Common Goods: Square Dancing

Sometime in 1940 a group of McIntosh County, Oklahoman folks got together to do-si-do and swing their partners. They sweated through their beautifully simple, hand-sewn cotton shirts and dresses, and dampened the brown butcher paper tacked to the walls of the room for insulation. Their orchestra was a two-person band, just a guitar and a fiddle. Their faces were glistening with sweat and they were having a devil-may-care kind of a time. Here, look at them:

Amazing, right? So simply gorgeous. If all of your worldly possessions disappeared tomorrow, you could still get together with a group of people and dance until the world felt frantically full and rhythmically joyous for at least a few hours. Keep that in mind when the fear of $ comes a'calling.

I highly recommend exploring The Commons. There are gems there.

Let's Wrap It Up: Hip to Be Square

It's time to square your edges, people. According to the runways, boxes are your new best friends. Love them, treat them well and they'll reward you with hip points. Here's some of Spring's four cornered offerings:

Dries van Noten gives the grid a go.



Yves Saint Laurent's square conditioned coat and boots.


Francisco Costa's cubist collection for Calvin Klein.


Squares are super DIY friendly. Head on over to the office supply store, grab yourself a straightedge and start lining things up.

Images: Style.com

Gridlock

Check the latest trend at Dries van Noten.

Squares are the new stripes!


Images: Marcio Madeira for Style.com