Whatever The Weather: Styles To Get You Through The Summer – Autumn Transition

Words By Rahsian Parris

Lets just get it out in the open right here, right now; if you live in the UK, your summer is doomed. That is not to say that we haven’t had lush days of golden rays of sun, ice creams in the park and hearty barbecues in our back yards, but true to British Summer form, these few days have usually been followed by several days of monsoon-like showers (we know they have hurricane season in the tropics, but surely not every other week?) and the kind of wind speeds only the British Sailing Team would appreciate. With this said, it is becoming a day to day trauma trying to predict what the weather might greet us with, thus, styling and outfit decisions of nightmarish proportions. As Nicole Richie recently tweeted “Dear Mother Nature please make up your mind about the weather. You’re making it really hard for me to get dressed”, we’re guessing that no amount of begging and pleading is going to work (clearly Mother Nature is as stubborn as red wine on cream carpet), so here are some great finds and top tips to beat the sporadic weather blues and take you sailing into autumnal awesomeness.

BEAT THE RAIN

This Autumn is all about coats, notably short and medium length and the colour of the moment is brown brown brown. Golden brown like the colour of freshly fallen crisp leaves, camel brown, like, uhm, a camel? Or rich chocolate brown like the cup of cocoa you’ll need once you have fled the bad weather. This chocolate Burberry Raglan Trench from their current collection ticks all the boxes and if that wasn’t reason enough, check out the gorgeous belting. However, we are not all minted and can afford to shell out over £800 for a trench, so here is a nice number from House of Fraser that is a fantastic, cheaper alternative.

TOP TIP:

Trench coats are perfect for unpredictable weather. They are light-weight enough to wear in slightly warmer temperatures as most of them are cotton based and if it gets too warm you can throw them over your arm without much hindrance. However, the key to buying a good trench is to get one that not only looks good, but that is actually shower proof too (that’s rain we mean, no you can’t have an actual shower in them). For this, Burberry are the masters with their patented Garbardine material that will literally make summer showers water off a ducks back. However, there are also cuts and styles that will make trenches your best friend during the Summer/Autumn crossover.

Ask For Trenches With:

• Back rain shields
• Wind Shields
• Back and or Inverted Pleats
• High Collars

These all help to minimize any water getting past the coat.

Splash out and keep the splashes out with the Rita leather aviator jacket: Acne

BEAT THE BREEZE

Perfect for keeping you snug when those chilly winds kick in, but light enough to wear on top of summer dresses? Transitional cardies and or light jackets are the way to go. Here’s a few we spied earlier.

This fantastic, crisp white jacket is from Frasers. Perfect for dressing up with an LBD or dressing down with dark denim and heels, either way, we LOVE IT!

Zara effortlessly do military chic with a hint of summer shades. This blue knitted jacket come cardi is the perfect for day wear and keeping out the chill.

Shrug off the bad weather with this beautiful camel shrug from TopShop

A beautiful shrug-esque cardigan, this long length ruffle detail cardigan by Alexander Wang for Liberty is another great piece to dress up or dress down.

AND ONE FOR THE BOYS…

Male smart/casual? Nobody does it quite like ASOS. We LOVE this Grey knitted waistcoat from out fav online outfitters and you will too.

The Latest Trend That’s Packing A Punch And Keeping You Fit

Words By Rahsian Parris

Most of us cringe at the thought of walking around with them, they remind us of those all too geeky school days, the heavy library books, the chafing Nylon and for the small percentage of us that do use them, it’s generally just for the gym and is accompanied by envious stares and exasperated groans from onlookers (i.e giving the death stare to the “look at me bouncing around looking all beautiful post workout” people that like to wear their trademarked gym bags like a badge of honour). So hearing that the ye’ old faithful Rucksack is back in fashion may naturally lead you to belt out screams of horror or have visions of adults bounding the streets looking more ‘Back-2-Skool’ than Retro-Cool, but fear not fellow fashionistas, this is one trend worth holding on to. Whether you are getting ready for a holiday, gap year, preparing for University or simply want to look fantastic sporting this seasons boldest comeback, the Rucksack is packing an almighty punch in the fashion stakes and guess what? It’s good for your health too.

Rucksacks Are Back!

Check out these star finds for inspiration.

