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Luggage has a tendency to linger in the backs of cupboards long past its sell-by date, brought out to air a few times a year and rarely replaced until it’s visibly falling apart. And I, more than anyone, am guilty of this. I’ve held onto suitcases with missing wheels and a broken telescopic handle that threatened to blind anyone who tried to use it because ‘it will come in handy when I move house.’ Spoiler alert: it did not.
Easter might fall late this year, but there are two bank holidays and a half-term (and then the summer holidays) all hot on its heels. It means ample opportunity to get away for a couple of days or a long weekend, at home or abroad — so consider this your much-needed PSA to buy a new bag, or two, that’s fit for public viewing.
Last week, RIMOWA released a limited edition ‘Holiday’ collection of briefcase-looking cabin cases in three high gloss primary colours. The design was inspired by one of the brand's bags from 1988 — and one that was among the first to stray from conservative blacks, browns and dark blues. Now, we're not suggesting you purchase a whole new suite of luggage in clashing tones and turn the airport carousel into a Dulux paint chart, but a smaller pop of colour, here and there, will never go amiss. With that in mind, here’s a round-up of some of the bolder holdall and cabin bags on the market right now to help usher in the warmer months and your sunny sojourns.
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How to keep your dogs — and other wildlife — safe on Bonfire NightAnyone who’s ever owned a dog will remember, remember the 5th of November — not just for the Gunpowder Plot, but for the nervous wrecks it turns our dogs into.
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Man's (new) best friend: Slinky, swift and sweet, a furry ferret is a worthy household companionFerrets are a perfect pet — just don't let them loose in the British Museum, Octavia Pollock writes.
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What is everyone talking about this week: Why we love period dramaObservers cite a need for escapism, but Will Hosie thinks there's more to our enduring love of a period drama.
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What links myself, David Beckkam and The King? We all have an affinity for the Aston Martin DB6, a car that has been unfairly punished for not being in a James Bond filmThe Aston Martin DB6 is better than the DB5, and I am tired of pretending that it isn't.
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‘I’m not impressed by an Oxbridge education’: Author Jessie Burton on her acting ambitions, writing ‘The Miniaturist’ and her consuming passionsThe Sunday and New York Times bestselling author wrote her debut novel under her desk while temping as a PA for private equity companies. Lotte Brundle meets her.
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'The King of Hell was fat from gorging on souls and he expelled some more from his bowels': The many guises of the Devil Antiquity to present dayTaking as many guises as his names, the Prince of Lies turned at times into a man-devouring ogre, a mutant medley of claws, horns and wings, or the brooding rebel that lit the imagination of Romantic painters.
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A grand milestone: Country Life's Mark Hedges celebrates a record-breaking 1,000 issues as editor-in-chiefThe custodian of a 128-year-old British institution celebrated the milestone with a special edition guest edited by Sir David Beckham.
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Meet the man who makes David Beckham's Land Rover DefendersLand Rover’s beloved, rattly old workhorse has gained a chic cachet in recent years — particularly when modified to suit all sorts of purposes, even transporting our David Beckham's honey harvest.
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‘A significant number of the little blighters can add up, can’t it?’: Sophia Money Coutts on how much — or little — to spend on your godchildren’s Christmas presentsAs we ramp up to the festive season, our Modern Etiquette columnists answers our reader's most pressing questions.
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The trench coat is a British fashion icon that’s been worn by everyone from brave World War soldiers to Sex and the City’s Samantha JonesThe trench coat did not originate in the trenches, says Amie Elizabeth White, but it was greatly influenced by the World Wars, and was sported by a host of film and TV stars.
