We don’t know about you, but when we’re making our trek to work on soggy days, we’re not too keen on the whole “singing in the rain” thing. When it comes to downpours, let’s face it: We’re just not equipped to nail the put-together look of the leading lady who is “accidentally” caught in the rain.
We can’t all be starlets splashing about in a perfectly staged movie scene. After all, we don’t have hairdressers artfully misting our locks or stylists dressing us in garb that will appear tasteful yet alluring when wet.
Instead, we have hair that frizzes to outer-galactic heights before the first drop of rain even hits the pavement. And we have clothes that either leave us looking drowned and droopy—or, even worse, looking like we’re best suited for a spring break wet t-shirt contest. Icky and so not chic.
This is why we—the real women who don’t have someone to yell “cut” when we’re looking like drowned rats—must arm ourselves with wet weather wear that keeps us looking our best. So, we’ve put together a rainy day look that will have you actually looking forward to torrential downpour. You may even feel inclined to splash in a puddle or two.
1. Ray of Light: We’ve come a long way since the days when our mothers forced us to don trash bag raincoats any time we were caught without our raingear. As adults, we won’t settle for frumpy plastic raincoats with no real shape or style. Enter the Michael Kors double-breasted raincoat, which is tailored to perfection. There’s just something so appealing about having a taxicab yellow trench awaiting you on the darkest of days. Taxi Yellow Double Breasted Belted Short Raincoat, MICHAEL Michael Kors, $72.74, bluefly.com.
2. Super-Sized Umbrella: When it comes to umbrellas, bigger is indeed better. Yes, it’s nice to have an umbrella that’s small enough to tuck into your purse. But after years of struggling with too-small versions that allowed trails of water to dribble down our backs, we’re not going to take it anymore. We will take one of these affordable jumbo umbrellas from Target. Make ours black, white and oh-so-gorgeously graphic. Stripe Jumbo Family Umbrella in Black and White, Totes, $19.99, target.com.
3. Put a Lid on Frizz: No matter how many de-frizzing, hair sleeking products we apply with care and a prayer, we can’t seem to completely tame our manes on rainy days. Rather than giving up the big-hair battle, we’ve decided to arm ourselves with super-stylish hats—like this cloche from ModCloth. With its Roaring ’20s feel, this piece would work just as well with jeans and a tee as it would with a dress and heels. Plus, it has a certain Angelina Jolie in The Changeling feel, don’t you think? Cloche to Your Heart, ModCloth, $49.99, modcloth.com.
4. Well, Well, Wellies: There are more cute rain boots in the market than there are raindrops in a puddle. But a rainy day is a time for practicality. And Hunter Boots wrote the book on soggy sock prevention. With their woven nylon lining, lug sole and cushioned footbed, these boots don’t play around with the fate of our socks. While these come in an array of colors—not the least of which is a lovely shade of aubergine—we’re partial to the understated appeal of these black beauties. Original Hunter Wellington Rain Boot, Hunter Boots, $115, shopbop.com.
5. The Not-Jeans Jeans: We love our denim, but we’re not so fond of fighting to shove our favorite pair of jeans into the confines of our wellies. And we get especially touchy (okay, whiney and all around unpleasant) when said jeans bunch and form tiny balls of discomfort inside our boots. Thankfully, we’ve got these dark denim leggings, which will slide easily into our rain boots. Not to mention, with their contrast stitching and zippers, they’ll look just as fab outside of our boots when paired with a pair of flats or heels. Women’s Miss Pinky Denim Leggings in Black, Purple Label, $19.20, 80spurple.com.
