Wednesday, May 7, 2008

stand under my umbrella-ella-ella

Eh...eh...eh...sorry for the overused allusion to that awesome-turned-overplayed Rihanna song of last summer, but it works much better than my original thought of, "under my parasol-ol-ol...yay! yay! yay!" Yeah, I've lost it...

Anyway, what I meant to say was that I love a good umbrella and/or parasol. Unfortunately though, my ability to sail through life just beyond the brink of functional retardation has led me to lose nearly every pretty umbrella I've ever owned. My favorite kind of umbrellas are the kind that can be swung around or used as a cane (which you might need in case a car tries to mow you down on your way to work). However, I've never used an umbrella on a sunny day. That is, I've never carried a parasol à la this guy, whom I just spotted going into the Giant located near my office:

He'll see the sun in hell.

Yes, e-friends, DC is ahead of the fashion curve! If you'll recall, the parasol hit it big last fall when designers were showing their Spring '08 collections. Check out Anna Sui and Tracy Reese, respectively:

Yes! Pasty white is in!

Wait, no. No it's not.

So there! Who says this city has no fashion sense?! And so what if the man I saw shuffling to the grocery store was possibly either a) homeless, b) crazy, or c) some combination of the two. That man clearly knows the parasol is hot this season and he is making that sh*t work! In fact, he's practically a goddamn Monet painting:


But with the grace of an ancient Japanese noble woman:


And the pinache of Mr. Fonzworth Bentley:


And, of course, the overall zest of, um, this guy:


Congratulations, DC, you have arrived!

6 comments:

lacochran's evil twin said...

Hey, I have zest. Where can I purchase this fabulous fashion statement? Currently all I have is the ridiculously practical but unfashionable portable tote. Where is Stacey London when I need her?!

Marissa said...

Ahh yes. Finding a good-looking umbrella that isn't ridiculously expensive is hard. I've always found good ones at the original Filene's Basement in Boston or Century 21 in New York, but have yet to find a discount spot in DC that has anything comparable.

However, online is my best friend in DC. I just found for actual parasols and for umbrellas.

(I love creative naming...)

Marissa said...

Zoinks. Those links work, but they did not come out as planned. Let me just go to Plan B:

For umbrellas: www.umbrellas.com

For parasols: www.greatparasolz.com

Phew. I hate technology. Yet I love it.

I-66 said...

Seriously? "greatparasolz"?

This is the story about how Goose becomes Mary freakin Poppins.

Anonymous said...

I wish two things:

-that everyone else could see what those of us who witnessed this firsthand saw, which is that this dude was also rocking a full brimmed canvas safari-style hat under this umbrella ... some would argue eliminating the need for the secondary sunshade altogether

-that i had that dude's umbrella when we got out of the hip hap show tonight.

Marissa said...

leo--

That hip-hap show was super-duper.