Harry Styles and The Circus Stripe

I have a really big crush on Harry Styles. It’s a sickness. I know this obsession doesn’t make me unique from the rest of the human population. Of course I love the songs, the hair, the dimples, but I really love the getups. When I saw Harry’s outfit from his second night at Madison Square Garden this summer, a circus stripe tank top and trouser set put together by his brilliant stylist Harry Lambert, I knew I had found my new iPhone background. Since then, I’ve done some introspective digging into my fascination with the outfit, and all roads lead back to that classic red and white stripe pattern. 

It makes sense that the “circus stripe” feels like home to me, as I spent most afternoons after school in the sunny cranny of my childhood home pictured above, lounging on this antique sofa that my mom had upholstered in a similar red and white stripe Sunbrella fabric. The sofa stayed true throughout many redecorations, evident in the difference between these two shots from 2015 and 2019, a testament to the stripe’s timelessness and versatility. It’s a statement-turned-staple, and it never gets old. In a children’s library pictured below, the print’s boldness on Buchanan Studio’s Studio Chair is a playful surprise, and another perfect spot to curl up with the Cat in the Hat or Lyle Lyle Crocodile.

In more sophisticated spaces, the red circus stripe offers a sense of casualty, declaring, “We don’t take life too seriously here.” I love what the Il Palazzo Experimental in Venice, Italy has done with their lobby. The oversized proportions and marble accents in contrast with the stripe of the rounded desk area makes for an unconventionally luxurious experience. In New Orleans’ Hotel Peter and Paul, a transformed Catholic church and schoolhouse, design firm ASH NYC tiled the showers in circus stripes to modernize the bathrooms’ antique charm. 

Let’s take it outside, where the circus stripe pattern can be laid back enough to attract the most casual of guests, or it can elevate a space with a bit of tasteful whimsy. The stripe encapsulates Americana in these slouchy bean bag chairs, ideal for hotdog-eating and sweet tea-sipping. Even when applied in more refined spaces, as in this Moorish-inspired Provençal patio, the classic red stripe invites guests to lounge underneath its shade. 

Another thing that circus stripes champion is the layer. Some fabrics, when layered upon themselves, overwhelm the eye and distort the space’s scale with a shrinking effect. I’ve found that, in most cases, the red stripe pairs remarkably well with itself. It’s a difficult fabric to botch. I adore the visual impact of the angled stripes on the ceiling of another Provençal villa (left), contrasted with the thinner striped bedding and thicker throw blanket, and, of course, the irresistible canopy. Major props to the designer of the nook bedroom for perfectly matching the wallpaper to the bedding. The formal equestrian prints above the headboard supplement the casualty of the red stripes, and I just can’t get over those built-in book cubbies.

See more of my red stripe picks here.