Saying Goodbye to the Early Spring: a Postcard from Ireland

Hopefully, the title will not prove to be a bit too optimistic… but finally, as I am writing these words, the forecast seems promising enough to declare the transitional season over and prepare ourselves to welcome the proper spring.

Gone are the days when one could not be sure whether it was still winter or already an (early) spring - and although it heavily depends on where you are located, I am quite sure that soon all of us will be able to pack away the warm clothes and store them for the next few months.

 

This year, my trip to Ireland marked just that: the final days of the early spring. Even though this isle is not really famous for the sun and warmth, that week felt like waking up from winter sleep - one that, like every year in Poland, seemed to be so long that you could already let yourself believe that you will never see the sun again.

However, it was quite a change. I may not look like I was enjoying the weather in all the photos, but… it was actually nice.

To put it into context: just before my departure, I still regularly wore down jackets and winter coats, facing temperatures just above 0°C. In Dublin, however, I found something that, with a little optimism, could feel like spring. Temperatures ranging from 10 to 15°C; a little rain, quite a bit of sun (unfortunately, out of frame!); greenery, blooming fruit trees. In fact, a friend of mine who moved there last summer even laughed that she had never seen so many sunny days within one week.

 

Either way, as befits this time of year, it was difficult to guess how the weather would change from day to day and hour to hour. Daily amplitude required constant readiness to remove or add another layer. A little bit of everything; exactly what you would expect in early spring.

It was even more difficult for me to pack having to think both about business and pleasure; in the hand luggage, I had to fit both tailoring and some casual, everyday stuff... with an addition of something green, as St. Patrick's Day obliged*.

*(green and white rugby seemingly passed the test, I felt Irish enough)

 

I filled up my bag with an eclectic mix of fall/winter and spring/summer clothing, including a few pieces from the current early spring drop and the prototypes from the incoming FW2024 collection - including a few things that I can't show you yet - and kept my fingers crossed for it to be sufficient for the weather.

Well, the best test for this mix turned out to be a trip to Howth, a charming town just outside Dublin. We had the absolute ugliest and wettest day of the entire trip... and yes, that's when we took all these photos. Great idea.

Fortunately, the clothes coped better with rain, fog, and wind than the old Soviet Zenit camera and me, an amateur trying to shoot analog after a long break.

 

Once again, I have to give a thumbs up to the KLEMAN shoes - oh boy, how do I love these! I hundred percent agree with Tomek that they are more comfortable than virtually any pair GYW shoes; I will also add that they would beat two-thirds of sneakers I ever wore. They survived many kilometers of walking day to day and bravely endured rain, mud, and puddles. Plus, they looked good with basically everything; I am rediscovering the advantages of black.

Above - our Everyday Classic jeans, in a washed version. While I have several dark pairs, such one was missing from my wardrobe for a long time. Now I wear them over and over again, playing around with the various combinations.

 

Not that I was copying Beniamin, but I have repeated his lookbook trick with the fun shirt: the collar and cuffs stuck out from underneath the white shetland sweater. While I usually wear one directly on my body, the extra layer was very useful here; with the high temperature found in the crowded pubs, being able to take off a thick knit was a blessing.

Speaking of thermal comfort: I packed a wool hat just in case, but most of the time I wore our corduroy baseball cap. I appreciate its practicality, especially as a glasses wearer: it not only protects my eyes from the sun but also the lenses of my glasses from the rain.

 

 

I haven't mentioned the coat yet... but I can't really write too much about it. For now, I will only mention that it is undergoing intensive tests. I can neither confirm nor deny its future availability. ;)

 

Coming back from the trip, I could sum it up like this: yes, I’m sure I am ready for a real spring already; may it be even warmer and drier than the one in Ireland. Yes, layering felt nice, mixing winter and summer in the wardrobe had its charm, but I would rather not write about thick fabrics, heavy clothes, and bad weather for the next few months... let alone face them on a daily basis.

We survived the winter, we survived the early spring, we deserve some sunshine. See you in the new SS2024 season, premiering next week!