Other Treasures

What's the difference between a parasol and an umbrella?

Parasols are for sun protection, umbrellas are for rain protection.

Usually parasols are not waterproof, (although our Monk parasols are made for storm protection as well as sun protection.) With a quick coat of waterproofing spray, found at all good hardware shops, our Empress parasol is excellent in the rain and more stylish than a regular umbrella. You can waterproof any cotton parasol if you'd like to use it in the wet. (Maybe not a lace one, though.)

As a very general rule of thumb; if it's made of waterproof nylon, it's an umbrella. If it's made of anything else; cotton, lace, silk, taffeta etc. it's a parasol.

Another point of difference is that parasol handles are typically straight and umbrella handles are curved for hanging up to drip dry. You'll notice some of our parasol handles are curved. We decided to break the rules. Firstly, we haven't found any handles we love as much as our curved handles. Secondly, a curved handle is very handy to hang on a fence, car door, bag, shoulder or baby stroller if you need to do something with both hands.

© 2006 A Bit Shady