Dry the rain

My biggest weakness is umbrellas. It started a year and a half ago, when someone left a £100 umbrella in the club where I work... and still hadn't claimed it after six months. By the law of finders-keepers, it was mine. All 34 inches of Liberty-print silk and sturdy fox frame and maple handle and silver engraving. Miiiiine. And so the obsession began.

My favourite shop in London for brollies is James Smith & Sons, a small, elegant gentlemen's outfitters style emporium on New Oxford St. They do bespoke umbrellas, if you can afford such things, and even mend broken brollies [as I found after a drunken friend shattered the resin cane-top on my favourite parapluie].



I'm not altogether pleased with the manic explosion of florals across the fashion landscape this spring, and I certainly won't be stepping into flouncy little teadresses for spring. But a floral umbrella seems like a gorgeous and practical way to indulge in the trend on my own terms. My favourites:











In the end, not having £120 to spend, I went for this one:



Try out these sites for unusual umbrellas:

Signature Bella
Umbrella Boutique
Simply Umbrellas
Brollies Galore