Latest news with #NaomiClarke
Irish Examiner
12 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
Desire Lines: Fashion, festivals, and a revolution on the Belltable's stage
The waistcoat Irish fashion brand NOMI, created by influencer Naomi Clarke aka @the_style_fairy, has recently launched its Solstice capsule collection. Clarke says she designs for women who want to make a statement without shouting, 'polished but never stiff, bold, but always effortless'. We love this Mia waistcoat, €110. Available in UK sizes 8 - 18. The summer treat Strawberry & Co's Dublin pop up One of life's simplest pleasures is in-season strawberries paired with fresh cream and/or rich, melting chocolate. If you've been to London in recent years, chances are you've indulged in Borough Market's famous chocolate strawberry pairing. Now, Dublin gets its own version, with Strawberry & Co's South William Street pop-up. Classic Wexford strawberries will be available with a selection of delicious toppings – drizzled in Swiss chocolate, marinated in lime with Madagascan vanilla Chantilly, or paired with pistachio cream... sure to become a TikTok favourite! The pop-up will operate daily from 11am until sold out, and run until the end of August. Prices from €9.50. The festival Mark the Science Guy is set to return to Kaleidoscope School holidays are finally here and it can only mean one thing – the return of Kaleidoscope, the family-focused festival that this year sees Texas, Ocean Colour Scene and The Coronas take centre stage. Family activity highlights include shows by RTÉ's Mark the Science Guy. A highlight on the summer calendar. The new launch VOYA's Cryo Cooling Gel VOYA, leaders in certified organic seaweed skincare, introduce their latest line: the Cryo-Cooling Gel. This ultra-refreshing gel combines cooling menthol and nutrient-rich seaweed extracts to ease weary limbs, replenish moisture, and reinvigorate the skin after exercise. Or use it to ease the impact of perimenopausal symptoms. A sense of calm to our busy lives. €37. The activity Zipit Forest Adventures has announced a new destination, due to open its gates on Friday, July 18. Zipit Forest Adventures has announced a new destination, due to open its gates on Friday, July 18. Zipit Djouce Park in Co Wicklow will mark the fourth location, adding to existing locations in Tibradden Wood, Dublin, Farran Forest Park, Cork, and Lough Key Forest Park, Roscommon. The new course promises a variety of thrilling elements including a low ropes course, perfect for little explorers, aged three to six, and the challenging high ropes course, for ages seven plus. Advance bookings made in June can avail of a 10% discount using code FIRST10 online. The café Blondie: A new café has opened its doors on Ballincollig's main street, offering locals and visitors to the town good vibes and even better coffee in a welcoming, bright space. A new café has opened its doors on Ballincollig's main street, offering locals and visitors to the town good vibes and even better coffee in a welcoming, bright space. Owners of the new café named Blondie are Mark and Fiona O'Brien, salon directors of Mark Vincent Hair and Beauty on the main street. After 14 years of business in Ballincollig, the pair decided to expand their offering by opening the café in the same unit as their existing business. The original idea was to open a coffee shop, but the idea expanded, and the café now boasts a kitchen with highly qualified chefs who prepare everything on-site using the best of local produce. A day trade café open six days a week, there are already ideas swirling to create something special to cater for the town's night-time economy. The play Pat Shortt: Wreckquiem tells the story of the community of characters that orbit Dessie's Discs. Wreckquiem is the new theatre production from award-winning Irish playwright and screenwriter Mike Finn, making its world debut at the Lime Tree Theatre in Limerick until July 8. Directed by Andrew Flynn (The Cripple of Inishmaan; The Lieutenant of Inishmore; The Ferryman; From a Low & Quiet Sea) and starring Pat Shortt, Wreckquiem tells the story of the community of characters that orbit Dessie's Discs. When a developer threatens their beloved vinyl sanctuary, this band of misfits must save the day. Wreckquiem is a heart-warming comedy about hope and friendship. Compiled by Vickie Maye, Nicole Glennon and Jillian Bolger weekend@
Irish Independent
12-06-2025
- Lifestyle
- Irish Independent
‘It's not an easy thing to live with but it's part of who I am' – Irish fashion designer Naomi Clarke on life with type 1 diabetes
Today at 21:30 When Irish designer Naomi Clarke was 15 years old, she noticed a change in her health. Over the summer holidays, she lost a considerable amount of weight and felt thirsty all the time.
