In the heart of Temple Bar, nestled between a vintage clothing store and a smoking accessories shop sits Tango’s, one of the oldest formal wear hire shops in Dublin.
Opening in 1960, The Dunne Family has owned and operated the shop from the very same location at 5 Fownes Street Upper and took what was originally a one room shop and expanded into the building next door over the last 15 years to meet production demands. Store owner Mark Dunne tells Totally Dublin, Tango’s as it’s known today, was not the start of the story.
His grandfather Joseph Dunne was a bespoke tailor and proprietor of J. Dunne & Sons Tailors at number 9 Parliament Street Dublin City Centre from 1938. His five sons all possessed great skill with the needle and they plied their trade from London’s Savile Row, in the ranks of the Air Force and dressing the priesthood and gentry of Dublin.
Tango’s Dress Hire was barely five years old when on the 4th July 1960 the youngest of the Dunnes, Brian acquired the Number 23 Parliament Street premises. He was only two years trading when disaster struck and fire ravaged the building destroying most of the stock and fittings. Taking what could be salvaged with him, Brian moved to the current premises in Fownes Street and began to rebuild next to what is now The Central Bank of Ireland. Over the years Brian with help from family members Peadar, Jimmy, Betty O’Brien and eldest son Peter built a Dublin institution. Half a Century on, Brian’s son Mark is now at the helm.
Mark humorously tells us stories of their past neighbours, such as a theatre group who used to operate their offices in the room we were standing in, and a loan shark who used to do business out of a slot in the door we entered through.
Although Tango’s is a long standing family business, Mark has had no issue developing and changing the business model to fit modern standards. When the shop first opened, most of their customers were from wedding fairs, but more recently they’ve been able to rely on the power of customers spreading word about their shop meaning they no longer feel the need to attend big events in order to attract business. This of course is one of the many benefits of being an established and long lasting business.
“I do this guy’s wedding, then when his three mates are getting married, they come to me.” Tango’s is very committed to embracing the digital age, with Mark crediting a lot of the business’ continued success to his commitment to search engine optimisation, making sure that his business is one of the first that come up when you’re looking for suits online. Things such as consistent online reviews aid in this. Mark refers to their style of marketing as “guerrilla marketing”.
Tango don’t put much money into advertising, they take care of most of that personally as they are a small business and have no interest in franchising or expanding further despite the store’s success. When questioned on how the business survived during trying times such as the Covid 19 pandemic lockdown, when nobody was having weddings or any other events that would require formal dress, Mark says he spent most of the lockdown working as a chef instead of tailoring and that’s how he made the money to keep the shop open.
Tango does have a website, but not one that you can make purchases from. Mark said that the thought of renting out suits online has crossed their minds but the risk of not having one-on-one consults with customers outweighed all the benefits, especially when personality comes into play. He claims that it is not impossible for two people to share the same measurements but when it comes to personality and personal style, it becomes tricky and you run the risk of an unsatisfied customer.
Since its establishment, Tango has been a family business, something that Mark talks about with a great sense of pride. The shop was passed from Mark’s grandfather to his father, and from his father down to him. Mark now has the honour of teaching all that it means to run this tight ship to his own son, who now works alongside him in the shop. The beat goes on.
Words & Photos: Erin Murray & Sasha Roberston
Tangos Dress Hire, 5 Fownes Street Upper, Temple Bar. Dublin 2, 01-677-3375.