The Filson Rucksack

Favoured by acting royalty Maggie Gyllenhaal. Well if it’s good enough for Maggie…

The Coitman Backpack – Jack Wills

Preppy university outfitters, JW are spot on with this sporty canvas/leather number. We especially love their uniform patriotism

The Topshop Small Leather Rucksack

Rucksacks don’t get much cuter then Topshop’s 100% leather mini, it’s a bitsized beauty

SS10 Burberry Rucksack

Okay so it is slightly older season, but we love it any way. Kudos to Burberry for being hot off the mark with this soft canvas bag

ASOS Floral Rucksack

There is nothing like a bit of floral to brighten up these unpredictable weather conditions. This ASOS rucksack is A Class

AND FOR THE BOYS?

We’re loving this canvas leather look rucksack from ASOS for boys and we might just pinch it for ourselves

**SAY NO TO NYLON**

We’re not saying that all Nylon rucksacks are bad, but unless Urkel is the look you are going for, we recommend the uber combo of Canvas and Leather.

SAVE YOUR BACK AND YOUR POCKET: 5 REASONS TO SWAP YOUR TOTE FOR YOUR RUCKSACK

1. Two straps are better than one: Evening out the weight of your bag on to your back and both shoulders prevents the horrid aches and muscle knotting, as your abdominal muscles help balance the body and the weight and you are not pulling down on one shoulder like you would from carrying the weight on one arm*
2. It helps prevent arthritis: Carrying a heavy bag in your hand puts a massive strain on your wrist and carrying it on the lower arm puts strain on your elbow joint, both can cause arthritis over a period of time
3. You will be safer on the road: Wearing a backpack whilst cycling is much safer than having a bag in the bicycle basket
4. You will be saving money: The balanced weight distribution means that equal amounts of weight will be on each strap which means that it takes longer for the straps to wear out and you wont have to replace it as often; unlike traditional handbags, totes, shoulder bags et al that have one or two small straps that take the whole weight of the bag.
5. A rucksack is STILL cheaper than most handbags and better quality. A standard canvas rucksack is, on average, the same price or less than a standard Polyurethane handbag of the same size.

*Be sure to have your rucksack/backpack properly fitted or test it out before you purchase it to make sure it is the right size for you. You should also never overfill rucksacks and make them too heavy.

For expert advice on how to wear bags in order to keep your back healthy please visit: Backpainexpert.co.uk

On Trend In The Pen: Inspired By Lindsay Lohan

Words By Rahsian Parris / Photography*

IT’S EVERYWHERE, Lindsay Lohan has been sentenced to 90days in jail for violating her probation from a few years back and just like her previous jail bird partners in crime, Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie, we’ve seen tears and some surprisingly convincing dramatic performances (not quite Oscar worthy, but far more believable than her performance in 2007 horror flop flick I Know Who Killed Me). However, despite the theatrics, “I wanted to make sure I would come back here, making you happy and show you, the court system, that I meant everything that I put into it” she cried regarding her missed sessions at the in-patient rehabilitation program; we all know that the primary issue here is not how long her sentence may be, or even the humiliation of being thrown into jail, but what she might have to wear, I mean have you SEEN those orange jumpsuits? As on-trend as they may be, easy on the eye they most definitely are not. So for Lindsay’s sake and if DUI is your thing, here’s some prison chic that’s worth doing time for.

KILLER JUMPSUITS

Forget that cliched mess of a garment, jumpsuit number one will make the guards want to lock you up for looking too good

THE NUTTY NUMBER

This one looks as though it takes its inspiration straight from Beetle Juice and guess what? We love it! Bring a bit of colour to the white padded walls with this stripey number.

BOOTCAMP BEAUTIFUL

Military has never looked so good. Been sentenced to a few weeks of boot-camp rehab? These Burberry chinos and boots combo will make everyone stand at attention

NOT-SO-DIRTY-DENIM

Forget faded denims and manky white tees, this denim jumpsuit will brighten up the darkest days

DUNGAREECESS

Take advantage of your free time outside with an outfit change. So you’d rather sit on the bench looking gorgeous instead of playing football with a squashed coke can, so what?

WORKING IT WORKING OUT

Obligatory gym sessions are no fun for anybody, locked up or not, but do *hot* instead of *sweaty* in this bang on sporty trend jumpsuit

BOOT-A-LICIOUS

Footwear may not seem that important, but if you’ve ever watched Shawshank Redemption you’ll know that in prison, what’s on your feet could make or break you (if you’re trying to escape to get to a bank dressed as a business man :S) if not, just look military-cool in these awesome All Saints lace-ups.

So there we have it, next time you plan on committing a crime, make sure you’ve got some of these beauties in your wardrobe first. Lindsay, we can’t do anything about bail, but at least you’ll look great 😀

*Asos, Burberry, Moschino, All Saints, The Times Online, Fox News