I see it a lot. I live in Sydney’s northern suburbs, where there are a lot of Chinese and Korean residents. Women of all ages from those backgrounds carry parasols/umbrellas year round. I don’t know where they get them because I’ve never seen these particular kinds of brollies in the shops but they are usually brightly coloured on the outside with a black lining.
Personally, I’d rather wear a hat, even though hats look ridiculous on me because having one less hand to do stuff with would drive me nuttier than I already am.
Because it’s one of those silly gender specific fashions, like purses. You aren’t going to get men to carry purses either; heck even when holding it for a girlfriend/wife men tend to do the thing where they grab it by the body of the purse and not the strap. “See! It’s not my purse! I’m not carrying it like a girl!” About the only way you’d get men to use parasols would be to make something that fulfills the same function while looking different; preferably black, heavy & utilitarian.
I wouldn’t give it a second thought. There are so many more things worth thinking about, and 99% of them are trivial, and yet this one wouldn’t register.
I burn easily and carried a parasol on occasion, mostly when I was in my 20s, in NYC. It seemed like a good idea, I had a cute parasol and would pair it with a cute outfit. I don’t know if some people secretly thought it looked silly (no one ever said anything) but I did receive a lot of compliments.
I am not Asian, btw, if we are keeping track of non-Asian New Yorkers carrying parasols.
Well, I’m neither a “young” (by your definition) lady or an elderly one (by any definition), but I do this. If I’m going to be anywhere for more than 10 minutes where I can’t avoid direct sunlight, I need to bring my own shade, because I’m glow-in-the-dark pale. I burn through waterproof SPF 50, I burn fast, and having some stranger think I’m weird is a fine trade-off for not getting fried.
I’ve got pictures of me at my friends’ (outdoor, mid-June) wedding toting my umbrella around on a bright sunny day.
ETA: Also not Asian. Irish and German, which explains the pale skin.
The only time I’ve seen a lot of parasols was just outside Herbertstraße in the Reeperbahn in Hamburg. Herbertstraße is the blocked off street with prostitutes in the windows. This was at midnight, so I assume that it wasn’t for the sun. So, I kind of think of hot sexy ladies of the evening. It was oddly charming and less blatant than what you see on those HBO shows.
I doubt I’d think the same thing in New York City.
I’ve seen older ladies of Asian & Latin American extraction using parasols–or just multi-tasking with umbrellas in the sun. My “extraction” is mostly Irish but my dermatologist thought the UV blocking umbrella/parasol was a great idea. Unlike a hat, it folds away & tucks into my purse when not needed. And is useful in the rain–if it ever starts raining again in Texas.
Yes, I wear sunscreen, too. (A parasol also keeps you a bit cooler.)
Yeah but, aside from those not being locally available, there is a main reason why they stopped being available here: why have two items when one suffices? Umbrellas here tend to be of relatively-small sizes compared with those Over There; I brought one in my uni’s colors which was large enough for four people, the ones here are supposed to be for one (two if they like each other very, very much) and being able to cross paths with people on the street is considered important - a consideration which would be illogical in those areas of the US where people simply don’t walk in the street.
I’ve seen dudes use an umbrella as a parasol. Some of them were wearing suits and toting executive cases too… some of the umbrellas in question were black and some were plaid.
The handles of olives’ olives tiny parasols are, of course, toothpicks.
