She gets fly with a little help from her friends

For the record, Tara Stewart has been into secondhand clothes her whole life. “I’m not just saying that to be cool,” deadpans the DJ and radio presenter. “I liked them before they were famous.”

Having grown up in the desert town of Alice Springs in northern Australia, it was “slim pickings” from charity shops – until Stewart moved to Dublin, aged 20, and had a style epiphany. “Suddenly there were flea markets and vintage shops and car boot sales, and my eyes were opened up to this whole new world of fashion,” she says. “Although I really did not know how to dress stylishly for cold weather.”

“I’m only going to live once so I may as well wear what makes me happy”

It worked out for the best though, because now outerwear is her passion. “Quite a lot of the time I choose my jacket first and work my way back from there,” she says. With a wardrobe full of neon tracksuits, preppy varsity jackets and animal print blazers, her signature aesthetic is a ‘party on the top’ kinda deal (remember parties?). “Often I’ll just wear a plain top and trousers but the jacket is where I have the most fun.” 

To be fair, it all looks fun. Stewart’s personal style is a riotous remix of 80s, 90s and Y2k pieces, spinning high-octane glamour and laidback streetwear with the same flair she brings to the decks. “I’m a big maximalist,” she admits. “Fashion and clothes give me so much joy. And now I’m lucky with the job that I do that I get to wear what I want. I’m only going to live once so I may as well wear what makes me happy.” A proud nod to her Indian heritage, last year she styled a sari with athleisurewear for the Brit Awards. “I love wearing saris with trainers. I’m not a heels gal. My boyfriend got me into sneaker culture, and now I choose them for genuine comfort reasons. I’m ageing, I want a bubble in my shoe ok?”

But while her job gives her sartorial freedom, it’s been a slippery slope in the past. “A few years ago, I was getting booked to DJ parties for huge global fashion brands. At the time I didn’t know fast fashion was a bad thing; I didn’t even know the term,” she says. “I started to get offered loads of free clothes, then money to put posts on my Instagram. I thought it was unreal.” 

Like so many of us, Stewart was seduced by the million-dollar wokewashing that fashion companies use to distract us from what goes on behind the scenes. “I thought these brands aligned with me because the diversity of their models was amazing, they were posting about Pride and International Women’s Day – I was very proud to be part of that. We think ‘of course they couldn’t be a bad company, look at all this good stuff they’re doing’.” 

Then one day, “like every other sustainable fashion person before me”, she watched Andrew Morgan’s 2015 documentary The True Cost. The bubble burst. “I was on Google for a whole day, consuming all this information, going ‘holy shit’. It was kind of like a fairytale, realising the hero is actually not the hero at all.”

Tara promptly ditched fast fashion, personally and professionally. “It felt like a really bad idea for my DJing career, but I just felt so guilty – I hated the idea of posting yet another picture encouraging people to swipe up to buy. I want to be on the right side of history.” Instead she returned to her first love, vintage, and launched her podcast Dirty Laundry to take her followers on the journey with her. Guests so far have included model Nyome Nicholas-Williams, fashion psychologist Dr Dion Terrelonge and designer Roland Mouret. And as a host on Ireland’s RTÉ 2FM five nights a week, it’s fair to say her career looks safe.  

“My parents have both influenced my style with the way they used to dress in the 90s”

These days Stewart’s wardrobe is a mix of charity shop scores, newer Depop finds and treasures sourced by friends who (helpfully) own vintage stores. And she’s not afraid to chop and change. “I feel like my taste is still evolving. But the difference is that now, I have a sewing machine! If I’m not feeling something anymore, I find new ways to make it work,” she says. 

Next up? Turning a recent dress from Depop into a two-piece. “A glass of wine and a pile of alterations, that’s basically my dream night.” 

Until parties are allowed again, it might just be the next best thing.

Tara’s Wardrobe Stories...

What is the oldest thing in your wardrobe?

My friend Emma runs the brilliant Nine Crows Vintage in Dublin, and when she goes to Italy on her buying trips she usually gets my birthday present when she’s there. She got me this incredible Chanel bag, lipstick red and quilted with the chain strap, I cannot cope. It’s so old it’s literally falling apart, and I’m actually quite afraid to use it – but I love it. She’s found me a Fendi bag in the past too. She’s such a good friend to have.

