My new Marimekko umbrella

I didn't have time to do much shopping on my last visit to Helsinki, but I did make one particularly excellent purchase out of sheer necessity. This awful rainy weather we've had here in London has also affected the Nordic countries and although we were lucky in that it only rained once during the long weekend we were in the city, the clouds often looked threatening. So while drooling over the goods at the Marimekko shop on the North Esplanade, I spotted an umbrella in the iconic poppy patten and immediately snapped it up. To be honest I only got it because it looked good - and it matched my summer parka - but I've found that it's also incredibly well designed.

This was yesterday when it was just pouring down all day.

First of all, the mechanism is such that you only need to press a button on the handle for the umbrella to open and close. And as the friendly sales assistant in Helsinki showed me, once shut, it's easy to shake the excess water off. What's more, the fabric is such that it water doesn't attach itself to it at all, and with just a few shakes it's bone dry. (No pun intended).

You can buy these beauties here as well as in the Marimekko shops around the world, and they cost around 45 Euros.