Rhyl Journal
11-06-2025
- Business
- Rhyl Journal
Rhyl pub with new landlady will host RNLI fundraiser weekend
Naomi Clarke, 43, who is 'born and bred in Rhyl', is the new landlady of The Swan, on Russell Road. She started running the pub in late March, and has organised this weekend's fundraiser at the venue (June 14-15). Rhyl has its own RNLI lifeboat station on East Parade – it was established in 1852 and is now one of the busiest in Wales. Its new boathouse was completed in 2001, and it houses both an all-weather and an inshore lifeboat. Naomi said: 'We're looking for local businesses to donate raffle prizes and help our local RNLI crew with vital funds that are needed every day to help them save lives at sea, and to help with all of their hard work for us in our community. 'We will be having live music all weekend, with great offers on drinks (with our new price range added), and will also be celebrating Father's Day on Sunday, too. 'There is no better place to be this weekend.' The Swan is situated just off Rhyl's town centre. The property also features a dining area, five bedrooms, an enclosed external patio/garden, and a separate shop premises available in addition to the pub. After taking on the running of the pub, Naomi told the Journal in April: 'It's my first pub as a landlady. I've lived here all of my life, and it's one of the oldest pubs in Rhyl. 'It just appealed to me in every way.'
Sunday World
03-05-2025
- Lifestyle
- Sunday World
Style Fairy Naomi Clarke tells why she wears her insulin pump ‘with pride'
Naomi isn't shy about showing off her medical device and says she aims to empower women by sharing life with diabetes and her Nomi brand. Naomi Clarke, or the Style Fairy as she is better known by her online following, doesn't gatekeep when it comes to accessories, especially when they are the life-saving kind. The stylist and fashion guru, who has just launched the third collection in her clothing label, Nomi, has been living with type 1 diabetes for more than 25 years and says her insulin pump keeps her alive. Empowering women to look and feel good in their skin, the mum-of-three, who lives in Cavan with her husband and three daughters, was diagnosed with diabetes when she was just 15. Explaining how it has been an enduring journey to accept herself just as she is, the 41-year-old talks leaps of faith, leaning into the chaos of family life and why she's always learning on the day job. 'I wear an insulin pump and it is attached to me via canula in my stomach. It's a bulky thing and it's quite ugly — it's not the prettiest device but I don't hide it anymore,' Naomi says. Naomi juggles her work with being a mum to her girls 'You don't see it online but in person a lot of people think I am wearing a mic, but no, I am not filming a secret reality show,' laughs the stylist and businesswoman as she takes our call from her sofa in Cavan. While the devoted mum has learned to live with the life-long disease that prevents your pancreas from making insulin — a vital hormone that we cannot function without — navigating the diagnosis hasn't always been easy. 'Often a lot of young girls don't want to use an insulin pump, even though it is the best technology to keep us healthy and well, because of how it looks. I can relate to that. 'I was 15 when I was diagnosed and I really rebelled against it. I didn't want to tell anyone about it. When I started college I was almost embarrassed to tell these new people that I was a diabetic, which is ridiculous and I feel sorry for that girl now. 'But you don't want to be different in any way when you're a teenager. So to have a condition and have to wear a device is overwhelming. It is a life-long condition and that's terrifying, which is why I talk about it.' Naomi with her pump Speaking openly about her life with type 1 diabetes to her 200,000 plus Instagram followers, Naomi also proudly puts her pump on display in her much-loved fashion posts to normalise life with the device. 'I think it's really reassuring for mums to know that their kids are going to live a perfectly normal life. I have worked and travelled and had three kids. I used to be self-conscious about it but now I wear it on show — it is a lifeline. It also doesn't stop me from wearing what I want. 'Nowadays, I would instantly tell a stranger I am a type 1 diabetic — 'if I am acting funny or faint this is what you do'. I am longer living with it now than without it.' While Naomi admits that life with the condition can sometimes be overwhelming, she also says the life-saving accessory helped give her the best gift in the world, her three beautiful girls — Annabelle (9) Luna May (6) and four-year-old Kaia. 'The reason I got an insulin pump, previous to this I would have been on multiple injections a day, was to get pregnant on my first girl. I am wearing it ten years now. 