With reference points of Enya and Countess Markievicz, and a mood board filled with pictures of Katharine Hepburn, Marlene Dietrich, and Carole Lombard, stylist Anne O'Shea had plenty to work with when it came to dressing Siobhán McSweeney for Ireland's first series of The Traitors.
"Siobhán fired off a hundred images to me, and I created the mood board," she tells RTÉ Lifestyle.
"It was a lot of 1930s-style silhouettes, which are really flattering on her body, and it just meant we had a springboard. She also had a lot of images from Death Becomes Her, so that's where we began."
"Luckily, I'm after trying to get Enya to come out of her castle to come to Ireland's Fashion Week, that's my personal goal," she adds, laughing.
Set in the historic Slane Castle, the psychological show of detection and backstabbing demands looks of intrigue, glamour, and heritage from its host.
To ensure they ticked all the right boxes for the hotly anticipated series, O'Shea flew to London to visit McSweeney's flat, getting acquainted with her style over a day of tea and pink wafers.
As well as finding pieces in her wardrobe that were TV-ready (the white cape that paired perfectly with the competitor's costumes), other items inspired new designs by incredible Irish brands (a kimono made from dead-stock fabric by The Zero Waster).
"Everything is building blocks," she explains. "You can't really start from scratch with anything; going to her wardrobe was the first building block for this project. Just to be able to get into her mind and into her house and to figure it out was, I think, the best way to do it."
As well as nailing the tone, Siobhán has a hard rule of only working with brands that accommodate a range of shapes and sizes. In 2023, she told RTÉ Lifestyle that she had turned down "amazing designers" for her night at the BAFTAs, and it seems that her stance hasn't changed.
"I'm a rubber arm, but Siobhán holds firm in her beliefs," O'Shea says. "She's dead right, as well. That's the main thing for her, she wants inclusive brands, and she likes to work with fellow artists."
This has led to a slew of Irish designers featuring on the show, including Paula Rowan, Orla Langan, Oran Aurelio, Delphi Antiques, Éadach by Sarah O'Neill, and The Zero Waster.
Having worked across both Ireland and the UK, O'Shea insists that working on home turf is all about personal connections.
"Sarah [Designer Sarah O'Neill] and Siobhán have a really nice relationship, so we actually met for a coffee and soup in Bewleys," she smiles. "I was so happy for her to be able to give me some pointers and ideas because it's exhausting. She had some phenomenal ideas, like to inscribe the clothes with 'fealltóir' (Irish for traitor)."
Other fortuitous moments include a pair of boots that travelled the world through a series of high-profile connections and blessed timing.
"I spent hours looking for boots that would suit Siobhán; over-the-knee and flat because she can't wear heels," she says, referencing an accident in 2021 that saw the actress break her leg.
Through hours of online shopping, O'Shea happened upon a pair of "incredible, cool, chunky boots". The catch being that they didn't deliver to Europe.
Luckily, she happened to have a job styling a show in Abu Dhabi in collaboration with the Irish Ambassador to the UAE, Alison Milton. Unluckily, the delivery would arrive the day after she flew home.
Chancing her arm, O'Shea asked Milton to have the boots delivered to her personal address. Not only did she agree, but the Ambassador reached out to a colleague who was travelling to Dublin days later to bring the goods back with him.
All of this is to say, the stylist had to pay a visit to the Department of Foreign Affairs to collect a pair of very special knee-high boots.
Although she originally signed up to create 13 looks, the reality of the massive production soon called for 26.
Out of all of the wardrobe-rummaging, high-profile travelling, panic ordering, and relentless mood-boarding, though, her favourite is one of the most simple.
"The opening outfit with the blazer, the navy turtleneck, and the Orla Langan skirt. There's just something about it that is so powerful, and fits Siobhán so well. And I love seeing her in those boots."
