I don’t know if pompoms are more rampant lately than in recent years, or if I’m just noticing them more since my pompomfest last Christmas, but man they are everywhere. And they’re getting the upscale treatment. I’m still grinning at the giant black ones perched atop raffia hats from Burberry this past spring, and now the September issue of Martha Stewart Living has a big ol’ feature story — multiple spreads of pompoms rendered in dignified shades of wool and silk, all lavishly styled, of course, and photographed by the talented Matthew Williams. Now, I love a pompom, but I’m not sure there’s any way to imbue them with the kind of gravitas these shots were asking for. (Most of the projects are such that I can’t help picturing them done in tackier colors, less glowingly photographed for a lower-rent magazine.) And yet, you shouldn’t be surprised if you see me with a cashmere pompom tied to my key chain after this. Just sayin’.

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