Meet the nation's new 'Style Counsellor' and fashion sensation, Eileen Smith
She has her own sense of style, is counted as one of the country's fashion influences and has more than 50,000 followers on Instagram.
But what makes Eileen Smith stand out from the crowd is that she is about to celebrate of 81st birthday.
Eileen is now one of the stars of RTÉ’s newest fashion show, The Style Counsellors, and has earned a whole new legion of fans who include Roz Purcell and Pippa O’Connor.
And rather than being an early adopter of technology, her daughter Suzanne had to set up her Instagram account several years ago. Previously, Eileen and her daughters had used an app to exchange photos of each other’s outfits and accessories.
Despite her Instagram handle (EileenStyleQueen, which was chosen by Suzanne), Eileen says: “I don’t consider myself queen but I do love style.”
Robe or Housecoat? 🤔
— RTÉ One (@RTEOne) January 28, 2020
The Style Counsellors @SoSueMe_ie & Eileen are back, tonight 8.30pm!#thestylecounsellors pic.twitter.com/TRUGPdZniz
She is stunned by her sudden stardom, but she says that everyone she meets is very nice. “If I’m out and about in Dundrum, or a shopping centre, anywhere like that, the people who come up and talk to me are all young ladies.
"Sometimes men say that they’re taking a photograph for their girlfriends.”
The warm relationship between Eileen and her co-presenter influencer Suzanne Jackson is a key aspect of the show. Suzanne said Eileen now one of her "favourite people in the world".
"We got on amazing. I think people are loving that as well, our relationship on TV," she said in a recent interview.
Eileen’s Instagram feed gives a peek into what she describes as a very normal life, but certainly an authentic one, and one that is lived in the best possible fashion.
“I know my own style,” says the mother-of-four. “I know what I can’t wear, which is more important than what you can wear.
“I am a firm believer that you should buy good quality but you shouldn’t have to buy an awful lot because you can mix and match, particularly at my age."
For Eileen, age is simply a number. She loves spending time with her friends and family. “Seven of us are off for a weekend in the west of Ireland next month. We’ll have a great time. We’re exhausted when we come home because we’re all talking too much.”
Read the full interview with Eileen in tomorrow's Feelgood magazine. Free with the Irish Examiner print edition.
