Intensive Care: True Stories of Healing, Heartache and Hope from Inside Irish Childr...

Welcome back to our post-analysis episode of Desert Island Dress .  Every other week, we take a moment to reflect on the stories and choices shared in the main conversation and pull on one of the threads that caught our attention.    ✨ Stay connected with Desert Island Dress :   📸 Instagram: ⁠⁠@desert_island_dress⁠⁠     🌐 Website: www.desert-island-dress.com    💌 Share your favourite episode o...

This week’s guest is painter Carl Hickey. If you are not familiar, Carl’s work is celebrated for capturing those everyday, instantly recognisable moments in life. Recent paintings have depicted two guys sporting their much-coveted 3D glasses, waiting for the solar eclipse back in August; or two lads e-scooting through Dublin city; or his mam getting her nails painted by her next-door neighbour out...

Welcome back to our post-analysis episode of  Desert Island Dress .  Every other week, we take a moment to reflect on the stories and choices shared in the main conversation and pull on one of the threads that caught our attention.    ✨ Stay connected with  Desert Island Dress :   📸 Instagram:  ⁠⁠@desert_island_dress⁠⁠     🌐 Website:  www.desert-island-dress.com    💌 : Share your favourite epi...

Today, we are honoured to welcome Caoilfhionn Gallagher to  Desert Island Dress .  Caoilfhionn is a barrister and has worked in London at the renowned Doughty Street Chambers for over 20 years, alongside similarly excellent human rights barristers such as Amal Clooney, fighting for justice — particularly for those who do not have the voice or reach to advocate for themselves. Her next steps includ...

Welcome back to our post-analysis episode of  Desert Island Dress .  Every other week, we take a moment to reflect on the stories and choices shared in the main conversation and pull on one of the threads that caught our attention.    ✨ Stay connected with  Desert Island Dress :   📸 Instagram:  ⁠⁠@desert_island_dress⁠⁠     🌐 Website:  www.desert-island-dress.com    💌 Share your favourite episo...

And we are back! It’s been a slightly longer break than expected since Series 4, but we are delighted to be back, and we think we have a really great lineup of guests to take to the island this time around. To open the series, we are welcoming a person who has been on Katriona’s wish list since we kicked off this project – artist, designer, sculptor and creative Richard Malone.  I could list the m...

Welcome back to our post-analysis episode of  Desert Island Dress . Every other week, we take a moment to reflect on the stories and choices shared in the main conversation and pull on one of the threads that caught our attention.   🎨 This series features hand-drawn sketches of each of our guests by artist Louise Boughton @louiseboughton_  ✨ Stay connected with  Desert Island Dress :   📸 Instag...

Welcome to our final guest episode for Series 4 of  Desert Island Dress  with Marie Kelly, a writer whose work moves effortlessly between fashion, culture, art and everyday life.   Beginning her career in London before returning to Ireland, Marie has spent more than two decades telling stories across luxury magazines and premium brands, with clients including Victoria Beckham, Stella McCartney and...

Welcome back to our post-analysis episode of  Desert Island Dress .  Every other week, we take a moment to reflect on the stories and choices shared in the main conversation and pull on one of the threads that caught our attention.    🎨 This series features hand-drawn sketches of your podcast hosts Dee & Katriona, and each of our guests by artist Louise Boughton @louiseboughton_  ✨ Stay conn...

Today, we are thrilled to share a conversation with someone whom both Katriona and I have admired for many years in our academic lives. When studying and teaching fashion, her work has always been a guiding force. She is the sociologist, feminist thinker, and cultural scholar, Professor Angela McRobbie.  Our discussion with Angela travels across countries and decades, bringing us into the creative...

Welcome back to our post-analysis episode of  Desert Island Dress .  Every other week, we take a moment to reflect on the stories and choices shared in the main conversation and pull on one of the threads that caught our attention.    🎨 This series features hand-drawn sketches of your podcast hosts Dee & Katriona, and each of our guests by artist Louise Boughton @louiseboughton_  ✨ Stay conn...

