A DEBS or graduation ball was once the preserve of upper-class English families presenting their daughters to suitable partners, but now every girl attends one. The season is beginning, so I spoke to Irish designers about their graduation balls and their advice on what to wear without spending a fortune.
By Roz Crowley
In 1983, Don O’Neill went to the inaugural debs of Causeway Comprehensive School in Co Kerry, in the assembly hall. “We didn’t bring dates and there was no dress code, at the time,” he says. “So I did that in a beautiful, slim-fitting black suit that was hand-tailored for my grand-uncle in the early ’60s and in pristine condition. I wore a burgundy and black knit V-necked vest over a crisp, white shirt and a black bow tie.” He was the only one in a suit.
Oprah Winfrey wore one of his dresses to a film premiere and the 2012 Oscars, and Carrie underwood wore his gown to the 2013 Grammys. His beaded gowns flatter all ages, and customers include Taylor Swift, Nicole Kidman, Julia Roberts, Natalie Portman, Paris Hilton, Grainne and Sile Seoige, Miriam O’Callaghan and Kathryn Thomas.
Born in 1966 in Ballyheigue, NYC-based Don worked in the fashion houses of Christian Lacroix, Carmen Marc Valvo and Badgley Mischka. In 2009, he launched Theia ‘to bring out every woman’s inner goddess’.
A good debs dress, he says, is one in which the girl looks and feels gorgeous, and it fits her. “It shouldn’t induce an ‘Oh My God, what was she thinking?’ moment — bikinis with chiffon pieces trailing off them masquerading as dresses,” he says. Men’s suits need to be a slim fit with a narrow shoulder, with a slim-fitted shirt underneath. Learn how to tie a bow tie on YouTube.
Kerry designer Don O’Neill
Lainey Keogh remembers little about her debs. “I must have squirmed all evening. I was never any good at formal occasions,” she says. “Now, life is different. There is a great sense of ‘dressing up’, even on low budgets, and an amazing beauty industry at our fingertips.” Her friends, Marianne Faithfull and Sophie Dahl, modelled for her 1997 catwalk debut, and, since then, with scores of celebs wearing her creations, her success has been new knitting and weaving technologies used with traditional techniques.
Just back from showing her capsule collection at Paris Fashion Week, Emma Manley made her low-backed dress out of ties from Black Tie, vintage lace, and a brooch from her grandmother. Her label, Manley, brings together feminine, soft lines with urban street-wear fabrics, such as leather and studding. She likes de-prettying dresses, using a bodice of leather with floating, chiffon skirt, burned at the ends to give a harder, grungy edge. “I stayed tame at my debs to make sure the lace wasn’t ruined,” she says. She did her own hair and make-up.
Beyonce, Kylie, Cheryl Cole, Florence Welch, Ellie Goulding and Pixie Lott are among the customers of Dublin-based jewellery designer, Merle O’Grady. For her debs in 2001 she designed and made her dress. “It had such a tight fishtail, I couldn’t go to the bathroom, but I loved the whole business of planning it, the hair and make-up.” She recommends jewellery to liven up basic dresses.
For women invited to a few grads balls, she says: “A low-backed dress can be magnificent with statement earrings, and an antique/recycled dress can be trended-up with big neckpieces to flattering effect,” she says. This year’s trends bring us back to the grunge look of a flattering dress teamed with punk-inspired jewellery — edgy neckpieces, cuffs and cocktail rings. Don’t forget outerwear.
“It can be cold on debs nights,” she says. “Team your chiffon dress with a leather biker jacket — terrific with pale skin — no fake tan, please.” Use the leather jacket over the shoulders, or buy a fake-fur long stole. For other nights in the same dress, change jewellery, hair and make-up.
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