Where the young learn to fly.

Buying a boat is an investment that you must be keen about. A boat serves your interest and that of your family and loved ones. No matter the needs at hand, you should choose and buy the right boat to achieve your goals. Here are the easy and quick tips for purchasing a boat.

Gather Information

The knowledge you have about boats will determine how fast the process will be. As a first timer in the market, ensure that you have relevant information about boats and choose the right one. Utilize online platforms for research and gain knowledge that will serve your interests while in the market. Consider the help of boat dealers and experts before deciding.

Work with a Boat Dealer

Buying a boat as a first timer can be a hectic process. As much as you have basic knowledge about boats, you still need the guidance of a professional. Take advantage of the boat dealers present in the market, such as Angling Boats, for a quick and smooth purchasing process.

Understand Your Needs

You must be sure of the functions and purpose of the boat you want to buy. When you understand your needs, you also avoid the struggle of selecting the right boat. With the varying features and elements that define boats, considering your needs will help you select and buy the one fast.

Organize Your Finances

When you research, you also gather information about the prices and related financial requirements when shopping for a boat. You should note that your finances will determine how long the buying process will take. When you organize your finances, you will find and buy the right boat fast.

Know Your Options

Like cars, you have the option of buying a new or used boat. Before heading to the market, understand the type of boats available, your finances, and the options. Ensure the boat you choose suits your taste and activities.

The boat buying process can be overwhelming when you lack information and guidance. However, you will find it possible to buy the best one with the above easy and quick tips.

There are many things to think about when you are planning to gather a lot of people for a special occasion. You may be responsible for putting together a wedding reception, business networking affair or cultural celebration. In many cases, you will need to address the conditions below.

1. The Venue

What good is an experience if it doesn’t happen anywhere? Based on the characteristics of the activities, you can judge whether you want an indoor or outdoor setting. You should also evaluate the climate and the season.

One of the most important questions to answer is the number of guests who will be attending. Seating arrangements are definitely worth noting. Even if people will be standing most of the time, such as at a dance, you still need to implement seating. You should have one chair for every attendee and tables to bring them together.

Make sure you know the rules about cleaning. Some places will take care of that for you, but others will require that you pick up after yourselves.

2. The Menu

If people are going to be at your place for more than an hour, you need to provide food and drinks. Depending on the time of day, you may be offering coffee and pastries Schaumburg in the morning or savory appetizers in the evening.

This process will definitely test your logistical acumen. There is certainly a level of science involved in assessing how much food to serve to how many visitors. You also need to account for allergies and religious dietary restrictions at a minimum. Will it be catered, or will you have a potluck? Whatever you decide, ensure that you don’t run out of supplies. Always err on the side of a surplus.

3. The Entertainment

Not every event calls for entertainment, but it is still something you should determine. If you are going to have a band or public speaker, ask them about their sound system requirements. You may have to coordinate with them and the building. Other options include movies playing on a projector, clowns, magicians, panels of experts and more.

With enough preparation, everyone will leave happy and thank you for your provisions. Do your best to organize as early as possible.

Fame is a fickle friend but as a society we have always looked to the famous to lead us. Whether it was listening to famous philosophers Socrates and Aristotle in ancient Greece or taking warnings from famous authors such as George Orwell who used Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four to hold a mirror to contemporary society; we have been shaped by the famous. A more modern phenomenon is how famous people have created fashion trends throughout history and – arguably more than ever – today. From the Hollywood starlets of the 1950s to the Royal Family, we will examine how clothing trends have changed over the years thanks to their influence.

1950s conservative fashion

The 1950s were a conservative time, in many ways, but particularly in regards to fashion. America was leading the way regarding what was in style, and there was a clear gender divide on what was expected of men and women. Men were gradually moving from formal post-war attire to more casual day-to-day clothing but women were stuck in a rut of elegant yet conservative dresses. This was epitomised yet subverted by the emergence of Audrey Hepburn.

Audrey Hepburn had shot to stardom in 1953’s Roman Holiday where she starred opposite Gregory Peck as a glamorous European princess who attempts to go incognito on a holiday to Rome. Not only did the film win over critics and audiences but Hepburn’s iconic style quickly became the talk of the town and inspired women across America, and indeed the world. While her choices of modest yet unforgettable dresses conformed to the feminine ideal that was expected of 1950s women, it was her slender figure and more androgynous pixie cut that was a statement of rebellion which inspired the fashion of the time immensely.

Marilyn Monroe’s rebellion

Almost at an extreme contrast to Audrey Hepburn, whose every film from Roman Holiday to Breakfast at Tiffany’s was introducing the world to a fresh style, was Marilyn Monroe. While Hepburn ushered in a new age of dark-haired ‘gamine’ model types, Monroe was curvaceous, blonde and unafraid to use her sex appeal. Almost immediately Monroe’s short skirts, blonde bombshell haircut and refusal to conform to the conservative attire of the 1950s became an iconic style in itself.

While some were appalled at the amount of skin on display, and her sexualised image was relentlessly monetised by studios to draw men to the cinema, Marilyn Monroe was undisputedly the woman who created lasting fashion trends within her lifetime that have lasted until today. She may have been typecast as the ‘ditzy blonde’ on celluloid, but she immortalised the simple white dress as she clutched it while standing over the breeze from a subway grate and in the process ushered in a new age of empowering fashion for women.

1950s Hollywood follows suit

Around the same time in 1950s Hollywood, other actresses were also becoming just as recognised for their fashion as they were their films. Throughout her lifetime Grace Kelly only appeared in a dozen films, but so instantly stylish were her outfits that she became a style icon that women across America and the world based themselves on. Within Hitchcock’s Rear Window alone Kelly debuts six inspired and timeless outfits, from a backless black dress to a green two-piece suit which have stayed in pop culture.

While not as internationally renowned as Helpburn, Monroe or Kelly, double Academy Award winner Elizabeth Taylor was also admired for her impact on fashion. Synonymous with her jewellery, Taylor also championed and helped popularise the fashion of Halston and Valentino. Alongside her fellow actresses that became the talk of Hollywood during this eventful decade, Taylor was one of the modern pioneers demonstrating the enormous impact famous people were having in shaping fashion.

Politics and royalty

If the 1950s proved that actresses could dictate fashion trends, the 1960s would see an unlikely figure assume this status as a style icon: Jackie Kennedy, First Lady of the United States as wife to President John F. Kennedy, quickly became recognised as one of the 12 best-dressed women in the world during her husband’s campaigning for the White House. Perhaps her most recognisable outfit of a pink Chanel suit is marred with incredible tragedy, being the attire she wore when JFK was assassinated in 1963.

Another figure who has entered the cultural conversation for her influential choices of outfit is current monarch Queen Elizabeth II. While the Royal Family have always been at the vanguard of fashion – from Edward VIII to Diana – the Queen’s ability to still be at the forefront of style nearly seven decades into her reign is unmatched. Known for her use of bold primary colours, pearl necklaces and white gloves Elizabeth II has become renowned for her style and influenced many around the world. To learn more about how the Queen’s fashion has changed throughout the decades and her incredible life story see the Royal Family documentary Queen Elizabeth II: Reign Supreme.