like I should have saved it for a birthday present or something. Oh well!

The wood handle is very nice, and I like the metal tip over the wood tip it won't get scuffed on the end. It is a nice, durable, quality umbrella, that should do a nice job at keeping you dry, and showing you have a little style.

I just ordered the black one for myself. They aren't the cheapest umbrella, but you get what you pay for.

the time the umbrella started acting up I was past Amazon's return period. Even though I had only used the umbrella a handful of times, I was over 30 days. I contacted the seller e-bags and was told I was past their return date also. Again, to be clear, it rarely rains where I live, so, although the umbrella was over 30 days old it was barely used and practically brand new. E-bags told me to contact the manufacturer and gave me London Fog's contact info.

Well, it turns out that even though this is marketed as a "London Fog" umbrella, and that "London Fog" is stamped on the handle, it is actually made by another company. I was told to contact the actual manufacturer. After waiting a week for an email response (because of course they don't answer the phone), I was told to box the umbrella up, ship it to them, and include $6 for return postage for a new or fixed umbrella. Oh, and that it would take 6 weeks to get my umbrella back.

So, to get a replacement for this $28 umbrella I had to pay for a box, pay for shipping 2 ways, and wait 6 weeks. I threw it out. What a joke. Buy at your own risk.

la looks very sharp, is adequately large (I can always have one more friend share this umbrella without either of us getting wet, even though I am not a small person), and the shaft, tip and the handle are all very strong. Where I live, there is not a lot of wind, so I can't say about wind resistance, but in a mildly strong wind, this umbrella held up without any problems. I have also used this umbrella like a cane (but not like placing my whole weight onto this little thing), but the brass tip did not wear out even with all the dragging around the campus. It feels like a cotton fabric top, and it gathers dust as if it is fabric, but the water drips and dries off so quickly that I can usually fold up and velcro the umbrella after about 5 minutes away from rain. For a little over a year, I have more than appreciated and enjoyed the umbrella.

Now the one problem I had with the product (that made me write this review) was that the auto-open button fell off the shaft a few days ago. It had fallen off quite a few times before, but I was able to stick it back on and use it carefully. But this time, the button fell off and went along with the stream of water on a heavy storm day.

I am usually very thorough with reading reviews, and I have read almost every review on this umbrella before purchasing. Among those reviews, there was ONE review that said that the button fell off from his or her umbrella. However, because that was the only one, I ignored it and went ahead and bought this umbrella. Because of that, about two years later, I am having to close the umbrella, and to keep things together, I must velcro it right away.

For about a couple years' use, I think that paying close to $40 is a bit overpriced. I mean, I've used an umbrella for nearly 10 years before losing it while I was moving to a new place. If this button can be fixed or something, I would give it more than 5 stars if I can. Apart from that, I would recommend this umbrella to anyone and everyone who is okay with having to open an umbrella straight from its velcro :)