What’s the rush?

London is a city that churns out millions of pounds everyday. Thanks to our dedicated, hard working population, the prosperous city attracts not only tourists and visitors, but also business and economy. The cosmopolitan woman wakes everyday to achieve her personal goals, hit company targets and in turn, help the city of London go round. But, as I’m sure many Londoners know, the train system is appallingly poor. If it’s not a delay, it’s a cancellation, and if it’s not a cancellation you’ll no doubt be waiting mid rail for no given reason other than a red signal. Of course, this is done purely for our safety and for technical reasons, and for that we can only be grateful. But on a purely selfish level, it is without a doubt one of the most teeth gritting things to have to stand in the cold or wait on a stuffy train to reach your destination.

Earlier this week I found myself in that very situation, post gym workout with unattractive red cheeks and gym trousers that weren’t the best at defending me from the bitter cold. So at this stage, as you can probably imagine I wasn’t best pleased. However, the Semple ethos of positive thinking helped me through, and I was able to turn the delayed train into a great way to practice my sartorial eye and crack a smile.

Below are a few tips for turning a long wait into a way of improving your fashion choices and improving your mood. Commute smart.

1. Scour the fashion potential of the city goers. No doubt someone will be wearing something similar to something you own at home, so use that as inspiration for when you next pull it out the wardrobe.

2. Likewise, seek inspiration from other peoples outfits for future events, important days at work or for those days when you just want to show off your sense of style.

3. Use the time to make a plan of the next few days outfits. There is nothing more stressful than tearing your neatly folded wardrobe into pieces because you are lost on what to wear. Get ahead of the game and beat your wardrobe woes with an outfit schedule.

4. Open up your Pinterest app and start pinning images that excite you enough to lose track of the fact you are on a delayed journey.

5. Tweet one good thing about your day and avoid ranting about the disruption. This way the train dilemma will seem inferior compared to your amazingly fabulous day #happythoughts

6. Pick up a free paper such as the Metro, Evening Standard, Stylist or Shortlist and tear out anything that interests you, complete one of their word puzzles or just have a good read. You never know, you might also find a good discount code for your next shopping spree.

7. Dig out all the odd pins and hair bobbles from the hidden depths of your bag and start playing with hair styles. You might surprise yourself with what you can do and end up with the hair of the year award at the work Christmas party.

8. A bottle of moisturiser and handbag nail varnish will prove as essentials in this case. Give yourself a mini manicure and pamper while you plead for your train to arrive.

Train journey 0 – You 1

By Marni Banks