How to stay stylish on questionable days. 

Here are UGA I was surprised by the amount of rain we received last semester. I realized that my raingear was inadequate when I ended up soaked through my “rain jacket” which is turns out actually absorbed, not repelled, water. Here are the lessons I’ve learned on how to look cute on questionable days:

Rainboots

Childish rainboots are not a necessity.

Today I witnessed many fashion atrocities, the most prevalent being girls wearing running shorts and bright rainboots with tee-shirts. It’s great that they thought to keep their feet wet, but their arms and legs were chilled and soaked. Plus, these girls looked ridiculous. Fun-patterned rainboots can emphasize your individual style, just make sure to pair boots with a put-together outfit to reflect developed rather than immature style.

Skinny jeans work great with rainboots (and boots in general), rather than resorting to a strange combination that looks like you may be trying to run away from the rain.

Rubber rain boots are not necessary!

I found a great pair of boots from Target constructed from man-made materials (not leather, which absorbs water). These boots repel water and look great. Also, if the sun comes out or it doesn’t rain like the weather report insisted, I look stylish in these versatile boots.

 

 

Umbrellas

Umbrellas are a wonderful accessory. It is useful to own a black umbrella for chance somber or formal occasions, such as funerals or gothic opera performances, but my recommendation is to also own an umbrella which expresses a fun or seldom-seen side of your personality. Brightly-colored or patterned umbrellas lighten up and add fun to gray-skied days. My dear umbrella is lavender.

 

Jackets

I prefer umbrellas to jackets simply because most rain-jackets lack style and are not necessary to wear indoors. It is good to own a raincoat in you enjoy outdoorsy activities like hiking, camping, etc., because walking through a forest with an umbrella is quite impractical (the material could get caught on and snag on trees). Make sure to test or check whether the jacket absorbs or repels water-; a coat from the Gap I had assumed to repel water actually absorbed it and got me just as wet as if I hadn’t worn a jacket at all!

These raingear tips are especially pertinent to high school and college students who have to walk across widely-spread campuses. With a little research and smart shopping, your rainy-day outfits may be even more stunning than your sunny ones.