Waterproof style essentials which might help uplift your damp spirits
Rainbow coat trend
Raincoats are major waterproof style essentials and the best of the lot can be found at a tiny island near Stockholm, Sweden. Brand founder Alexander Stutterheim based the design on his grandfather’s old ’60s coat but slimmed it down to make it, well, cooler. Yet despite Stutterheim’s fashionable status (it has recently collaborated with contemporary label Whistles), it’s no fairweather fad. “Their coats are the real deal and incredibly well-constructed,” confirms Selfridges’ menswear buying manager Luke Mountain. In other words, they’ll weather many more seasons to come.
Raincoat £200 Stutterheim
Buy a brolly with some real welly
It’s time to stop pouring money into falsely economical umbrellas that break at the slightest gust. “A quality umbrella should have a long-lasting wooden shaft, strong steel-sprung ribs that won’t budge in the wind and a canopy that is stitched taut on the frame,” says Jamie Milestone, the graphic-designer-turned- founder of modern umbrella brand London Undercover. “Assess the fabric in the same way that you would with clothing: a cheap one will feel stiff like paper; a good-quality one will feel smooth and silky.” Also, the more you spend on it, the less likely you’ll be to absent-mindedly leave it somewhere.
Yellow Umbrella £125, Blue Umbrella £110 and Orange Umbrella £95 all London Undercover; £225 Anderson & Sheppard
Adjust your timepiece to one that waits for no tide
The sea of diver’s watches available far exceeds the number of divers. That’s because they’re often more rigorously engineered than ones that just look good on the surface: reassuring when timing your oxygen supply and otherwise. Boasts of being water-resistant at 20,000 leagues are thus a useful dipstick of overall quality. Then there’s the form that follows function: oversized with big numbers in bright colours for legibility and toughness. The result is a striking, masculine piece, whether it has hidden technical depths or just looks like it.
Orange £57 Swatch; Yellow £130 G-Shock; Blue £835 Tissot
Stop carrying water weight
Most importantly, these bags are practical: simple to use , safe to carry stuff that doesn’t hurt your arm. These utilitarian rucksacks are specifically constructed to make light work of heavy rain – but still pack plenty of style. Though durable and with lightweight fabric, these bags can save your files and gadgets from being soaked in the monsoons.
Overboard Pro-light backpack 30 litres £94.99; C6 X Folk Backpack Off White & Black £37.00; Eastpak Wyoming Backpack Burgundy £59.00; FJALLRAVEN Kanken Bag Black £64.00
