Sybil Connolly

Sybil Connolly (24 January 1921 – 6 May 1998) was a celebrated fashion designer and global icon known for her innovative use of traditional Irish textiles in haute couture. Often described as "Dublin's Dior", she achieved international repute and success, making her one of the first Irish designers to do so. She was a member of the "Big Three" Irish fashion designers (along with Irene Gilbert and Raymond Kenna/Kay Peterson), and was described by former Taoiseach (prime minister) Jack Lynch as "a national treasure."

She worked with brands such as Tiffany & Co. and Bloomingdale's. Among her fashion label's famous clients were American First Lady and style icon Jacqueline Kennedy, Elizabeth Taylor, the Rockefellers, and the Mellons. Her activities were covered in both the fashion press and the social columns of publications such as the Hollywood Reporter. Described by Bettina Ballard, the influential editor of American Vogue, as a "personable milk-skinned Irish charmer," she came to the notice of Carmel Snow, the Dalkey-born editor of Harpers Bazaar. Snow was instrumental in introducing Sybil Connolly to the American market and press. Her education came largely from her Welsh grandfather and private tutors.

Connolly capitalised on this publicity by travelling with her collection to the US later the same year, where she made another life-long friend, Eleanor Lambert, doyenne of American fashion publicists. Avedon's photographs of Connolly and her fashions also ran in Harpers Bazaar of October 1953. Connolly officially launched her couture label in 1957; she was 36. She was made part of the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 1965.

As her profile continued to rise in the United States, so did her client list – with Julie Andrews and Elizabeth Taylor wearing her clothes. Closer to her family origins in Waterford, she used tweed from the Ardfinnan Woollen Mills for the first green uniforms of Aer Lingus. She made one skirt out of men's linen handkerchiefs, and in 1954 a summer dress out of striped linen tea towels, called the "Kitchen Fugue", leading her to be praised by Bazaar as someone with an "intuitively facile hand". The First Love dress was made in the Clarke's Richard and Alan shop in 58 Grafton Street, Dublin, where Sybil Connolly worked for more than 10 years. In 1953 Connolly had only very recently begun designing dresses for the business.

In July 1954, Richard Clarke married Dorothy, and she wore the First Love Dress for the occasion. After the wedding, Dorothy had it shortened and wore it to dress dances. Almost 60 years later, when her granddaughter Anna Clarke got engaged, she asked her grandfather if she could wear it on her own big day. The dress was repaired and restored by freelance textile conservator Rachel Phelan in 2013, and Anna Clarke actually got to wear it.

Later career Her home, Number 71 Merrion Square – which she described as "the house that linen built" – became a showcase for her taste and private clients would be served jasmine tea by a butler called James. In her later career, Connolly began designing interior fabrics and wallpapers.

In the 1980s, she became involved with the restoration of The Swiss Cottage, Cahir, County Tipperary. The Cottage was originally built in the early 1800s by Richard Butler, 1st Earl of Glengall, based on a design by Regency architect John Nash. The cottage is rustic in style with a distinguished thatched roof. The interior theme was based on nature. Such was Connolly's interest in the restoration she helped to raise funds for the project. The Swiss Cottage opened to the public in 1989.

Recognition and legacy In 1991, Connolly received an honorary doctoral degree (LLD) from the National University of Ireland.

In 2012, Connolly's work attracted renewed interest when actor Gillian Anderson wore a vintage dress by the designer for the BAFTAs. The Hunt Museum, Limerick City houses examples of her work. In 2018, the museum released images of Sybil's designs into the Public Domain.

Writing In the 1980s, Connolly turned to writing. She wrote 3 books:

In an Irish Garden (1986)

In an Irish House (1988)

Irish Hands - the tradition of beautiful crafts (1994)

Gallery

Dresses

Sketches