What item is closest to your heart and why?

It’s my Dad’s gold watch, which is engraved with ‘Papa to Tara’. He bought it with his first pay cheque, back when he’d just graduated from university and got his first job in a law firm. It means so much to me, I wear it every day and it’s just so timeless. My parents have both influenced my style with the way they used to dress in the 90s – my Mum loved oversized shirts with leggings, that was her vibe, and my Dad was accidentally very street style a lot of the time. He was wearing crew necks and tracksuit pants and New Balance trainers before they were cool. He’s a very confident man and a bit of a peacock (hopefully he’ll take that as a compliment, hi Dad), so my love of style has definitely come from him. 

What item have you worn again and again and again?

A bright pink sweatshirt, again from Nine Crows Vintage, which I only bought a few months ago but I have worn so much. It originally used to be grey, but if any sweatshirts come in with stains, my friend just dyes them pink. It looks so great. It’s actually a piece of dirt track racing merch, with an amazing neon car motif on the front and all the dates of the race on the back. Back in Alice Springs, racing in the dirt is a weirdly big thing – we have a huge race every year that goes on for days and we all go camping along the track. So I loved it for that reason! During lockdown I’ve been wearing it with bike shorts every day. They’re full of holes now actually, I need to mend them. 

What’s the best origin story in your wardrobe?

It’s a Burberry bucket bag that I found when I was 23, at a big secondhand sale at a hotel in a rich part of Dublin. I found the bag and it was unreal, but I was so broke at the time that I couldn’t afford it. Luckily they were reducing the prices throughout the day, and after 6pm everything was going to be €20. So I did something baller, I put some jackets on top of it so no one else would find it. I’m sorry, it’s a dog-eat-dog world out there! My friend and I went next door and had a carvery and a pint (for like, four hours), then went back just as they were about to close. When I took the bag up to the counter, all the women were freaking out that they had to sell it to me for €20. We had a lot of good years together, then recently I gave it to my friend for her birthday. That’s the great thing about being the sustainable advocate of the group – when I give people my old things, saying “I think it needs a new life”, it’s not scabby of me. They’re like, “Tara, you’re such a good person.”

“A glass of wine and a pile of alterations, that’s basically my dream night.” 

Is there anything in your wardrobe that you LOVE but other people… um, don’t?

My boyfriend has very specific taste. At the start of our relationship he’d tell me if he didn’t like something, but now he’s realised that I don’t actually care. If he was here he’d probably list everything – but for now I’ll have to say this Nordic-style vintage multicoloured knit, which was a recent purchase. I put it on the other day and he was like ‘are you serious?’. I think it’s so fab, I look like my dad in the 90s. It could be a Christmas jumper, it could not be a Christmas jumper... He just thinks it’s ugly and he doesn’t see the point. Maybe I’ll convince him eventually. Or maybe he’ll convince me. 

Be honest – which garment do you wish you wore more?

It’s this huge faux-fur coat from the 80s, I think it’s fake snow leopard? I bought it for €80, which was an absolute steal for something so heavy. I wish I could get more wear out of it. But to be honest, even before Covid, I’m not going to be arsed carrying it around with me all night, and I wouldn’t trust putting it in a club cloakroom – I’ve had coats stolen from cloakrooms before! I still think about them to this day. But I hope it’s the kind of coat that I will wear loads across my lifetime, even if it isn’t getting a whole lot of outings right now. 

Let’s imagine they’re making a statue of you for Madame Tussauds. What’s she wearing?

That coat! With a pair of vintage snake-print trousers and a white Nike sports bra, accessorised with my neon pink Versace Biggie sunglasses, the white Nike sharks which I’m wearing every single day at the moment, and my most bougie pair of Vivienne Westwood earrings. Annoyingly I’ve developed a nickel allergy so I can’t wear them... but the waxwork wouldn’t have that problem.

Follow Tara @tarastewartdj, tune into her weeknight show on RTÉ 2FM and listen to Dirty Laundry wherever you get your podcasts.