Fashion notes: The deceptive comfort of sneaker culture


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The hallmark of a supertrend lies less in its accessibility than in its catchy name. Trend-­setters are a fickle bunch like that, finding it impossibly difficult to pass up on such a gimmick.

Urban street, granny chic, gothic Lolita, I could go on. Liars really, the lot of them, pretending such a trend will fit all. But there we go, time after time, rifling through our closets, like a moth to a flame or Sarkozy to a stacked heel, heading straight for the next big thing.

So when “casual chic”, the dress-down revolution, hit the masses it didn’t exactly win the hearts and souls of those in the inner circle.

For we are a cynical old bunch, who can spot a phoney quicker than a mother – history and repetition teaching us that anything that pretends to be a comfortable, no-nonsense, agreeable type, really involves a tremendous amount of deliberation.

I can hear the collective communal sigh from here. Why not, you cry. If the bendy types, who hover around gluten-free areas of Los Angeles, can do it, why can’t we?

Closely followed by those who work from home big-smiling at the thought, having been experimenting with the, ahem, “dress-down revolution” for an, ahem, “day at the office”, for decades.

Certainly, all in all it’s a rather ­appealing concept. A fashion trend wherein the “soccer mom” is a style icon and trainers are an “it” item. All that comfort-over-form promise – what could possibly go wrong? Well, lots. So let’s not get too comfortable with the thought.

Try to remember when Karl Lagerfeld sent his supermodels down the runway in trainers, they just so happened to be the world’s most beautiful women – all ­36-inch legs and thigh gap as big as your waist – in couture. To deny this doesn’t make a ­difference would be gross negligence on my part. So, for the rest of us, let’s tread tentatively.

Before you jump into your wardrobe and rejoice, listen up, for it has to be the right kind of trainer – not the pair you wear to do the school run or settle down to the rest of last night’s burrito and new Homeland episode. What we are looking at here are cult trainers, footwear art, with a price tag to match – made for absolutely anywhere but the gym.

Whether it’s the New Balance 410, Céline’s skate shoe or the new Nike Air Max revised in metallics, your trainers should be fabulous enough to speak for themselves.

What we really have to look at is everything else. Common sense should tell us when swimming in unchartered trainer waters; too jazzy an outfit and you’re ­obviously in some sort of crisis. Any kind of jewellery and you are running into 90s girl-band territory. And unless you liken your fashion conscience to those of an off-duty goth (or Justin Timberlake), white trainers with black are a no – as is any kind of visible sock.

Part of the impact of “sneaker culture” is the sheer unexpectedness of it all, a defining shift towards functional womenswear. Look down at the feet of front-row goers and you’ll see a sea of white gym shoes, albeit dotted intermittently by a leopard tote as pricey as your house. These are, despite the obvious, interesting and important baby steps.

Am I sold? Not exactly. For I am telling this story as a warning: ­living a life in a state of comfortable bliss is highly addictive. Trainers are dangerous, dangerous things. Give in and you are on a helter-skelter of a slippery slope to much, much worse – tracksuits, anyone?

weekend@thenational.ae

The specs: 2018 Nissan Patrol Nismo

Price: base / as tested: Dh382,000

Engine: 5.6-litre V8

Gearbox: Seven-speed automatic

Power: 428hp @ 5,800rpm

Torque: 560Nm @ 3,600rpm

Fuel economy, combined: 12.7L / 100km

TCL INFO

Teams:
Punjabi Legends 
Owners: Inzamam-ul-Haq and Intizar-ul-Haq; Key player: Misbah-ul-Haq
Pakhtoons Owners: Habib Khan and Tajuddin Khan; Key player: Shahid Afridi
Maratha Arabians Owners: Sohail Khan, Ali Tumbi, Parvez Khan; Key player: Virender Sehwag
Bangla Tigers Owners: Shirajuddin Alam, Yasin Choudhary, Neelesh Bhatnager, Anis and Rizwan Sajan; Key player: TBC
Colombo Lions Owners: Sri Lanka Cricket; Key player: TBC
Kerala Kings Owners: Hussain Adam Ali and Shafi Ul Mulk; Key player: Eoin Morgan

Venue Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Format 10 overs per side, matches last for 90 minutes
Timeline October 25: Around 120 players to be entered into a draft, to be held in Dubai; December 21: Matches start; December 24: Finals

