IF YOU ever have the chance to see Celia HolmanLee, of the Limerick based Holman-Lee modelling agency, in action backstage at a fashion show, I recommend you take it.

In appearance, Celia is built along the lines of Sophia Loren, and she has the same dramatic Italian temperament.

One minute she's shouting at one of 'her girls' to get a bloody move on, waving a hairbrush at them, and telling the make-up artist to make another model's eyes sexier, the next she's calming frantic members of the press who are basically getting in her way backstage trying to poke around amongst the carefully-arranged clothes.

Celia very kindly allowed me to have a peek backstage, and rummage to my heart's content before the Newbridge Silverware fashion show last Sunday, held in the specially-erected Rose of Tralee Dome beside the Brandon Hotel.

Someone told me that they were finding the Rose of Tralee very different from the Miss Ireland competition, which, they said, was all about hair extensions and fake tan. This was more about personality. The same can be said about the clothes, which were not for shrinking violets (for example the daring backless evening dress by Limerick designer Caroline Mitchell) and included everything from the most divine evening dresses to funky skirts and jackets and elegant coats and suiting.

Once the show was under way, a strong feature to emerge was jaw-dropping evening dresses with splits cut so high that you'd have to co-ordinate your knickers!

Linda Wall, a designer based in Shannon, showed a gold metallic dress worthy of a James Bond girl, which also left her model's underwear on show to the room.

She also had a really cute smock denim dress, and a lemon off-the-shoulder Marilyn Monroe-esque dress, for the slightly more demure amongst you.

JR Fashions from Nenagh and Limerick also had some beautiful evening wear, in striking colour combinations, from vivid orange and yellow to stark monochrome, and all their dresses come in sizes 12-22.

Pamela Scott should be checked out by any debs; not only did they have the flapper-style black-fringed dress worn by Amanda Brunker recently on You're a Star Charity Special, they also had a really sexy full-length Pucci-print halterneck dress, and a beautiful black jersey dress with white satin inset down the middle.

Fiona Whyte, a Limerick-based designer who designed dresses for both last year's and this year's Miss Ireland for the Miss World competition, had some really unusual evening wear, in particular an apron dress of green silk layered over white.

Tralee's House of Delphine showed a collection of bridalwear which I thought were slightly eccentric but beautifully-sculpted creations, bodices surrounded by layers of diaphanous silk, and a mishmash of tulle, with quirky head pieces.

Their daywear collection was a gorgeous mixture of fabrics - cobwebby wool, leather and satin - and included a knee-length black velvet suit with a bustle perfect for this season's Edwardian look.

Fellow Tralee-based designer Caroline Leahy, a woman who, with a model's figure, is probably the best model of her own clothes I've ever come across amongst designers, had some gorgeous full-length white knitted dresses, and a finale bridal piece with a white fluffy swan-like shrug.

So, apart from fabulous evening wear, what was on offer? Great coats, worn over tweed suits or satin evening dresses, as at Mac Bees, who put a sumptuous winter coat over a dazzlingly sexy lime green satin evening dress, and who also had a Jackie O-style blue Betty Jackson coat.

The Limerick-based boutique Tippe Canoe had a fabulous stand-out canary yellow coat.

There was also some great suiting; the lovely Miu Miu-ish suit with beaded belt from Weardrobe in Tralee and Killarney, the cute tartan mini with velvet blazer worn over a polo neck, or the black-and-white lace body skimmingly-cut suit from Ela Maria of Newcastle West and Ennis.

Effigy, a Tralee-based boutique, also had some stunning evening wear, particularly one pink chiffon floor-length dress - complete with Russian princess white fur belt and hat, and a parasol.

My editor had warned me that I would love this shop and how right she was! They described their collection as "Russian cowboy", a look achieved by mixing labels such as Custo, Naughty London, Malena Birger, FCUK, Noa Noa, and Pink Soda.

Tulle skirts could be layered under cute knitted skirts and worn with blazers, tweed coats given a new breath of fresh air by doing them in blue instead of boring old brown.

Celia Holman-Lee had mentioned Kimono, a boutique with branches in Newcastle West and Charleville, which she described as "breaking all the rules". I loved their alternative take on evening wear, which used lots of contrasting fabrics.

For those searching for wedding outfits, Ela Maria had some gorgeous stuff, the quirky but always very wearable label Save the Queen, and for real show-stoppers, Jenny Packham.

The Style Rooms, from Killarney, who have just opened The Shoe Rooms in Limerick, presented a very autumnalcollection - all rich browns and oranges - as did the Serenity Boutique from Listowel, who had some fabulous and very wearable Aideen Bodkin pieces, including a soft green jacket.

Synan O'Mahony closed the show and he literally had the audience cheering and clapping in their seats.

First out was a silk halter-neck black-and-white dress with red floral print cut to the knicker-line, which swirled around the model as she walked. Synan, something of a stalwart of the Newbridge Silver Rose of Tralee fashion show, also showcased some stunning should-be-on-the-red-carpet evening dresses.

Other stand-outs were a tweed skirt with lace bodice dripping with jet beading, and the finale piece, a black lace body-sculpting strapless dress with purple bow, skintight to the knee and then swirling to the model's feet.

All in all, as well as the odd bit of underwear-flashing, there was loads that made you want to throw out your flip-flops and start buying tweed coats and woolly jumpers. Roll on winter.

- Liadan Hynes