The New Season
Force Field
Spring/Summer 2012
Photographer: Jacob Sutton
Stylist: Tracey Nicholson
Models: Jackson Rado & Robert Asman
Cold and wet days give way to mild and wet days (it is London after all) and every so often there is a teasing display of sunshine. It goads you into setting up an early barbecue, only to knowingly disappear the moment you do, and laughing as you try to weather on, regardless of the gale force winds that batter you against the garden fence, and the torrents of rain that flood your barbecue. No doubt this year will see yet another typical British summer, which to say, a rather dreary affair on the whole, but hopefully with a scattering of pleasantly warm days nonetheless. Changing seasons traditionally require changing wardrobes, however personally I think it is merely about shifting the focus of your wardrobe rather than having an entirely separate wardrobe. Indeed on the journey for a small yet well thought out and coherent wardrobe, the luxury of two distinct wardrobes is not something I necessarily wish to entertain.
I am by nature someone who prefers Autumn and Winter to Spring and Summer, from both a general and dress related perspective. I like the shorter days, the darker days, the leaves falling from the trees, the colours of Autumn, the coolness of Winter, and coming back to a warm house and a hot cup of tea after having been outdoors. I also like the dressing process required for cooler weather, because there is for me both a physical and psychological comfort in layering and wrapping up (no doubt some link could be made to infancy and the practice of swaddling, if you were that way inclined). The amount of clothing required allows one a greater sense of choice - whether it be t-shirt, sweater, coat, scarf, gloves, trousers, boots; they all have to be considered individually and as a whole to create a coherent outfit. That sense of choice is something I relish, for it is both challenging and rewarding.
I suppose most give up layering in warmer weather, but I think done right the process can be both functional (the weather can change quite quickly over the course of the day, so it is always best to be prepared) and aesthetically pleasant. Indeed I think it can be just as interesting to observe what and, perhaps more importantly, how people wear their clothing in warmer weather as it can be in colder weather. The fewer garments worn, the greater the impact of each individual garment. Think of it like a few distinct brush strokes on a plain canvas, compared to a complex configuration of elements on a canvas. Where there are fewer individual elements, the visual impact of each individual element is increased, for the total remains constant - that is to say a finished look. Refine and reduce to a state where even the smallest of details needs to be truly considered and the finished image is all the more interesting to view.
Just as I have been on the journey to refine my search for garments in building my wardrobe, and to refine the specifics of what I seek from those individual garments, there is a refinement in the brevity of expression allowed by Summer dressing. With less clothing, there is ostensibly less room to express, however I would argue that there is simply a more powerful stage in which to express. A finished look in the colder months constitutes a number of elements, each of which adds to the whole in their own way, however in the warmer months that number is reduced, thereby increasing the input of each element. So those individual elements have to be carefully selected, and the desired finish thought out. Whatever the specific focus is, or indeed, focuses are, the challenge is to create a strong yet personal image.
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