Hello Desert Island Dress listeners, and welcome. We hope you are enjoying the series so far, and today we are so very delighted to share this week’s guest with you – Irish musician, singer, and songwriter, Liam Ó Maonlaí.    My first recollections of Liam were as the lead singer of Irish band, Hothouse Flowers – I was probably about 9 or 10 years old, and we’d have the anthem ‘Don’t Go’ blaring o...

Welcome back to our post-analysis episode of Desert Island Dress . Every other week, we take a moment to reflect on the stories and choices shared in the main conversation and pull on one of the threads that caught our attention.   ✨ Stay connected with Desert Island Dress :  📸 Instagram: ⁠⁠@desert_island_dress⁠⁠    🌐 Website: ⁠⁠www.desertislanddress.com⁠⁠   💌 Our ask this series: share your f...

This week, we are joined by Dana Thomas, journalist, author, and one of fashion’s most insightful voices. Based in Paris, Dana has spent her career exploring how the fashion industry really works, from sustainability and supply chains to the inner worlds of luxury and design.  We first came to Dana’s work through her writing — I discovered her book  Fashionopolis , while teaching sustainability on...

Welcome back to our post-analysis episode of Desert Island Dress . Every other week, we take a moment to reflect on the stories and choices shared in the main conversation and pull on one of the threads that caught our attention.   ✨ Stay connected with Desert Island Dress :  📸 Instagram: ⁠@desert_island_dress⁠    🌐 Website: ⁠www.desertislanddress.com⁠   💌 Our ask this series: share your favou...

As Ireland celebrates the election of Catherine Connolly as President, it feels timely to reflect on the women whose work helped make this kind of leadership possible.  This week’s guest is one of them. Ailbhe Smyth — academic, feminist, and lifelong activist — has helped shape Ireland’s social conscience for more than five decades.  From the early women’s movement to the campaigns for marriage eq...

Welcome back to our post-analysis episode of Desert Island Dress . Every other week, we take a moment to reflect on the stories and choices shared in the main conversation and pull on one of the threads that caught our attention.   ✨ Stay connected with Desert Island Dress :  📸 Instagram: @desert_island_dress    🌐 Website: www.desertislanddress.com   💌 Our ask this series: share your favourite...

Today we have another wonderful guest for you — the creative, singular, stylish disruptor and artist, Gavin Friday. We first met Gavin back in May at the launch of a new exhibition at the National Museum of Ireland. The exhibition, curated by Gary O’Neill, celebrates Dublin youth culture, street style, and subcultures from the 1960s to the 1990s. Gary has spent the last two decades collecting mate...

Welcome back to our post-analysis episode of Desert Island Dress . Every other week, we take a moment to reflect on the stories and choices shared in the main conversation and pull on one of the threads that caught our attention.   ✨ Stay connected with Desert Island Dress :  📸 Instagram: @desert_island_dress    🌐 Website: www.desertislanddress.com   💌 Our ask this series: share your favourite...

Kicking off our fourth series, we are so excited to welcome Jo Ellison to Desert Island Dress .  Jo Ellison, as many of you will know, is the editor of HTSI/ How to Spend It at the Financial Times , and formerly Fashion Editor at the Financial Times and Features Editor at Vogue . Having Jo spend time in the “hot seat,” as Katrina would call it, was a dream come true, and we really hope she enjoyed...

In this post-analysis episode, we reflect on our conversation with Mandy Johnston and explore the themes that stuck with us—effort, authenticity, and the subtle power of getting dressed. From the blurred lines of post-COVID workwear to the quiet authority of a well-chosen outfit, we discuss why what we wear still matters. We also share a standout clip from The Diplomat that perfectly captures the...

In this episode of Desert Island Dress , journalist, broadcaster, and communications expert Mandy Johnston joins us to share the stories behind the clothes that have shaped her life. From career-defining purchases to sentimental staples, Mandy reflects on the power of dressing with intention, the fine line between fashion and style, and why great clothes—like great friends—stand the test of time....

In this post-analysis episode of Desert Island Dress , we reflect on our powerful conversation with Leon Diop. We explore his choice to wear a Charles Oliveira hoodie and what it reveals about resilience, identity, and surrounding yourself with positive role models. We also unpack the cultural urgency of Netflix’s Adolescence , the rise of harmful online influencers like Andrew Tate, and the criti...