There is a refinement to fresh, starched linen, so at odds with the world we live in and our own nature. It is comforting to have something so perfectly clean and crisp on you - it assures you that the dark and confusing world hasn’t sunk it’s claws all the way in just yet. You have still a measure of control. Enough at least to keep clean linen in your pocket.
With the new year about to turn here in Hong Kong, the tradition is to wear new clothes on the first day of the new year. I am too enamoured of my nicely broken down suits and patinaed oxfords to buy ready to wear just for the occasion, but I will stay true to tradition with a brand new linen hank in my pocket.
