Frontier Style: Frontier-project runway

This week's Into the Wild blog has had us looking into the work of our main projects, but here on Style it's not so much a question of what they 'do' as it is a question of what to 'bring'...

As we operate in many countries with tropical climates our volunteers spend lots of time on the beach,  diving, patrolling turtle nests, surfing or just relaxing and catching the sun. A Bikini is the perfect accessory with which to fulfill all these needs. The best thing about a two piece is that you can reveal or cover up as much flesh as you want, so you can keep cool even when trekking through a forest pairing your bikini top with protective trackies and vice versa in another situation. You can also mix and match separates, which is always fun. This Aztec bikini from La Senza has detachable straps, a pretty design and is also now half price at £11, so get while the getting’s good.

Whilst you might not necessarily think that sarongs are the most fashionable pieces of clothing- or you might, each to their own- no one can deny that they are useful. At Frontier we recommend taking a sarong on all our projects. There is a huge amount of choice as to the pattern, detail and material, but when choosing a sarong you are also embracing the culture of the foreign countrt you are travelling around, so choose wisely. The Fair Trade Faerie offers a number of cotton, silk and rayon sarongs, all handmade in different countries across the world. Their prices are affordable and the fair trade guarantee means that the money is distributed fairly to the suppliers. Use your new sarong as a beach towel, make-shift bag, hammock, cover-up or get creative with yours at a dress up party.

Make way for the ultimate accessory to take on a Frontier project- a Petzl Headtorch. Although these are pricey, they are invaluable. You might wonder why invest in something which does the job of a handheld torch for a much higher price, but it will prove incredibly useful for night trips to the toilet, taking measurements, tracking animals in the night or simply for bedtime reading. So get geeky with a TIKKA XP®² from Petzl, which come with a red light feature, allowing you to watch turtles nesting and breeding at night without harming their eyes.

A final idea is the Itsa beach towel bag, a useful, slouchy beach bag which you can carry on your shoulder and then fold out into a beach towel. The Itsa beach bag also has compartments in which to separate out your various beach ‘needs’ and a zip up security pocket for hiding your valuables and protecting them from the sand and sea. You can get yours on amazon for £24.95, or search for a better bargain on the price comparison site Supaprice.

By Greta Hedley-Miller