It’s that time again folks! Time for us to shine the Beaut.ie spotlight on one of Ireland’s style icons, one of those people who raise our collective spirits with their own unique brand of je ne sais quoi.
This week, it’s the woman who reigned as queen of the RTE newsroom for over 30 years, the one and only Anne Doyle.
Anne read her very first news bulletin on Christmas Day in 1978, the day when Ireland met it’s new favourite newsreader. And 33 years later, in a move almost as symmetrical as her perfectly blow-dried hair, she bid us all farewell on Christmas Day 2011. The Nine O’Clock News just hasn’t been quite the same since she left us.
So let’s have a look at Anne’s evolution from fresh-faced newsroom ingénue to anchorwoman extraordinaire.
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While her career began with shiny brunette locks, the Eighties and early Nineties wreaked havoc on Anne’s glorious gruaig. Although she was inching ever closer to her now trademark blonde bob, the transition was a slow process, going from feathery layers to a light fringe, via a frankly bewildering mullet-ish hairstyle, before finally settling into the immovable sleek platinum ‘do we all know and love.
There may have been a few sartorial bumps along the road to news anchor stardom, a dodgy patterned blouse here, or a pair of Deirdre Barlow glasses there, but once Anne settled into her fashion groove, there was no stopping her. With her razor sharp suits and statement jewellery, Anne was the epitome of unflappable newsroom style. Her extensive collection of shiny necklaces is unparalleled and may have led us to wonder if she had shares in Newbridge Silver.
Her love of blingy necklaces was even parodied on RTE’s satirical sketch show Bull Island, where an impersonator with forks dangling around her neck would announce: “I am Anne Doyle. I am the news.”
It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what it is that made the nation fall for Anne. Is it her flawless diction? The way she pronounces sexual as sex-yew-al? Those pouty lips? Either way, we love Anne Doyle.
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The question is, do you?
