It was not just a fashion disaster, but quite an embarrassing moment for Jacqui Carroll. Beware the water bra!
“When i was about 20 I went to a night club wearing a water bra with a low-cut white top,” she recalls. “I thought I looked ravishing, but I probably looked like Li-lo Lil. Anyway, this lad was staring at me so hard I actually felt uncomfortable. Then he walked over to me and asked me if I was breast feeding! I was very offended, until I realised that both sides of the water bra were leaking. So take my advice and avoid water bras like the plague!”
Point taken. That said, Jacqui’s philosophy is, when in doubt, overdress. “You’ll never see me running to the shop in a pair of trainers,” she says. “I feel so comfortable in heels I’d run miles in them. If I wear flat shoes I tend to fall over, even if I’m standing up! Eyeliner is a must for me too. I feel naked unless I have it on. I always feel good if I feel I’m well turned out and polished.”
Jacqui’s fashion preference tends to be ’60s-centric, thanks in part to her Dad.
“I love ’60s clothes because of the music,” she says. “When I was about four I got into The Small Faces’ ‘All Or Nothing’. It was on the telly and I bawled my eyes out when it was finished. That lead me to The Who, and I saw Quadraphenia and these women wearing these amazing outfits and I thought ‘That’s me!’ I love all psychedelic clothes too. My dad was a real hippy. He had these great denim waistcoats and cravats I used to wear. He was my style icon when I wear growing up.”
So what does she do with her old clothes?
“I tend to be a hoarder. I buy in bulk, because I need so many changes of clothes for all the different gigs I do. I rarely throw anything way, and I don’t have any sister to either pass stuff on to or to borrow clothes from. I still wear clothes I had when I was 15 when I used to shop in Wild Child.”
In fact her favourite item also has psychedelic connections.
“I have this little red Sergeant Pepper-style jacket I got in Penneys a few years ago,” she admits. “They were never mass-produced as far as I know, and they’re absolutely beautiful, with lovely buttons on the cuffs. I could never part with it!”
Jacqui tends to shop at Mango or A-Wear, but she'll call by Miss Sixty if she feels a splurge coming on.
“The jeans in Miss Sixty are a must,” she says. “They last for years. I have a pair I bought when I was 17, that’s eleven years ago, and I still wear them.”
Jacqui also frequents Harlequin in Castle Market, where she finds items she can mix and match with her own stuff, “maybe by adding a belt, or whatever”.
And what’s out there she would love to buy but can’t afford, just yet? “Stella McCartney shoes. I love shoes. Or a Stella McCartney mac. She does lovely coats as well.”

Dress: From River Island with a vintage ‘60s look and a jewelled neckline. The bodice is of t-shirt material. €78.
Bolero jacket: Yellow jacket with chunky buttons from Penneys, €19.
Shoes: Patent pink Mary Jane shoes. Bought in Northside Shopping Centre, €15.
Tights: Flesh-coloured €4 from Penneys.
Hat: A Baker Boy from New Look. €20.
Jewellery: Swarovski crystal earrings received as a present, a €3 bangle from A-Wear.