The athleisure trend is here to stay, so why not kit your kid out in stylish active pieces for boys from Edgars. Gifting made easy.
Take your style cues from the streets this season and shop the best athleisure pieces for boys. As well as being stylish, this trend is comfortable to wear – making it perfect for after-school and weekend outings.
Pro-Action colour-block T-shirt 149.95, Pro-Action graphic T-shirt 129.95, New Wave longer-length T-shirt 139.95, New Wave colour-block T-shirt 119.95, Pro-Action melange joggers 299.95, New Wave side-stripe shorts 159.95, flatbill cap 169.95, Pro-Action taped side-stripe shorts 299.95, New Wave mesh side-stripe shorts 159.95, Pro-Action shorts 299.95, Pro-Action trainers 259.95, Pro-Action backpack 159.95, Pro-Action moon bag 129.95
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Time to shine
A funky watch can really add a cool edge to your outfit - especially one with a sporty look which can transform a normal outfit to one that screams athleisure.
Backpacks are super cool, and are essential for the holiday season, as well as super handy for school. Take a page out of Zayn Malik's book and add a sporty backpack to finish off your look.
A big trend this season - oversized or loose-fitting clothes such as T-shirts. Basically the bigger the better. Don't let it drown you though, but don't go for tight-fitting either. À la The Biebs.
Monochromatic looks are all the rage right now - especially when it comes to sporting gear. Pair a black and white sports vest with a pair of casual shorts to add the edge your outfit is looking for.
This trend has already been around for a while and isn't going anywhere fast. Look to cool dudes like Jaden Smith for some inspiration on how to colour block your athleisure wear.
It’s the season to shop for new bathing suits. Here’s a guide to help you find the right fit for your body shape.
With so many options out there, shopping for swimwear can be quite a stressful and daunting experience. Here, we focus on swimwear that’s made to show off your beautiful frame, no matter the shape.
SLIM & ATHLETIC
With your slender frame you can basically pull off any swimsuit. But, if you want to create the illusion of curves, look for a swimsuit with bright and bold patterns, or ruffles to add volume. Necklines that show feminine features like shoulders and a bit of cleavage will also soften your look.
HOURGLASS
If you’ve been blessed with a slender waist and wider hips, Ã la Marilyn Monroe, take advantage of your curves and go for a bikini set with a crop top and a high-waist brief. The pairing will cut at just the right spot, accentuating your narrow waist. A full-piece swimsuit with a band in the middle will achieve the same desired effect if you don’t want to show your tummy.
PEAR SHAPED
For those with more of a pear shape, an itsy-bitsy bikini is the way to go. Go for high waisted bottoms for the illusion of a lift, and a small chest looks great in a triangle bikini or tube top.
Like most daunting things in life, getting ready for the new school year is a task best tackled early.
While the kids have only just closed for end of year holidays, there are some real benefits to being ready for the new year school rush, now.
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Nelson Mandela famously said ‘It always seems impossible until it’s done’. Many parents feel this exact way when faced with the mountain of check lists, new uniform requirements and book wrapping and labelling that faces them at the beginning of a new school year. But, like most daunting things in life, back to school tasks are best tackled early, and piece by piece.
Benefit 1:
Avoiding the long queues at school supply stores
Doing your school shopping in December means that the school supply stores will be relatively quiet (except for the other efficient parents winking at your brilliance as they walk past), allowing you to shop with less rush and frustration.
Benefit 2:
Taking advantage of festive season specials on school essentials
Many grocery stores have specials meant to appeal to the Christmas shopper, but those items are just as useful for back to school. You can stockpile on things like small fruit juices for lunch boxes, wrapping paper for school books (avoid the Christmas-themed kind and stick to abstract prints and patterns) and healthy snacks like nuts and dried fruit.
Benefit 3:
Make the book wrapping a part of gift-wrapping fun
The festive season is a time of exchanging gifts so there’ll be lots for you and the kids to wrap. Throw the school books into the mix and cover a few every day so that it doesn’t feel like a tedious exercise days before school opens.
Benefit 4:
Purchase Edgars exclusives while stocks last
There are a number of school essentials that are only found at Edgars, making it worth your while to head to stores before others get the same idea. Bata Bubblegummers are casual shoes exclusive to selected Edgars stores. Playful, colourful and fun, these girls' and boys' sandals are kind to kids' feet and durable, with slip-resistant soles scientifically designed for each stage of growth. What makes them even more fun is the fact that they are bubblegum-scented. Edgars is rewarding the back to school early birds with great specials on school essentials between 15 – 19 December 2018.