'I never in a million years thought I was going to be lucky enough to have three kids. Having type 1 diabetes is a big risk factor. I was monitored very closely and in Holles Street every Friday and all of the girls were born at 36 weeks.' She adds: 'They were higher risk pregnancies, and I had a difficult time with my second baby and she was in ICU. The fact that I have three healthy kids, I am so incredibly lucky.' Of course, life with three girls is now nothing short of chaotic as the fun-loving mum balances home life with her blossoming business. 'Three is mental. I could say 'oh no it's fine', but it's wild,' she laughs. 'They are absolutely unbelievable though. They are at a stage now where they play together, they also kill each other too. But it is a lot. Everyone has their own different needs and quirks. Mentally it is a lot to take on.' While motherhood can build you up and break you down in the most unexpected ways, the style icon says in building her brand she has found herself again. Naomi, centre, with models wearing her creations 'After you have your kids you kind of feel different, there is kind of a sense of feeling a bit lost and losing who you were and I think I went through that. 'Mine are nine, six and four now and I am starting to feel like me again and finding myself again — that's probably especially through chasing my dream and doing Nomi.' But chasing your dreams also means striving and sometimes failing at finding that perfect work/life balance. 'I wanted to do this for so long and it was always a case [of] the kids are too little. Was now the perfect time? I don't know. My youngest has just turned four and since she was born I have been in the background working on this. I don't think this is ever a perfect time, it's always tricky. 'I do suffer from guilt sometimes that I am not present enough for them because I am chasing my dreams. 'I tell them 'girls, this is what mummy has always wanted to do.' I tell them why I am working and that this is my dream and I think that is really important.' From its inception to the launch of the label in 2024, Nomi has been a dream realised but like any new venture it has also been a journey plagued with self-doubt and what-ifs. 'It's a massive, massive risk and that's terrifying' admits Naomi. 'I obviously thought about this for a long time and how I would do it and how I would finance it, but when it comes down to it you have to take this huge leap of faith and that is single-handedly one of the scariest things I have ever had to do. Saying, 'OK, I am going for it. I am putting all my money into this.' And it could very well fail. 'You don't know if people are going to love your pieces or buy them. The risk is massive.' But the risk has so far paid off, and witnessing people wear her label is still very much a pinch-me moment for the stylish mum. She says: 'I am not cool about it all yet, I'll literally run up to people, 'Oh my God, you are wearing Nomi.' 'I am so proud of it but there is months and months of work and detail involved. I suppose the word I would use is 'sacrifice', that's gone into getting the brand where it is.' Speaking of her perfectionist nature she adds: 'In every area of my life I think I've always been a perfectionist. But when it's your baby, when it's your name and when it's your brand, I don't want anything else less than perfect or as perfect as I can get it.' Opening up about the changing landscape of social media and her gargantuan online following — 230,000 followers to be precise — Naomi admits: 'I think if I thought about that number of people standing in a big open space I would freak out. If you thought about the number, you would never share anything because it's too intimidating. I never envisaged it was going to get as big as that. 'I started the Style Fairy in 2013, I am such a dinosaur in this game, I am 41, but I have probably over the years gotten a little more guarded because of the kids and I think a little bit more about what I share. 'Since they've started big school, I share them less and less. I share the odd photo because a lot of women have been on the journey since I was pregnant with Annabel.' One thing that has grown with her following is her newfound confidence. 'Being on Instagram and being a fashion creator you are judged all the time about what you are wearing and I used to take the criticism to heart but I truly don't care anymore. 'I am 42 in September and the older I get the less s***s I give, there's something freeing in that.' At the core of what she does, Naomi simply wants to empower women in their lives and their wardrobe. 'So much of us are going through something: whether you're feeling lost after having a baby or going through cancer treatment, wearing a stoma bag, or an insulin pump like me, we all have our hang ups,' she says. 'Clothes have the ability to transform how you feel and boost your confidence and that's powerful.' For more looks check out
