Aoife Dunican on the art of nailing bright and bold style

words Suzie Coen

Bright & Bold

Aoife Dunican, The Style Bob

Colourphobes who find themselves twitching nervously in the presence of a print dress and clinging for dear life to their navy blue sweater whenever the word neon is uttered would do well to spend an hour in the presence of Aoife Dunican. If the style consultant and colour maestro can’t cure you of your phobia, I’d argue that no one can. Through her personal and corporate styling service, The Style Bob, Aoife empowers men and women to amplify their image for confidence, presence and impact. She describes her personal style as “unpredictable chic”. “I have so many style personalities depending on how I want to feel and what impression I want to project with a particular audience. I love a chic aesthetic but not in an over-prescribed way – there always has to be a little tension. I love a blazer and jeans combo, but I’ll try to add curiosity with it using either different proportions, or textures, or unusual colour combinations.

The key to dressing, according to Aoife, is to load up on extremely flexible fashion. Her daily uniform is grounded in grey tones as she says it combines beautifully with colour and is less harsh than black. Style signifiers are her silver metallic shoes in a flat and block heel. Her favourite labels are all based on joy and cost per wear. She heads to Frame, Seven7, Mother and Good American for jeans, Tibi for interesting cuts, La Double J for prints, Jigsaw for great trousers, And Tate for shirts (especially the Chrissy), and Sian Jacobs for neutral cashmere. While Laura Chambers is her go-to for colourful cashmere, The Landskein for coats, Zara for fun shoes and Melissa Curry’s Fleurs collection for jewellery.