A Fashion Crush

It hit me like a bolt of blue. I have a crush. It was highly unexpected as I had no clue  who he was until I spied him on The Late Late Show in December. When he was described as being into fashion, I took one look at his get up, raised an eyebrow and sneered. I was not too impressed with his garb.

I was in Cali for Christmas so missed the full-throttle PR machine in the lead up to his first article for the Irish Independent’s Weekend magazine. I did however see him walking on Castle Market when I was with two fashionable and handsome male friends. I wasn’t looking too shabby myself, sporting a fur-trimmed coat and Hermes scarf.  I didn’t cop who he was, but he was definitely looking at us and being a single lady on the prowl I made eye contact with him. The boys began to talk about him immediately and I was, ‘Who is he again?’ Brief discussions ensued and then it was on to whatever other topic of conversation took our fancy as we headed to The Lost Society for coffees and cakes.

Then I went on to the Indo website Monday morning only to be seduced by a picture of a topless man and the line ‘Into the Closet’ – I had to click the link and read Paul Galvin’s Fashion Manifesto.

His work needs a bit more fine tuning (pot meet kettle - but I am a mere blogger and do not get paid for my humble words). I also likely think that it could be down to the fact that it is formatted differently in print with more clear paragraph/section breaks. I’ve noticed this does not always translate to online papers and can make a huge difference in the way something flows.

So all of the above issues aside, he had me at “Any man that can go out and buy his woman something she loves and feels great wearing, something on-trend, is on a winner.” This is something that I’ve always had turning in the back of my mind. I long for the day I receive a gift of clothes, jewellery, or accessories from a man that makes me gasp with delight because it is just ‘me’. Not something I picked out, or openly discussed my desire for, but that they put a bit of thought into, walked into a store and knew it was what I would like.

I am not being ungrateful - I have been in receipt of some lovely, thoughtful gifts over the years from former flames, but never in the form of the material accoutrements I love so much. I’ve never made a secret of my love of fashion to the men in my life, but it seemed it was something they would admire, but not necessarily directly participate in. Fashion is often dismissed as a girl or gay’s game.  It’s more than acceptable for a woman to spend precious time searching for the perfect wearable gift. For example, I am someone that spent a majority of a holiday looking for a gift, a watch, that was loved and lost similar to the relationship itself.

Of course, Mr. Galvin intimates that a man who does choose the perfect gift will get away with more and will receive more favours in the bedroom. This is a bit Maxim-esque for my tastes, but, boys, take a bit of advice from M. Galvin  and get a bit brave when it comes to fashion. 

Oh and Paul - you can buy me presents anytime…