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Sia l'ombrello sia l'impermeabile sono indispensabili.

Sia l'ombrello sia l'impermeabile sono indispensabili.
Both the umbrella and the raincoat are indispensable.
From Lesson 225:Affirmative correlative conjunctions (sia... sia, o... o)·Italian

Questions & Answers about Sia l'ombrello sia l'impermeabile sono indispensabili.

Could I say sia l'ombrello che l'impermeabile instead of using sia twice?
Yes, sia ... che means exactly the same thing as sia ... sia (both ... and). Italians use them interchangeably, so that would be perfectly correct here.
Why is the verb sono plural if l'ombrello and l'impermeabile are both singular nouns?
Even though each item is singular, sia ... sia joins them into a compound subject (just like "both X and Y" in English). Since you are talking about two things together, the verb must be plural.
Why does indispensabili end in -i?
It is a plural adjective because it describes both items. Adjectives that end in -e in their singular form (like indispensabile) change to end in -i in the plural, regardless of whether the nouns they describe are masculine or feminine.
Should I drop the 'a' in the first sia since the next word starts with a vowel?
No, you do not drop the vowel or use an apostrophe here. Unlike articles (like how lo becomes l' before ombrello), the conjunction sia never drops its final vowel. You just write and say sia l'ombrello.

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