Canes And Mirrors Masquerade As Something Else, To Soothe Your Ego
Want to work out at home but don’t want anyone to see your dumbbells? Tove Thambert to the rescue!
Objects in Disguise is a collection of vaguely embarrassing gentlemen’s effects disguised to look like something more socially acceptable. A walking cane masquerades as an umbrella. A handheld mirror appears as a pocket watch. And dumbbells--normally relegated to the closet or the dusty nether regions beneath one’s bed--double as candlesticks that’d look right at home on the mantel. The ladies will think you were born with those pythons!
“In this collection I have explored the concept of camouflage within the design context,” designer Tove Thambert says. “These objects are my interpretations of a new kind of functionality and are also questioning preconceptions about gender and design traditions.” Objects In Disguise also includes a business card holder that appears like a pocket square; and, for dudes who secretly love wearing silver jewelry, both a brooch that looks like a pen and a bracelet that could nearly pass for a watch--until you lift up the sleeve.
It’s jokey stuff, to be sure. Thambert is offering up a gentle critique of what constitutes appropriately masculine behavior--advertising your home workout routine and adorning yourself in jewelry chief among the no-nos. But as a perceptive commenter on Dezeen points out, there’s at least one thing more embarrassing than wearing a silver bracelet: getting caught wearing half of a watch.
[Images courtesy of Tove Thambert; hat tip to Dezeen]
