As a gentleman, I have many virtues. And perhaps the most important of them is unlimited benevolence. However, there is a certain professional category of people, and when I meet them feel anxious and immediately try to cross to the opposite side of the street. We are talking, of course, about various analysts and forecasters. Their field of expertise is incredibly wide – from politics to football. However, even among this group of deeply dishonest people, I would highlight especially cynical and cruel, who for some reason decided that knowing the word meteorology allows them to make a weather forecast. I have not a slightest doubt that all the nonsense that we hear from them is not a mistake made by chance and not the result of lack of any data, but is an absolutely conscious and deliberate misleading of the respected public. This is announced solemnly only in order to take advantage of our credulity and then fully enjoy the stupid situation in which we find ourselves. I just cannot find any other explanations for such often unfulfilled forecasts. Therefore, let’s forget about the existence of these scammers and rely solely on common sense. And common sense tells us that summer has remained in wonderful memories, and ahead of us there is an incessant drizzling rain, sometimes interrupted by terrible downpours. But this, although an unpleasant fact, should not bring you into a state of utter despair at all. After all, by a happy pattern, you have me, and I have great news for you. It was my benevolence, which I mentioned a little above, that prompted me to write this article, in which I present a brief review of the best umbrellas for gentlemen. The list below does not contain any priority, so that any gentleman has the opportunity to make a free choice and thereby bear full responsibility for such choice in the future.
However, I beg your pardon for a long introduction and I hasten to introduce you the best five umbrellas, which at various times not only saved me from a cold, and my suit from suffering, but also took a worthy place in my extensive collection of gentleman’s accessories.
Well…
MARIO TALARICO
Have you, dear gentlemen, ever been to Naples and its beautiful surroundings? If you have, you will understand me. If you haven’t, I will try to convey the idea briefly and clearly. This is a significant information for our story. I do not know where the pious inhabitants of these places will go. But those of us who are lucky enough to go to paradise will certainly find ourselves in Capri or in the town of Positano, which is located near Naples. In fact, this is paradise. An incredibly juicy cocktail of juicy lemons, tanned girls and stunningly melodic Neapolitan songs goes to the head no weaker than the sun, which shines here 380 days a year out of 365 possible.
I have no idea, how, and, most importantly, why Giovanni Buongiovanni made his first umbrella here back in 1860. But the fact remains. One of the oldest umbrella workshops in Italy was opened in Naples. As time passes, after long family vicissitudes (I will tell you this story sometime), the workshop acquired the name Mario Talarico. And for more than 160 years the workshop has been creating and quite successfully selling its masterpieces of umbrella art all over the world. And, if you do not mind being in the same company with Pope Benedict, Pope Francis and Prince William of England, who have already acquired umbrellas of this respected brand, then feel free to look at their website www.mariotalarico.it
FOX UMBRELLAS
If “The Gambler” by Fyodor Dostoevsky is included in the list of your table-books for a quite understandable reason, and you are glad to spend an hour or two with cards at a table upholstered in expensive green cloth, then your choice of an umbrella is greatly simplified. Fox Umbrella is a famous British brand, which was created by Thomas Fox almost 100 years before I was born, back in 1868. However, this gentleman did not stay at the head of the company for long and soon he had to pay off his business for a gambling debt to Samuel Nixon, who, also being a decent man, having taken possession of the company, even kept the brand name. Later he became so interested in a new business that he decided to change his surname to Fox. Since then and throughout its history, the company has borne the proud name Fox Umbrellas and aims to create the lightest, most reliable and elegant umbrellas. I assure you, the company is still on a roll. So, if you still have not spent all your funds to the last penny in the nearest gambling establishment, you have a chance to try your luck on the website www.foxumbrellas.com
HOLLANDS&HOLLANDS
Technically, Holland&Holland is not famous for the umbrellas production. It’s rather more serious than that. If you were born in the British Isles and consider yourself a gentleman, then hunting foxes, ducks and other cute animals is an integral part of your look and a never-drying spring of stories for leisurely conversations in the cigar room. The walls of this sacred men place should certainly be decorated with stuffed hunting trophies looking reproachfully at you and, of course, guns. There are a lot of guns here: single-barrelled, double-barrelled, decorated with carvings or without it. Some of them are old, and some are very old and date back to 1835, as evidenced by the Holland & Holland logo. Not long ago, following the desire of its discerning customers to have additional accessories for country hunting with the coveted brand, this respected firearms company also produced an umbrella. Designed in traditional emerald-green tones, this cane umbrella is a brilliant reflection of the very spirit of old England. In a word, if you like country life, loud barking and gunfire from all sides, then a Holland & Holland umbrella will fit perfectly into this environment. You may aim and not miss here: www.hollandandholland.com
JAMES SMITH&SONS
If umbrellas had their own universe, it would be called James Smith&Sons. In fact, this is not even a manufacturer’s brand, but a place where umbrellas are born, live and create offspring. And, if you, once in London, decided to get an umbrella just in case (and this case, believe me, will definitely come), then it is enough just to make the magic phrase “umbrella shop” and any taxi driver will understand unmistakably that you need to be delivered to the address: 53 New Oxford Street. The very address is the centre of the umbrella universe that arose in 1830. Technically, the first workshop was opened on Schubert Square, near Regent Street, but by 1850 the business had grown so much that James Smith had to look for a more spacious room, which he looked after on New Oxford Street. Since then, the shop has hardly changed and till the present day embodies the wonderful times of the reign of Queen Victoria. There are not just a lot of umbrellas here, but I would even say there are indecently many of them here. And, worst of all, they are all so exquisite and diverse that there is a chance to spend the rest of your days in that God-pleasing institution. To avoid such unacceptable end, you may just go to the website www.james-smith.co.uk
Well, and finally
LONDON UNDERCOVER
Another brand I just cannot ignore is also from London. So it goes, the British are experts in rain. London Undercover may not have such rich history as those respected brands above, but this circumstance is more than compensated by the drive that is inherent only to the young. Founded in 2008, the company formulated its credo very clearly and uncompromisingly: “With the celebration of Britishness at the core, London Undercover continues to bring the humble umbrella to life!” The amazing combination of the traditions of English umbrella production with modern design allows the company to achieve stunning results. Here you may find an umbrella with a carved wooden handle in the shape of a duck’s head and a taxi colouring in khaki. And the classic handle made of curved bamboo or pear wood, perfectly harmoniously combined with fabric of fuchsia or other luminescent shade. So, if your worldview has a solid foundation based on traditional values, but still you would like to avoid reproaches of excessive conservatism (even from your own children), be reckless. After all, you’re not Big Ben! Try things out on the website www.londonundercover.co.uk
That’s probably all for today!
And remember, a good suit, like a gentleman’s reputation, should always remain untainted.