Sartorial elegance takes a soaking

Weather forecasters are not the only people who have been getting things badly wrong lately. We fashion pundits managed to come up with an erroneous set of predictions for this summer. Where, for example, are the skimpy, semi-transparent dresses every woman was expected to wear? Where too the strappy sandals and exposed arms? Comfortably covered against the inclement elements, that's where.

Venturing out onto the streets of Dublin a couple of days ago - having taken care to wrap up warmly first - we noticed little sartorial evidence of high summer. One or two foolhardy/wishful-thinking/climatically-immune individuals could be spotted wearing shorts and T-shirts. They looked as exotic and bizarre as parakeets among a flock of dun-coloured sparrows. Everyone else appeared to have made comfort - and staying dry - an absolute priority.

Indisputably the most popular item of clothing on view was a generously large waterproof coat. It may not be especially stylish, but in heavy rainfall looking good usually takes second place to avoiding a soaking. Disastrous as it may be for the fashion-conscious, the recent spate of bad weather has represented good news in some quarters.

"We've completely sold out of lightweight summer raincoats," comments Kelly Lynch in the Dannimac department of Clery's in Dublin. "We've been getting loads of inquiries about them every day and now some of our winter stock is coming in, that's selling too."

The same story is being told at the Kilkenny Shop where Laura Pasquetti says "we've sold a lot more waxed coats for the past few weeks than is usual for this time of year. And definitely more sweaters. They always sell, but this time it's not light cotton but the Aran-type and more chunky knits that people are looking for." "I'd like to buy a raincoat but I don't know where to go," plaintively remarked one tourist in Dublin last week, but other visitors seemed better prepared for wet, blustery weather. "Of course I brought a raincoat; I have common sense," said one American when questioned on what she had packed for her trip.

Another well-prepared traveller reported he had brought warm and waterproof clothing because "I read in the brochures I'd need to wear layers here". Similarly, a couple who were in Dublin as part of a driving tour around the country declared: "We'd heard from friends what it was like here and saw the forecasts, so then we packed."

If outsiders are able to understand what the right wardrobe for this country is, why can't we? Maybe only the locals have yet to work out how to dress for an Irish summer.