There’s something about polka dots that we all love, that makes us happy. The more dots the better. “Circles and spheres are the most approachable shapes, with no sharp edges to risk injury. Our emotional brain understands this intuitively and unconsciously prefers round forms over angular ones,” writes Ingrid Fetell Lee in Joyful: The Surprising Power of Ordinary Things to Create Extraordinary Happiness. I recently added polka dots to my ceramic patterns because I know that we all have a magnetic draw to the motif. I think everyone should own at least one item of polka dot clothing. “Research has shown that people implicitly associate curved forms with safety and positivity,” adds Fetelle Lee. Here, Jean Shrimpton sports polka dots with a ruffled hem. It’s a dream dress, as relevant today as it was back then.
