The Phantom

Phantom 105.2 presenter and DJ Sinéad Ní Mhórdha may have a relaxed attitude towards clothes and fashion – but she still manages to pull off a unique and stylish look.

Reflecting on her ‘Ghosts of Fashion Past’, the Phantom Anthems presenter admits arriving onto the style scene later than her peers.
“I probably looked a little bit nerdy when I was younger,” Sinéad laughs. “When my mother bought me something I’d just wear it because I’d feel bad if I didn’t! So I didn’t really start looking at things until I was 14 or 15.”
Her early forays into fashion were usually inspired by the music of the day: with a young Sinéad buying tie-dye t-shirts in Camden Markets at the height of the grunge era, dyeing her hair ‘pillar-box-red’ at eighteen after hanging out with punks in Glasgow (causing her mother to burst into tears), and even mimicking Kurt Cobain’s ‘pyjamas as day-wear’ phase.
“I left the house when I was about 15 or 16 wearing my dad’s pyjama top,” Sinéad laughs. “My parents stopped me and said 'You’re not going anywhere dressed like that and if you do, we’ll ground you!' I was furious!"
These days, Ní Mhórdha may have ditched the public pyjama displays, but she still likes to stand out.
“I love the element of fun with clothes,” she enthuses. “I’ve got a full-length dress that’s leopard-print and halter neck, it’s kind of a Marilyn Monroe style dress. I don’t really tend to follow ‘fashion trends’ as such, so I try to mix and match different things. I do love elements of 1950s and 60s: pencil skirts, heels – the kind of smart and sexy lady look!”
Ní Mhórdha can thank her stylish mum for helping to shape her retro-inspired look, by passing down genuine vintage items from her own youth.
“Last year, my mother dropped over a rockabilly dress with a black top and white skirt with polka dots,” says Ní Mhórdha. “I wear it with a chunky big belt and with the underskirt and all. It looks incredible.”
Unfortunately for Sinéad, one of her mother’s most beautiful dresses was bequeathed to the church.
“My mum made her own wedding dress,” explains Ní Mhórdha, “It was a stunning white satin dress and being a good Catholic lady, she gave it to the priest to use for vestments! What a waste of a beautiful dress!”
Ní Mhórdha considers herself relatively low-maintenance when it comes to getting ready, usually only needing a few minutes preparation time. The exception is the art of applying make-up, something Ní Mhórdha is very passionate about, born of her abiding love for Mac make-up.
“I do like being creative using make-up. I got a great new shade of eye-shadow recently – canary yellow – so I like to play around and not be afraid of make-up.”
She generally falls into the ‘flats’ camp of the ‘heels versus flats’ debate, despite the black patent heels in the photo-shoot – a e150 pair that she simply couldn’t resist on a shopping trip to River Island.
“I can’t walk very far in heels,” she explains. “I did wear them once during a gig and I walked home with a guitar on my back and I somehow survived, but I haven’t managed it since!”
With weekly music review spots on RTÉ 2, successful presenting gigs on Phantom 105.2 and a well-established DJ career on the Dublin circuit, it looks like the stylish Sinéad Ní Mhórdha’s shoes were made for strutting right to the top. High heels or no high heels.

Sinéad Ní Mhórdha presents Phantom Anthems on Phantom FM every Saturday from 7-10pm. Her club, Ladyflash, relaunches at Kennedy’s Underground, Westland Row on February 28 with live sets from Queen Kong and Stagger Lee and a DJ set from Sinead.