Traditionally, a tagelmust is a sort of turban worn by the Touareg to protect themselves from the wind, sand, sun or cold. They wrap it around their head and neck. In our somewhat calmer countries, we use them mainly for protecting the neck. The tagelmust is somewhere between a shawl and a scarf: it’s longer and thicker than a shawl, but lighter than a scarf. They’re usually made of cotton.
My advice: choose a tagelmust of a decent size so you can wrap it around your neck at least twice. You can wear it two different ways according to the weather: tight around the neck on windy days, or looser, more fashionable than functional.
To find one, you can either try department stores (I bought one from le Printemps last winter), certain clothing stores (such as Agnès B), and the Internet (such as eBay as seen below):
€6.90 from www.ebay.fr
€35 from www.agnesb.fr
In 2005, the first Veja collection appeared: the Veja Volley, with a simple and refined design inspired by a 1970s Brazilian style. The idea was to make a beautiful but modest and unfussy product to attract people to the ethical idea behind these shoes.
Whether it was the urban side, the vintage look, releasing products in trendy concept stores or through word of mouth, success followed!
And even if it has been criticized for success in trustafarian circles, this eco-friendly brand continued its merry way: 3 years later, there are now several Veja styles whose colours change with each new collection.
Veja Volleys
The most well-known and classic style! They’re made from organic cotton canvas with a wild rubber sole.
Veja Tauá Leather
The Veja Tauá is made from ecological leather still with the same wild rubber sole. New for the winter 2008 collection: the Veja V logo is tone-on-tone, giving the brand a more discreet signature.
Veja Grama and Grama Leather
This collection has a sole that uses much more rubber. With this style, Veja buys double the amount of rubber from the tappers and this allows a greater positive impact on the conservation of the Amazon rainforest. Also, each trainer has the number of grams (grama in Portuguese) of wild rubber contained in the sole. Veja Gramas are made from organic cotton and the Grama Leathers from ecological leather.
How to choose which style? Well, that’s easy:
- Veja Volleys for the summer: they’re made from light canvas, which is perfect for the heat
- Veja Grama for the spring: the cotton helps with the heat and the thick sole helps to stay dry during April showers
- Veja Tauás for the autumn because the leather won’t soak up the rain during September storms
- Veja Grama Leathers in winter because the leather will keep you warm and the thick soles will keep you out of the puddles!
So choosing a pair of Vejas seemed quite easy, although a degree of job sharing will be in order, or a new season will have to be created, because here’s the latest new-season creation: Veja The Grid!
To keep your shoes in good condition for as long as possible, the use of shoe trees are advised (all the more so if you’ve bought good shoes) These wooden gadgets slide into your shoes when you’re not wearing them to absorb humidity and to keep their shape.
Look out for raw cedar or beech for their absorbent properties rather than a varnished model. And of course, choose shoe trees that match the size of your feet! Perfectionists and DIY fans can even try to adapt the shoe trees to their shoes by filing and sanding them into shape.
If your shoes get wet, before putting them on the shoe trees, wipe the outside with a cloth, and put newspaper inside to absorb the excess moisture. Coming soon: a full shoe care guide containing all previously-offered tips.
From $30 on Zappos
The season for lazy afternoons on the beach has arrived. Whether the time on the towel is used to recover from the night before or to relax after a bitterly-disputed beach volleyball match, your towel should no longer have a giant portrait of Droopy in swimming trunks. The choice of beach towel(s) is difficult as there is a limited range.
And don’t say “I don’t have the time to buy one before the holiday, I’ll buy one when I’m there,” as you’re tempting disaster and you risk finding yourself on a towel with a dolphin with a wry smile jumping out of the water.
You need to take the initiative immediately. That’s why I’m showing you a range of towels to match with your finest shorts (I remind you, if need be, that Speedos are banned!)
Towel with message (€28 from Scirius)
Benetton butterfly towel (€45 from Grandes marques)
Sporty towel (€24.90 from Dress for less)
The Emmanuel Ungaro designer towel, perfect for wearing around your waist (€89 from Grandes marques)
Find Tony’s advice on his site, Fenêtre sur papillon
There have been discussions going on for a few weeks now on the French language forums about best-avoided errors of taste. Of course, people rarely agree about tastes and colours, but here are the Top 20 errors that people have mentioned the most:
- 1. Wearing white sport socks with anything other than trainers
- 2. Wearing socks and sandals
- 3. Tucking your jeans into your socks
- 4. Wearing jogging bottoms when not doing sport
- 5. Simon Cowell-style trousers pulled up to your belly button
- 6. Wearing the “wrong size” clothes (ankle-swinging trousers, tent-like t-shirt or jacket, etc)
- 7. Carrying a large wallet in your hip pocket (or on a chain!)
- 8. Clipping your mobile phone to your belt (or even worse: around your neck!).
- 9. Wearing shirts with large designs (like dragons/eagles/fire etc)
- 10. Wearing a tie with a short-sleeved shirt
- 11. Wearing wacky ties (Ducks, Mickey Mouse or Bart Simpson)
- 12. Tucking your tie into your trousers!
- 13. Wearing a tie pin (particularly with a short-sleeved shirt with a pocket full of Biros!)
- 14. Tucking your t-shirt into your jeans
- 15. Wearing a “London Marathon” t-shirt or similar around town
- 16. Wearing football scarves outside of the grounds
- 17. Wearing mesh baseball caps
- 18. Overdoing the branded fashion look (Vuitton cap, D&G t-shirt and belt, etc)
- 19. Fake branded bags (Dior, Chanel, Vuitton, etc.) that you can spot a mile off
- 20. And worst of all: Wearing welly boots with a suit!!!
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