We unpack the stylish active gear that will make you look good and feel better – physcially, mentally and emotionally.
Getting to the gym regularly is difficult enough at the best of times; and as the year winds down and the bring-and-braai invites start to roll in, it's increasingly important to be disciplined to avoid excessive weight gain. Stay in shape during the festive season with these simple steps. Trust us, your body will thank you come January.
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Make a playlist
Music is transformative, and picking the right tunes for your work-out can help motivate you to keep on pumping. To help you get started, click on the link to Spotify’s best motivational work-out tracks here.
Take a buddy
Going to the gym by yourself is difficult unless you’re a strict machine. Take a friend with you and benefit from the company and camaraderie, not to mention a little friendly competition. If that fails, make a friend at the gym. You’re not alone. Crack up conversation and who knows, you might make a friend for life.
Change up your routine
If your current gym routine has you feeling uninspired, change things up by working out on a different machine. You know, the one you’ve been eyeing but have been too chicken to try. You could also attend the various classes your gym has to offer for a change of pace.
Get a personal trainer
Sometimes we need a kick in the pants to get up and move. Hiring a fitness trainer can do just that. There's no shame in acquiring a little extra help, especially from someone experienced in getting in shape. If you're an Edgars Club member you can take advantage of the gym membership offers with Planet Fitness. Click here to join Edgars Club.
Spruce up your wardrobe
When all else fails, something as simple as buying some new threads is just the ticket to motivate you to go to the gym. Who doesn’t like looking good, right? So toss your worn-out sweats, and shop from our selection of the best active pieces this season. We salute you.
Pro-Action moon bag 129.99; Pro-Action trainers 399.95; Pro-Action printed T-shirts from 199.95 each; Pro-Action track pants 399.95; Pro-Action shorts from 299.95 each; Stone Harbour reflective sunglasses 129.99
SHOP THE LOOK
Photography: Andre Wepener/Pixel Lounge; styling: Rushana Burton
Your guest bathroom says a lot about the kind of host you are. These 5 tips will help you decorate and accessorise your second bathroom with flair.
Make your guests feel welcome and at home (away from home) with these special finishing touches.
Luxe linens
Always have a fresh stack of towels available. A nice tip is to buy different colours from your usual towels so you don’t mix them up and so that they’re always fresh.
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Accessorise the vanity
Stock the bathroom vanity with beautiful and useful necessities like hand wash dispensers, toothbrush holders and toilet brushes.
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Freshen up
Nothing quite elevates bathroom appeal like a little natural greenery or colour. A vase full of colourful flowers really brightens the room. Or use a brightly coloured vase and add a green, leafy plant to it.
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Bath mats
Add a plush bath mat for instant style and appeal. TOP TIP: Microfibre dries quickly and easily, and will eliminate any damp smells.
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Smells and scents
Fill the bathroom with subtle fragrances to create a relaxing and enjoyable experience. Scented candles and diffusers are a great way to achieve lovely aromas in a small space.
Make-up brushes are an essential part of ensuring your make-up is flawless. We brush up on the five brushes to invest in.
Extremely versatile and easy to use, these are the essential brushes you need to create breath-taking looks. Brush up on your basics and read on.
THE FOUNDATION BRUSH
The foundation of your beauty arsenal, this brush is really a non-negotiable when it comes to creating a flawless canvas. Typically firm and wide with a slight dome shape; a foundation brush will give you more coverage and a smooth, poreless finish.
Artist tip #1 For the most natural finish, apply foundation to the centre of your face first, and extend toward your hairline.
Another staple in your make-up bag, a blush brush can be used for blusher, bronzer and powder. Boasting a feathery feel with ultra-long bristles, this brush is ideal for picking up and depositing blush to define, contour and shade your cheeks.
Artist tip #2
Softer bristles will create a more subtle flush while a more densely packed brush will deliver a more potent colour payoff.
Dubbed the ‘magic wand’, a concealer brush tackles some of your worst beauty woes – think dark circles, blemishes and scars – in one step. A brush with a tapered head and bristles that are both firm and flexible can reach those areas your other tools (or fingers) cannot.
Artist tip #3
For the best results, apply concealer over foundation as this will ensure that the concealer wont be wiped away.
When it comes to eye shadow, there are so many brushes that will aid in the application of your chosen pigments but the tool that does the trick best is the blending brush. This flexible brush makes it easy to blend colours and soften lines, and is ideal for dusting eye shadow along the crease of your lids.
