Fashion is pretty user friendly right now. Call it normcore - please don't – but there’s no doubt that we are currently enjoying a spate of comfy cool garms which include trainers, old school denim and tracksuit bottoms. Heels are still banging, obviously, but you don't feel the need to totter around in 5 inch points all day long. Equally, your tracksuit bottoms are now as viable with a crisp white shirt as your leopard print pencil - and your bottom is in heaven all day. What's going on, you ask? No, everyone has not got really, really lazy. We're calling it practicool.
'Practicool' refers to those trends that are both practical and cool. Many of the pieces currently enjoying a renaissance – dungarees, ankle socks, cagoules and functional multi-purpose accessories – are doing so because of the twin preoccupations with the 90s and looking effortless. Plus, being the so-called geek is now on the rise – hello the ace 'girl coders'.
We'll break it down for you, using a few examples. Let’s start with the bumbag, or the ‘fanny pack’ – as it's far more titillatingly called in the US. Practical – because it means you don't need to bother with a handbag in crowded environs, which is only going to swing in everyone's faces anyway. Cool – because have you seen how slick a vintage Moschino one is? Ticks the logomania box nicely, too.
Raincoats, or cagoules, have also made a solid return to the high street – eBay told us that they have seen a 216% in the past three months – so, where you used to hide yours away just for the gnarliest festivals, you can now be out and proud about your rain prevention. You could go the whole hog and pair it with galoshes, too.
eBay also told us that they have seen a whopping 480% increase in sales of jelly shoes. The 90s shoe of choice – there was nothing more glorious than being able to run into the sea whilst wearing your shoes aged five, no? – British brand JuJu are doing a roaring trade with their numerous styles. If the trad caged Mary Jane style is too baby-doll for you, try the toe-less jelly sandal. Hell, add some socks, too. Socks with shoes is the ultimate practicool statement. There's no denying that shoes without socks makes for stinky feet and shoes, as well as blisters – even, inexplicably, with shoes you've had for two years.
The ultimate practicool accessory is obviously the backpack. Cara's a big fan, natch. But you don't need Rihanna – and her 14ft wide Adam Selman backpack. There's no doubt that we pretty much give ourselves a humpback with the weight of our handbags these days (one anonymous editor of The Debrief found an unopened bottle of wine at the pit of her breeze-block weighted handbag the other day), so the fact that you can share the load between two shoulders means that you're less likely to end up with one dented shoulder. See?
There are also some kookier accoutrements to get you into the practicool state of mind. Bottle-opener necklaces reference the noughties ladette in the best possible way. In the same way that someone else lighting your cigarette increases your sexual appeal by 10%*, opening some guy's bottle of beer with your necklace is pretty much the sassiest thing you could do this summer during any outdoor pursuit. And may we also suggest a chain for your sunglasses, or a lipbalm ring? They're practicool statement pieces.
But to start with the basics, consider the quick-win practicool styling tips: a shirt tied around your waist or worn open over a tee; a backpack (with a cagoule tucked away inside); some dungarees with a sports bra underneath. You can also hint at practicool via some socks with sneakers or a backpack. Fold a bucket hat into your bumbag – facial sunburn is not practicool – and you’ve aced the new genre. Now, go spread it.
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*the rumour which abounded when we smoked aged 15 despite having absolutely no scientific backing
Pictures: Jason Lloyd-Evans
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.