The Sand Castle

Director: Matty Brown

Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea

Rating: 2.5/5

Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
The five pillars of Islam
Sarfira

Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad

Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal 

Rating: 2/5

Jewel of the Expo 2020

252 projectors installed on Al Wasl dome

13.6km of steel used in the structure that makes it equal in length to 16 Burj Khalifas

550 tonnes of moulded steel were raised last year to cap the dome

724,000 cubic metres is the space it encloses

Stands taller than the leaning tower of Pisa

Steel trellis dome is one of the largest single structures on site

The size of 16 tennis courts and weighs as much as 500 elephants

Al Wasl means connection in Arabic

World’s largest 360-degree projection surface

Mubadala World Tennis Championship 2018 schedule

Thursday December 27

Men's quarter-finals

Kevin Anderson v Hyeon Chung 4pm

Dominic Thiem v Karen Khachanov 6pm

Women's exhibition

Serena Williams v Venus Williams 8pm

Friday December 28

5th place play-off 3pm

Men's semi-finals

Rafael Nadal v Anderson/Chung 5pm

Novak Djokovic v Thiem/Khachanov 7pm

Saturday December 29

3rd place play-off 5pm

Men's final 7pm

The specs: 2019 Mercedes-Benz C200 Coupe


Price, base: Dh201,153
Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Power: 204hp @ 5,800rpm
Torque: 300Nm @ 1,600rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 6.7L / 100km

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Guide to intelligent investing
Investing success often hinges on discipline and perspective. As markets fluctuate, remember these guiding principles:
  • Stay invested: Time in the market, not timing the market, is critical to long-term gains.
  • Rational thinking: Breathe and avoid emotional decision-making; let logic and planning guide your actions.
  • Strategic patience: Understand why you’re investing and allow time for your strategies to unfold.
 
 
Types of bank fraud

1) Phishing

Fraudsters send an unsolicited email that appears to be from a financial institution or online retailer. The hoax email requests that you provide sensitive information, often by clicking on to a link leading to a fake website.

2) Smishing

The SMS equivalent of phishing. Fraudsters falsify the telephone number through “text spoofing,” so that it appears to be a genuine text from the bank.

3) Vishing

The telephone equivalent of phishing and smishing. Fraudsters may pose as bank staff, police or government officials. They may persuade the consumer to transfer money or divulge personal information.

4) SIM swap

Fraudsters duplicate the SIM of your mobile number without your knowledge or authorisation, allowing them to conduct financial transactions with your bank.

5) Identity theft

Someone illegally obtains your confidential information, through various ways, such as theft of your wallet, bank and utility bill statements, computer intrusion and social networks.

6) Prize scams

Fraudsters claiming to be authorised representatives from well-known organisations (such as Etisalat, du, Dubai Shopping Festival, Expo2020, Lulu Hypermarket etc) contact victims to tell them they have won a cash prize and request them to share confidential banking details to transfer the prize money.

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SPECS
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Sheer grandeur

The Owo building is 14 storeys high, seven of which are below ground, with the 30,000 square feet of amenities located subterranean, including a 16-seat private cinema, seven lounges, a gym, games room, treatment suites and bicycle storage.

A clear distinction between the residences and the Raffles hotel with the amenities operated separately.

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Expo details

Expo 2020 Dubai will be the first World Expo to be held in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia

The world fair will run for six months from October 20, 2020 to April 10, 2021.

It is expected to attract 25 million visits

Some 70 per cent visitors are projected to come from outside the UAE, the largest proportion of international visitors in the 167-year history of World Expos.

More than 30,000 volunteers are required for Expo 2020

The site covers a total of 4.38 sqkm, including a 2 sqkm gated area

It is located adjacent to Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai South

The specs

Engine: Direct injection 4-cylinder 1.4-litre
Power: 150hp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: From Dh139,000
On sale: Now

The biog

Mission to Seafarers is one of the largest port-based welfare operators in the world.

It provided services to around 200 ports across 50 countries.

They also provide port chaplains to help them deliver professional welfare services.

Five films to watch

Castle in the Sky (1986)

Grave of the Fireflies (1988)

Only Yesterday (1991)

Pom Poki (1994)

The Tale of Princess Kaguya (2013)