We have all been there, it’s raining, and you pop into the shop and buy the cheapest umbrella you can find. It serves its purpose keeping you dry, and that umbrella becomes a permanent fixture in your wardrobe. While cheap may satisfy some people, it shouldn’t be something you should settle with owning. Cheap umbrellas are great for impulse buyers, but they will sabotage you in the future.
You know what I’m talking bout, you’ve seen cheap umbrella owners struggle with their umbrella. Turning inside out from the gust of wind, or suffering from a broken spoke with the canopy flapping down miserably. Some cheap umbrellas don’t even make it from the house to the train station. A glance in a public bin on a rainy day and you will see a cheap umbrella graveyard. A sad sight.
This could be you, but you are better than that, you value the importance of a well-made umbrella because it can help you navigate a rainy day in style without breaking down and abandon you to the elements.
Here are my favourite high quality umbrellas you can buy.
SENZ
Senz has taken it upon themselves to reinvent the umbrella, helping solve all of our bugbears using a traditional shape. The umbrella has a patented asymmetrical shape that allows you to withstand the heavy wind without the umbrella going inside out.
Senz Original Stormproof UV Umbrella- £59.99
Maharishi has collaborated with Senz to create a collaboration that combines the innovation of the asymmetrical umbrella with the military aesthetic. I have been searching for an umbrella with a crossbody strap, and I couldn’t believe my joy when I came across this umbrella.
9299MAHARISHI X SENZ ORIGINAL UMBRELLA – £85
M&S
The umbrellas from M&S are affordable and excellent quality. For the past five years, I have owned two M&S umbrellas – a credit to how long they can last.
The style that I always buy is £19.50. For that price, you get a sturdy, automatic folding umbrella that will be your trusty companion when battling the unsavoury weather. It features Windtech technology, which I have no idea what it means, but it sounds good to me.
Recycled Polyester Rubber Handle Umbrella with Windtech™
JAMES SMITH AND SONS
Next on my list is a shop that I have admired from afar. James Smith and Sons Umbrellas. A store dedicated to selling umbrellas. If you have a chance to pop into the store, you won’t be disappointed; there are umbrellas in every style, design and quality. Prices start around the £40 mark for folding umbrellas, when you leave the store you know you are going to get the best umbrella you have ever owned.
I am obsessed with this Knirps Umbrella. “Knirps invented the folding umbrella and have been manufacturing and developing their products since 1928.” I think it’s safe to buy a folding umbrella from the brand that invented the style, don’t you?
Knirps Topmatic SL Wood Crook Umbrella
LONDON UNDERCOVER
I discovered this brand on Instagram through the many algorithms that push adverts onto my feed. London Undercover – a British umbrella brand founded in 2008 – offers handcrafted umbrellas made “using age-old techniques”, with “the finest materials and highest quality craftsmanship”.
HACKETT
Perfect for travelling, an umbrella from Hackett is detailed with subtle logo on the canopy exterior. The umbrella opens with a push release button.
CHARLES TYRWHITT
An old friend gifted a Charles Tyrwhitt umbrella for my birthday about five years ago, and it is still in fantastic condition. I have no doubt the compact version is made with the same quality.
Black wind resistant compact umbrella – £24.95
BLUNT
Say goodbye to spikes with this unique, innovative umbrella from Blunt. With a comfortable handle, a unique shape, and reinterpretation of the classic spike design. This umbrella boasts superior quality materials and has been tested in extreme weather conditions.
Where do you usually buy your umbrellas? Do they last?