Spotted: Union Square, SF
What are you up to today?
My friend Saoirse and I are shopping. I'm trying to find a birthday present for my mom.
What is your occupation?
I'm a visual merchandiser in Dublin, Ireland — display, design, that kind of stuff.
Are you both visiting on vacation?
Yeah. We're visiting our friend, who moved here nine months ago.
How long have you been out here?
Janet: A week.
Saoirse: We're leaving for Vegas tomorrow.
Oh fun! So what prompted the trip?
Just our friend living here. She moved here after she finished college, and we wanted to see San Francisco.
What kinds of places have you been exploring so far?
Saoirse: Everywhere!
Janet: Yeah, we've seen Twin Peaks.
Saoirse: We've been to San Jose . . .
Janet: The Presidio, we also went to Sonoma . . .
Saoirse: We've seen, like, all the neighborhoods.
What have been your favorite local areas?
Janet: Haight Street?
Saoirse: Haight was okay. It felt a little fake. For eating, we really liked Polk St., for going out we really liked Zeitgeist.
Ah, yeah — nice, rowdy, beer garden-type place!
Yeah, it's good! We really enjoyed it. They have like naked lady matches! [laughs]
What's something that's caught your interest lately?
Well, I just bought Miranda July's new book. [Pulls out the book The First Bad Man from her bag.]
Love her!
She's brilliant. This caught my attention today, and I'm looking forward to reading it in Vegas!
She does a lot of interesting art projects.
She designed all these tiny handbags, and they had all these little compartments — one of them was for a mint, another for a toothpick . . . oh, and she had a space to put an almond because she really likes almonds.
You need your almond pouch.
Yeah yeah, it was cool!
What do you like most about what you do?
Janet: Oh god! I dunno, it's really hard to explain!
Saoirse: Yeah, it is. I'm also a visual merchandiser.
Janet: I get a lot of freedom where I work. They give me so much freedom of design, that I get to come up with big concepts and then they get built. I see them, and that's cool. I style the mannequins, and it's fun!
Is it for a retail store in Dublin?
Janet: Yeah, I work for Brown Thomas and Saoirse works for Debenhams. I see the windows as galleries for people who aren't expecting art. [laughs]
Saoirse: It's pretty varied; every day is different. You're not sitting on a till. You can be creative. It's ever expanding.
How did you get started? Did you stumble across it?
I was doing interior design and I hated it, and then I ended up changing course and loved it! I loved how hands-on it was, and the fashion aspect. It combined everything I really liked.
What is something that's been inspiring you lately?
I've been inspired by San Francisco! It's nice to see a different part of the world, and try to relate that to what I do. I mean, we've been looking at all the windows; we're taking little bits.
So you're sort of doing research.
Janet: Oh yeah! Always!
Saoirse: Or if we like something, we'll take like a little sneaky snap and be like, I could do something like that!
Janet: Yeah. And people watching too. Doing a lot of people watching here.
Saoirse: Music
Janet: Yeah, music. Music is a massive influence. We're doing decor for a music festival when we get back home in like two weeks, so we're constantly looking at stuff.
What music festival is it?
It's a small new one. It's called Beatyard. It's on a pier in Dun Laoghaire. I'm really excited. Hopefully we get the weather, 'cause it's Ireland and you never know.
Favorite music to work to?
I'm really into FKA Twigs at the minute. I really want to see her live when I go home.
I also wanted to ask about your outfit because I like this minimal dress you have on!
I bought this in Urban Outfitters, like, two days ago! [laughs] I like things really baggy and big. And it has pockets!
I also like your sunglasses, are they from here?
Janet: No, actually a nun gave me these. My mom works in a convent and they give me mad stuff. I don't know where these are from, but they're definitely vintage.
Saoirse: Sunglasses are your thing though.
Janet: I love sunglasses.