Artist tip #4
When applying your eye shadow, target areas around the eye, such as the inner and outer corners, with the most intense pigment.
It’s no secret that brows frame your face, and can really pull your beauty look together. Keep them in shape with a brush/spoolie duo. Super convenient, this brush is great for full fill-ins and precision touch-ups while the spoolie helps to distribute colour evenly and allows you to have that brushed-up brow look that's gorgeous and natural looking.
Artist tip #5
Perfect brows start with a spoolie brush! Simply brush the hair upward to see where there is any unevenness. And then using brow powder or pencil fill in the sparse areas to ensure brows look perfectly on point.
Smashbox Camera Ready Define and Groom Brow Brush 430
If you’re going to invest in one piece, it should be a white button-down shirt. Here’s some celeb inspiration to show you how versatile the white shirt really is.
If you’re going to invest in one piece right now, it should be a white button-down shirt. Whether worn on its own with trousers, or layered under a jacket, a white blouse will keep you going from season to season without ever looking dated. We’ve taken inspiration from some of our favourite celebrities to show you just how versatile the white shirt really is.
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Extreme open-water swimmer and ice swimmer Ryan Stramrood proves that with focus, determination and enthusiasm, almost nothing is impossible.
Ryan Stramrood says he’s an ‘average Joe family man’ but, as an Ultra Extreme Open Water swimmer and ice-swimming enthusiast, he's been around the world in search of bigger (and colder) challenges.
WHAT WERE YOUR INTERESTS WHEN YOU WERE GROWING UP?
Oddly, my interests as a child didn’t include swimming! I was a normal kid with no ambition in the sporting arena. I was (and still am) musical and taught myself guitar. I liked water-skiing on weekends, and keeping snakes.
WHAT IS YOUR EARLIEST MEMORY OF BEING IN THE WATER?
I have always loved the water; I am naturally drawn to it. My earliest memory was when I was about four or five years old, and a fairly competent swimmer. I was at my grandmother’s house and swimming in her pool while the adults all braai’d in the garden. I was minding my own business in the pool and remember wanting to see how long I could hold my breath underwater. I took a deep breath and floated face down for probably only 10 seconds before my gran spotted me and thought I had drowned. Before I knew it, gran, mom and various uncles had all dived into the pool – fully clad – and yanked me out with great vigour. After they realisied I had just been playing, I got a proper scolding. Most unjust!
WHEN DID YOU START TAKING SWIMMING SERIOUSLY?
Besides being on junior-school squads, I really only started swimming in 2000 at the age of 27. At that stage, I was spending far too much time on the couch and wanted to improve my fitness and lifestyle. So I joined a swim squad with coach Gary Freeling, who I am proud to say is still my coach after 16 years and is still doing all he can to improve my less-than-perfect stroke!
WHAT WAS THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL DESTINATION YOU TRAVELLED TO FOR A SWIMMING CHALLENGE?
The first international destination I travelled to with my teammates was a little town called Ketchikan in Alaska. We wanted to compete in a cold swim around a local island called Pennock Island. It was a 14km swim in 12ºC water. What a beautiful place and such an awesome experience.
WHICH DESTINATION HAS BEEN YOUR FAVOURITE SO FAR?
Iceland has been my favourite. It is just so different to anywhere else I have been. The landscape is a mixture of volcanoes and glaciers. Despite being petrified most of the time I was there (due to the swim I was to undertake), I managed to enjoy the experience.
WHAT WAS THE ICELAND EXPERIENCE ABOUT?
I was based in a tiny town called Höfn. From there I travelled to a beautiful but frightening glacier lake called Jökulsárlón, in the south of Iceland. I undertook a small challenge there, mainly for the production of a TV series episode.
WHAT HAS BEEN THE STRANGEST OR FUNNIEST THING THAT’S HAPPENED TO YOU IN ANOTHER COUNTRY?
WHAT HAS BEEN THE MOST CHALLENGING THING THAT’S HAPPENED TO YOU WHILE TRAVELLING?
I have travelled extensively across beautiful Russia and it is mostly seamless – if you have all your papers in order and some savvy. But on one occasion, we arrived at the Moscow Domodedovo Airport to utter chaos. After an 18-hour flight and two hours of real scrumming at the customs area, with no queue system and some scary people, I was separated from the rest of the team in the chaos. When I reached the counter, it turned out that my Russian visa said that I was female! However, this was not communicated to me and I was whisked off to a security holding area with no way to let the others know what was going on (which I didn’t know either at that stage). Some interesting hours followed, but nothing nearly as daunting as the swim challenge at hand.
