Things Need a Little Tension
I’ve realised recently that most of the things I really like have something slightly wrong with them.
Not actually wrong. Just something that stops them feeling too perfect.
It happens with clothes all the time.
An outfit can be technically great, but if everything works together exactly as you’d expect, I’m normally not that interested in it. I like the slightly odd shoe. Something too big. Something old with something really clean. A colour that probably shouldn’t be there.
It’s normally that one thing that makes me look again.
And I think it’s the same with loads of stuff outside fashion.
Music needs contrast. Art needs to make you feel something. The best spaces normally have something unexpected in them. Even the people I find interesting are rarely completely easy to work out.
Maybe tension is too serious a word for it.
Maybe things just need a little fun.
I’ve been wearing striped shorts loads this summer and I think they do exactly that.
There’s something almost boxer-short-ish or pyjama-ish about them, which means they can make an otherwise quite considered outfit feel less considered.
Loafers, socks, a shirt, a jacket - then a pair of striped shorts underneath it all.
It shouldn’t necessarily work. Which is probably why I like it.
I ended up putting a few versions into the Bound collection for that reason. They’re simple, but they interrupt an outfit just enough.
And I think, increasingly, that’s what I’m looking for when I get dressed.
Not necessarily something perfect.
Just something that makes me look twice.