BeautyCouture.ie

Lorna Weightman - Exclusive Interview

By: Niamh, 12 May 2011

We chat to the gorge stylist and fashion blogger Lorna Weightman, about her top fashion tips for Irish gals, her style crush on Olivia Palermo and why she should have gotten up close and personal with Cillian Murphy!

Tell us about what you are up to at the moment?

‘Right now I am running my style website and blog Styleisle.ie, whilst also doing some styling for shoots. I am also the presenter on Stylenation.ie Ireland’s leading online fashion channel! What most people don’t realise, when I tell them about my job is that I am also a qualified Accountant and I work full time as well. I have had to become pretty good at time management!’

 What’s the best thing about your job?

With regards to my website, I can indulge myself in the world of fashion and write about something I am passionate about. It comes so easy to me, and researching for blog posts and shoots, is not an arduous task. I relish being swamped in style and looking for inspiration online and in magazines. I’m a complete fashion junky! I have almost ten years of Vogue which I keep in chronological order for reference! It’s like a self-built fashion encyclopaedia which I keep in a cupboard! On top of that, I absolutely love filming the show, I get to have creative license and I am constantly trying new things and show formats so the viewers can see different facets of the industry, from reporting from fashion weeks to sharing the best buys from the high street!

How did you get into the world of fashion and fashion blogging?

‘I started modelling when I was in secondary school, with Morgan the Agency whom I am still with to this day! But the love of fashion came from genetics. My mother is the most stylish person I know and shared her passion for fashion with me from the get go. So I was constantly surrounded by magazines from an early age and I have been a dedicated reader of Vogue since I was given pocket money of my own. I loved experimenting with style (even the times when it didn’t go so well!). When I was a teenager, every so often, I used to take everything out of my wardrobe and try to make up new outfits with what I had. I was always trying to reinvent my own look. Then when I started modelling I was exposed to a whole new world of fashion. I used to study the stylists on shoots and bombard them with questions! When I think back I was probably really annoying!

The blogging phenomenon only came to be in 2009. I had been studying full time since I was 18 in Trinity College and then to the Institute of Chartered Accountants. And moving to work full time straight after that, I really never gave myself a chance to have time for a hobby. So I bought a book on how to build websites and I started to research what was already in the market. I looked for a niche, and found that there was a need for a light, refreshing and colloquial website which could make style simple. I wanted to interview people in the industry, look for good investments for your wardrobe and keep readers up to date with my own personal fashion adventure. It took me a year to get it off the ground and I finally launched styleisle in January 2010. Since then, it has built a dedicated following globally and I am really proud of it.’

What do you love most about fashion?

‘Probably the cyclical nature of it. Look back to the 40s and 50s and see just how much of that era is present in contemporary style? And even now for this season, the 70s are a huge influence, the abundance of maxis, bohemian prints and wider legged jeans are just a few examples. It’s a challenge for designers to endeavour to make new statements in fashion but more often than not, they look back to archives and history and translate what has been, to what is or what should be.’

Who is your biggest style influence?

‘Oh that’s a toughy! Probably Grace Kelly. Not for what she wore, but for how she wore it. She had poise and elegance and all of that was intrinsic. She just had it, that je ne sais quoi that we lust after.’

Favourite designers?

‘At the moment, I love Proenza Schouler. Clashing colours, statement pieces, I love the boldness of their collections. I think they are definitely semi responsible for bringing back the tie dye effect! Jack and Lazaro, come to think of it, only have the label up and running for 9 years and they have had such success and a dedicated celebrity following. They have achieved so much in such a short time. It’s admirable’.

Do you think Irish Women dress well?

‘I think we are getting there. There is still some confusion as to how to translate trends into our wardrobes. Irish women are dedicated followers of fashion but there is misconception that if it’s trendy then it must be worth buying. Oh this is such a fallacy. I tell a lot of the women I work with on a one to one basis that they key are staples. If you invest in these, you can work trends around them without spending a fortune on something that will only last a season. But as I said earlier, fashion is cyclical so it’s striking that balance between the classic and the trendy.

We have so many resources now, a superb set of stylists, bloggers and editors who are sharing their knowledge and to add to that we have some of the best designers in the world. So Ireland is becoming a top destination on the style map.’

What is the biggest fashion tip you’d give to Irish Women?

‘If you can’t find anything to wear, always have an old reliable. My go to outfit is skinny jeans, a white tee shirt, black blazer and either nude or black platform shoes. I’ve lost count of how many times I have resorted to this look.’

Best bargain ever?

‘Best bargain ever was a Georgio Armani leather jacket for €45 at a charity clothes sale. I treasure it!’

Uggs – Plain Ugly or totally fab?

‘Neither, somewhere in the middle. Never to be worn with tracksuit bottoms tucked into them. This is a crime! I have lovely grey woollen ones I got in Miami two years ago and they look great with black leggings in the Winter’.

Where do you stand on the whole 70s revival happening on the high street right now?

‘Oh I quite like it. I got some flared jeans recently from Topshop and I think they are really flattering. I’ve been stuck in skinnies for a long time now so the change in the jean trend is refreshing. And I adore maxis with gladiator style sandals for the summer. It’s nice that the maxi trend stuck around from last year. ‘

Any secret celebrity crushes?

‘I have style crush on Olivia Palermo (who doesn’t). I interviewed her at London Fashion Week at the Jaeger A/W 2011/12 show and she was just charming. She had a military style button down dress on with strappy heals and her signature Mulberry bag and she looked timeless. She oozes elegance without effort. And she was just lovely. Very chatty and more than happy to answer my questions on the show and her own style.’

Any advice for budding fashion bloggers out there?

‘Whatever you do, don’t write a blog because everyone else is doing it. You have to be passionate about your topic and feel that you are inspired by it. And you don’t need to blog everyday. Just write when you know you are sharing something you believe in. People can tell when you are writing just for the sake of it. I try to write my blog and website in such a way that the reader can almost hear me talking. I want it to sound like I am recounting a story!’

What did you want to be when you grew up?

‘An actress. I was determined. That dream still comes into my head and I still think that one day I will win an Oscar. Realistically, maybe for wardrobe and not my acting skills! I tried my best to succeed as an actress for a long time. I started drama when I was four and I went on doing solo performance training with the Royal Irish Academy of Music and Drama and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama until I was 23. I actually have a qualification to teach speech and drama! I did some acting as an extra and a few TV commercials. The big break almost came when I was asked to audition for the female lead in Disco Pigs in 2000, but I was studying at the time for my Leaving Cert and that was my priority so I passed on it. Cillian Murphy ended up being the male lead and went onto to have a massive career in Hollywood. Shoulda, woulda, coulda and all that.’