More bang for your buckley

It’s the stuff of nightmares – a tale of pure embarrassment that you think only happens in movies, but to Jenny Buckley, Channel 6’s presenter of Access Hollywood, the fancy dress miscommunication was all too real.

“I went to my friend’s 21st a few years back,” she begins innocuously enough. “She was in America at the time so I didn’t get a chance to speak to her about it. I just got the invite which said ‘Fantasia’, so I assumed that meant that you should use your imagination and wear whatever you thought ‘fantasia’ means. So I just went wild.
“I was going out with a guy at the time, so I thought that he could go as Batman and I’d go as Catwoman. I bought a PVC catsuit the eyes and a mask, and he got the whole outfit: the tights, yellow knickers, everything. We got there, and it was black tie, with the girls in wigs and ballgowns. And there’s us as Catwoman and Batman. I was mortified.”
So really, what happens in a situation like that – did she run home with her tail in between her legs or brave the crowd?
“I stayed. Thankfully, she lent us things that she had there. But he did keep the tights on!”
Such misfortunes are unusual for Ms Buckley. Apart from the purchase of patent red leather boots (“hooker-esque”, she describes them proudly), she believes herself to be a logical fashionista, who tends not to buy things on impulse or simply because they’re cheap.
“I also tend not to hunt around for bargains because I’m dreadful at sale shopping,” she adds. “I suppose I don’t have the eye for it. My friends would get amazing stuff at TK Maxx, but I go in and I can’t see anything.”
Instead, she prefers TopShop (“anytime I’ve gone in, I’ve managed to get something from there”) – and she names the boutique Chica in the Westbury Shopping Mall, Dublin as her favourite place to shop.
“You always get that outfit that you’re looking for, especially if you’ve got a party to go to or something. They’ve got fabulous dresses and funky skirts. Quite bling and funky.”
The fondness for all that is bling – as hinted in her outfit of choice on these very pages – is something inherited from her mum.
“My friend said to me the other day, ‘I remember you in the playground – you were always wearing a fancy hat and a big, long coat’.”
Even now, her mother is her fashion advisor.
”I tend to dress up a bit more at weekends, so when she sees me, she’s always thrilled if I wear a bit of make up. She’s young, but old-fashioned like that. Now I’ve got married, she always reminds me not to let myself go!”