One such inspiration is gorgeously glam 29-year-old ex-chartered secretary Catherine Kelly of Cocobelle boutique in Hibernian Way. She opened before Christmas last year, and now does a roaring trade in designer handbags and shoes.

Another is 30-year-old ex-banker Susan Daly of Pitt and Bond in the Westbury Mall.

Only open five weeks, she came up with the concept of a women's suiting store from her time in MacQuarie bank in Sydney:

"For years I was looking for a way out of that old corporate life, " she says. "Having studied Commerce in UCD, it just happened that I continued on that route, but I never felt it was what I wanted to do and my friends were always encouraging me to get out of it. This December, turning 30, I decided it was time to go for it."

The name Pitt and Bond comes from the two crossstreets where Daly worked in Sydney and the suiting store is modeled closely on similar shops she had seen there.

"In Australia office wear was just a lot more sexy and there were all these amazing stores. When I came back to Dublin I realized there was nothing like that here, so I decided I had to give it a go myself." Her tips for looking good in the office? "A little ruffle, a bit of chiffon or silk, a pattern or a splash of colour is okay in the boardroom as long as you keep the over-all look ultra-smart. Oh, and spend as much as you can on a good suit . . . at the end of the day the higher content of wool the higher the quality."

Cocobelle, Hibernian Way, Dublin 2 tel: 01 707 1818 Pitt and Bond, 19 Westbury Mall, Dublin 2 tel: 01 672 8976