Style shift with Selfridges
In collaboration with Selfridges, an insight into my thoughts on personal style and if you can ever become too comfortable with your own wardrobe.
Alexander McQueen
Show leather trainers
Oliver Spencer
Navy pinstripe trousers
Marni
Striped coach jacket
Holzweiler
Grey patchwork scarf
Ihave fallen into a safety net of how I get changed in the mornings. I’ve either become lazy or I have mastered the ‘art’ of getting changed depending on which way you see it. This could not be truer than for my footwear choice.
I do not hide the fact that I wear white trainers every single day. There’s just one pair that sit by the door. But to be able to introduce a new shape into this anything but mundane choice of mine got me thinking. These Alexander McQueen trainers from Selfridges for me are equal parts different and familiar. The oversized silhouette is focal, but the all-white soles and simple leather upper remove any thoughts of them being too statement or trend led. The trainers made me think about how can we stay true to our existing style choices while being able to make considered decisions that encourage something new. Nothing drastic, but just a gentle push into a revised way of dressing.
Chances are, if you are reading this blog you have a pretty good idea about what you gravitate towards (if you haven’t don’t sound the alarm yet, just revel in the freedom). So now that you have a base to work from, I am encouraging you to go for something a little unexpected while complimenting existing pieces. I’m always towing the line of safety rather than having an instinct of ‘why not?’ The Alexander McQueen’s have entered my wardrobe at the right time and the abruptness my existing style perhaps does not have.
My style choices go something along the lines of: nothing too loud or too eye-catching, shades of neutrals, navy and grey all year round, a brief embrace of bold pattern in the summer, and then warm weather options and playing a solo game of how many layers can I wear in the winter. My fit preference has got slightly straighter, but on the whole this year has solidified my personal style preferences rather than change them.
In a way I like being able to choose my outfit (read: trousers, trainers and a plain long sleeve) with relative ease and ultimately feeling comfortable in what I choose. And yet Selfridges have encouraged me to think differently. Style items in a new way and inject some much-needed energy into my part normcore/part simple way of dressing. The Alexander McQueen leather trainers naturally have a strong shape, but I feel the consideration of choosing a trouser with a half break that sits quite low allowed me to balance this. And as the day unfolded, the more I wore the trainers, the more I felt not only comfortable in what I was wearing, but good in them.
If a pair of men’s designer trainers can shake things up a bit then maybe its time to embrace it. They ultimately carry a talking point and a point of difference, while not veering from my safety net of all white trainers. It’s time for two pairs of trainers to sit by the door.jbicon