Fashion from old rope is the theme of Junk Couture, a national second-level student competition to create clothes from rubbish.
From more than 1,000 entries, 60 finalists were shortlisted, turning in madcap outfits using everything from discarded car tyres to animal bones found in a bog. The winner will be chosen at an event in the Burlington Hotel tomorrow (April 17th). The idea, according to organiser Troy Armour, "is to educate kids about recycling and give them an opportunity to show what they can do in a field they normally wouldn't get to work in at school". Deirdre McQuillan
CAKE, KAVANAGH AND MARQUEZ:Young Hearts Run Free (YHRF) is one of the most creative event organisers in Dublin city, and tomorrow (Sunday) it is hosting a picnic on the banks of the Grand Canal. From 3pm to 6pm there will be tea and lots of cake at The Leafy with Love Banks event, which takes place around the Patrick Kavanagh bench. YHRF will also be giving away 48 copies of Love in the Time of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez's heartbreaking work of staggering genius. The entire event, like all YHRF initiatives, is in aid of the Simon Community, so leave a few quid in the donation jars that will be scattered around the area. And make sure to take advantage of all that lovely cake. Laurence Mackin
WORD ON THE STREET: Brand-dropping
What it means:You've just been to a marvellous party. All the glitterati were there – the top stars of Hollywood, the biggest icons of pop music, the flightiest social butterflies. You can't wait to tell your friends the next day when you meet for lunch. Not about the guests, of course, but all about that fabulous Chanel dress you wore for the occasion. Namedropping is so noughties – the new buzz on the social circuit is not who was there, but what they were wearing. The best brand-droppers are up to speed on the latest collections, and they can spot a designer copy from HM at 50 metres.
Where it came from:It may all have started with Liz Hurley. Until she wore that Versace dress with the safety pins, she was just the bit of fluff at the end of Hugh Grant's arm. Soon, every starlet and wannabe was showing up at awards sporting a signature number from their favourite designer, and upstaging the real stars. Samantha Mumba stepped out in a diamond-encrusted dress by Scott Henshall worth £5 million at the premiere of the first Spider-Man movie, but it still didn't save her career. Soon, brand-dropping was de rigueur in rap and RB lyrics, as pop stars tried to out-bling each other in song. These days, stars are 10-a-penny and hardly worth a mention, but a one-of-a-kind dress from Alexander McQueen – well, I could go on about it all night.
How to say it:I'm not usually one for brand-dropping, sweetie, but can you move your dirty big Patrick Coxs – they're stepping on my Jimmy Choos. Kevin Courtney
HELPING HANDS AT SEA:In this issue, we celebrate the abundance of fish in our seas, and look at the huge variety on offer on our native shores. What is often over-looked, though, is how dangerous a job fishing is, as the recent tragic events in Skerries demonstrated.
The Coast Guard and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) work in tandem to save hundreds of lives every year. The Coast Guard has a network of 55 stations around the country, staffed by around 1,000 unpaid volunteers and funded by the government. For information on volunteering, check with your local station, a list of which can be found on transport.ie.
The RNLI has 43 lifeboat stations in Ireland, north and south, with about 1,500 volunteers, including shore crews and station management. It holds regular fundraising events, and you can make a donation, become a member or even become a volunteer. For every euro donated, 84c is spent on operations and 16c is spent on generating donations. It is holding a Dublin Flag Day on May 5th and 6th and the Cork RNLI is holding a night at the dog races in the Curraheen Park Greyhound Stadium in Bishopstown on May 27th. For details, tel: 1800-789589 or see rnli.ie.
GUILT-FREE FASHION:A fashion event being billed as Ireland's first carbon-neutral vintage show will be held on April 21st in the Sycamore Club in Temple Bar. It's the brainchild of Ciara O'Connor of Emission Zero (a company that advises businesses on their carbon footprint) in tandem with Quirk and Dirk, a vintage shop in Fairview, Dublin owned by Limerick School of Art and Design sports science graduate Deirdre Cantrell. The catwalk show will feature 40 vintage outfits along with some of Quirk Dirk's own designs, with the idea being to raise awareness of sustainability and shift attitudes away from disposable fashion. It's free, but spaces are limited to 250 people. For further information, or for invitations, contact ciara@emissionzero.ie. Doors open at 6pm . Deirdre McQuillan
DUBLIN DARES YOU:Adventure racing has become something of a sporting phenomenon in recent years. It's a multi-disciplinary event that can last anything from a few hours to a week, and takes in a range of sports, from running, kayaking and orienteering to biking, climbing and abseiling. Most adventure races take teams of two to four people on wild tours of some of the more remote parts of our country, but the organisers behind the Dublin Adventure Race (Dare) plan to turn the city into an urban race playground on May 21st. There are three categories in the race: Expert (55km bike, 10-15km running/walking, 5km watersports and other challenges); Sport (20km bike, 5-10km running/walking, 5km watersports and challenges); and Fun (abseiling and a street treasure hunt). For many participants the highlight of the event will be that abseil, which will involve hanging out of the roof of the Aviva Stadium. To launch the event, the organisers gave a few foolish souls the chance to try this vertigo-inducing feat. First up the gantry was TV presenter Kathryn Thomas (above). As you can tell from the picture, the view from the top is spectacular.
The Dare also coincides with the Adventure Weekend exhibition in the RDS, so those who don't have the stamina for the race can still have a go at the disciplines involved. See dublindaresyou.com for details and entry forms, and theadventureweekend.ie for information on the RDS event. Laurence Mackin
POP-UP GEMS:Blame the current craze for pop-up shops on Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons, who took over a temporary space in Berlin and started a trend that shows no sign of abating. The latest to embrace the trend is Dún Laoghaire Co Council and County Enterprise Board, which have set up a shop selling the work of 15 local jewellery designers in Dún Laoghaire for the month of April. The shop is staffed by the jewellers themselves so that the public can meet the faces behind the creations. Jewellers taking part include Rebeka Kahn, Dawn Mulholland, Hollie Blakeney and Laragh McMonagle. Find them in Park House, Upper George's Street, Dún Laoghaire, opposite the main entrance to the People's Park (10am-6pm Monday to Saturday and 11am-6pm Sundays), until April 31st. Deirdre McQuillan
