RTE today Show

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of working with stylist Irene O’Brien behind the scenes of the RTE Today show. I was delighted to receive the opportunity to get an insight into the styling industry.

I arrived at RTE studios bright and early on a Thursday morning. There I met with Irene who brought me backstage and introduced me to the models. There were 3 models and 6 outfits in total. All of the clothes were from Carraig Donn. Some of the clothes were wrinkled from being transported so I had to iron them before the models wore them. The models arrived with their own hair and makeup done and went to their dressing rooms to do a few last minute touch ups. I was asked to iron all of the clothes and hang them in order on a rack, making sure the right bags and accessories were placed with the correct outfits.

The models waited in robes and slippers while waiting to be called for filming. In the meantime, Irene and I went through her queue cards insuring that every item was included. She brought her laptop behind set and looked up each piece of clothing on the Carraig Donn website to see if certain garments were available in different colours/patterns. We were then called for filming.

I helped each model get dressed into their first outfits ensuring that no tags were visible and assisting with zips and buttons. Each model lined up in order of their outfits waiting to go on stage. A girl with a headset told each model when it was their que to walk on set. Once they modelled the clothes, they had to rush back stage where I was waiting for them with their next outfit. Filming was short and fast and so the models didn’t have a lot of time to change.

Once filming was over, I helped the models get out of the outfits and put them into a suitcase which Irene used to transport the clothes back to the shop. I never knew how much work went into short fashion segments. The models had to travel down from Dublin the night before and Irene had to prepare what she was going to say. There was a lot of preparation on the day in terms of caring for the clothes and assisting with outfit changes.

It was a great insight into the styling side of the fashion industry. I also got to meet Daithi and Maura! I really enjoyed working with Irene. She knew exactly what needed to be done and was kind to share her story of her career journey with me.