The study, conducted by plus-sized fashion experts Zizzifashion.com, has examined the search volume tool Google Keyword Planner for a list of fashion-related keywords, including ‘Louis Vuitton bag’, ‘mini dress’ and ‘maxi skirt’ to determine the most stylish towns and cities in Ireland.
The locations with the highest average monthly search volume per 10,000 people have been named the most fashionable.
The Breffni county, which has built up an impressive tourism repute thanks to its many lakes and unspoilt scenic beauty, came out on top in what is sure to generate much debate locally.
According to the report’s findings, its county town has an average monthly search volume of 1,510 per 10,000 people.
Those figures, according to the report’s authors is 63pc above the national average of 928 per 10,000 people.
A more scrupulous look at the study’s findings showed ‘dress’ was the most popular term, with 132 searches per month, ahead of ‘Debs dress’ and ‘summer dress’, respectively.
Cavan’s nomination as the nation’s leading trend-setting county saw it outperform Ballina in Co Mayo which came in second with Kildare and Longford assuming third and fourth spot respectively.
A spokesperson from Zizzifashion.com said while the study threw up intriguing findings, it was indicative of both a growing consumer online trend and reflective of the greater retail diversity many provincial towns now offer.
“Cavan, Ballina and Kildare have officially been crowned Ireland’s fashion capitals,” said the spokesperson.
“It’s interesting to see smaller towns dominating the top ten most stylish locations, rather than the nation’s more crowded cities.
“Dublin, for example, comes in as the tenth most stylish location, while being the only city mentioned in the top ten.
“This may be due to the lack of diverse shopping centres located in Ireland’s lesser populated towns, suggesting that more rural residents are choosing to shop online.
“However, these findings may also be signalling that Ireland’s towns are leading the way in fashion this summer as people search for the latest trends and fashion must haves.”