Drowned Rat

There are very few fashion assignments i struggle with, I have dressed people for every occasion from meeting Royalty to weddings, yacht parties to Forest raves, it doesn’t matter if its going to be blazing hot or freezing cold, if you have somewhere to be, i can put together an outfit, unless, its raining, rain used to leave me feeling sartorially stumped.

I was recently caught short wearing my suede Birkenstocks when it started to rain, i considered my options, take them off and get my socks wet walking back to the car or use plastic bags as shoe covers, it was a hairy situation, suede & rain don't mix.

If like me you wore a Wool Blazer to school you will understand why i refuse to wear a wool coat in wet weather, the smell of wet dog after being caught in the rain never quite leaves you and the worlds strongest umbrella cant protect you from that fine rain that comes at you from all directions, so after years of rain dodging i finally embraced the raincoat.

Raincoats have had a bad rap over the years, but the Scandinavians stepped in and shook up the Anorak world and Danish Brand Rains was launched in 2012, the inspiration behind it was  "to enjoy yourself, even on rainy days”  their range of bright colours instantly made the humble raincoat more appealing whilst Swedish brand Stutterheim have made all things waterproof cool.

Buying a raincoat requires you to master the art of layering, waterproof coats might be practical but they don't have the cozy factor of a quilted coat, my advice is to ignore the label size and think about what you need to wear underneath.

When i bought my raincoat I sized up twice from my usual dress size, leaving plenty of room for a hoodie (the ultimate layering tool) i chose a knee length style, as well as looking smarter it keeps more of my outfit dry.

While there are plenty of designer raincoats to entice you, the high street versions offer great waterproof technology so shop around, Uniqlo’s unique 2.5-layer high performance fabric is water-repellent, windproof, and breathable while the Helmsley from Joules is a waterproof raincoat with a hood for £139.

They say there is no such thing as bad weather, only unsuitable clothing and drowned rat is never a good look.