WATCH RYAN IN ACTION
WHERE HAVE YOU TRAVELLED TO IN SIBERIA?
We travelled to the remote but wealthy town of Tyumen. The challenge was to undertake a one-kilometre ice-swimming event in a ‘pool’ cut from a frozen lake, in air temperature of –33ºC and water at 0.3ºC.
WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR MOST DIFFICULT CHALLENGE SO FAR?
The most challenging to date was a swim I undertook in Antarctica. It was a difficult, ground-breaking and dangerous challenge, completed in –1ºC water temperature, which is ultra-extreme. But it was the build-up to the actual swim challenge and the logistics that were most difficult. Relying on the ship’s crew to support us and keep us alive presented significant challenges, as did the extreme weather conditions.
WHAT OTHER HIGHLIGHTS COME TO MIND?
In 2012, our small team (Ram Barkai, Andrew Chin, Kieron Palframan, Toks Viviers and I) decided we wanted to become the first to swim around Cape Horn, the southernmost tip of South America, known as ‘The Sailor’s Graveyard’. Most sailing enthusiasts consider sailing around Cape Horn to be their ‘Everest’, so we thought it would be cool to try to get there – an insane journey – and complete a difficult swim in extreme temperatures and conditions. Added to this, we also wanted to attempt to swim across the icy wild-water Strait of Magellan, followed by an attempt to swim across the even colder Beagle Channel from Chile to Argentina and then back to Chile.
Our travels took us to a little town in Chile called Punta Arenas. We were based here for a week while we awaited the right conditions for the Strait of Magellan attempt. Thereafter, we travelled to what is sometimes referred to as the southernmost town in the world: Puerto Williams. It’s on the Chilean side, almost directly across from Ushuaia, the better-known town in Argentina that also considers itself the southernmost town. (We’ll let them fight it out.) We were based in Puerto Williams, which has nothing – really nothing – besides one coffee shop, which also sold beer and smelt of petrol fumes. We were there for just short of a week and were not too disappointed to leave once we had conquered the Beagle Channel mission and survived. From Puerto Williams, we managed to convince an old seadog who had a half-decent boat to take us on the nerve-wracking 20-hour one-way trip to The Sailor’s Graveyard. We got to visit the remote Cape Horn Island after our swim attempt, which is one of the highlights of my travels.
HAVE YOU ATTEMPTED ANY OTHER WORLD FIRSTS?
I travelled to a small town called Donaghadee at the extreme north of Ireland in County Down. The challenge was to attempt a world first double crossing of the notoriously difficult North Channel in relay format. The six-person relay was made up of a world team from South Africa, Ireland, Czech Republic, Finland, Switzerland and Estonia. It took 30 tough hours, but we succeeded and now hold the record.
WHAT DO YOU LOVE MOST ABOUT TRAVELLING FOR THIS SPORT?
It takes me off the tourist track, even if I am in a tourist-frequented city or town. I am often the guest of rural and remote locals and, while on standby for the swim challenge at hand, get to live with them and experience the real lives and cultures of the place I am at. It can be difficult, but I love the authenticity of it and the never-ending willingness and enthusiasm of my hosts to help wherever I am in the world and no matter how little verbal communication is possible.
WHAT DO YOU MISS MOST WHEN YOU’RE AWAY FROM HOME?
My son, Jesse! Without a doubt, being away from that little man adds a whole new level of tough.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE HOLIDAY DESTINATION WITH YOUR FAMILY?
I am blessed with a small family farm right on the banks of the beautiful Breede River, which is right on my doorstep in terms of travel time. It’s where my family has come together for 25 years and where my swimming passion began.
WHICH DESTINATIONS WOULD YOU LIKE TO VISIT IN THE FUTURE?
There are so many! I want to swim the Cook Strait between the north and south islands of New Zealand, so this is a destination I look forward to visiting. Norway’s glaciated lakes and fjords are high on my list too. Then I would like to visit both the North and South poles. And maybe one day I’ll just go somewhere sunny, comfortable and warm!
Cool Kids sporty digital watch 249.99
Puma active phase backpack 349.95
Pro-Action reflective running shorts 159.95
Pro-Action world champion vest 149.95
Pro-Action active printed hooded T-shirt 179.95
