Head 2 Toe (1989-1994)

Head 2 Toe  ran for 9 (not 10 as some believe) series on RTÉ ONE between 1988 and 1997. It was conceived as a weekly lifestyle magazine, with an original line-up of three presenters, Marty Whelan, Mary O’Sullivan and Frances Duff.

Mary O’Sullivan had worked on The Late Late Show‘s fashion awards and described Head to Toe as a “mix of everything to do with with clothes, people, the rag trade in general, personalities, swap shops, the nostalgia scene, people’s private collections, country shopping and dressing and budgets and even problems” when interviewed in the RTÉ Guide on 14 October, 1988.

I joined in 1989 and worked on the show for five years, first with Mari O’Leary and Barbara McMahon, later with Barbara and Jennifer Keegan, until 1994.

I could never have been described as a  dedicated follower of fashion but I had a blast during my time on Head 2 Toe and learned a huge amount about how television is made that was of enormous help when I began producing and directing myself.

Four editions of the Head 2 Toe Magazine were also published.

There are extra Head 2 Toe pictures in my Facebook Head 2 Toe photo album (even if you don’t have a Facebook account).

For more, see:

It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas – Off Message 16 – The festive season is a particularly weird period in TV and radio land. Making Head 2 Toe was no exception.

Choose Me – Off Message 12 – How humiliating are auditions? I’ve only ever done ten; and I got three of those, including Head 2 Toe, a pretty decent batting average. Unsurprisingly so I’ve never minded them.

Happy Anniversaries – Off Message 9 – There were quite a few varyingly significant personal anniversaries in the air back in 2014, including leaving Head 2 Toe. Some were more significant than others. All had a story to tell.

It Was 25 Years Ago Today…ish (Part 1) – Off Message 8 – It was 25 years when I wrote this in 2014 since I auditioned for Head 2 Toe. How that even came to happen at all is itself a bit of a tale.