Arsenal's New Third Kit : I Changed My Mind

When Arsenal dropped the new third kit today, I fully admit my first reaction wasn’t exactly love at first sight.

I was just going about my business on a Monday morning when regular Instagram DM-er Badger (@badgercyclist) sent me a picture of what could only be described as this funny-looking yellow top with an Arsenal crest on it. Like so many of these things nowadays, social media got there before I’d even had a chance to see Arsenal’s official announcement, and my immediate thought was, "Hmmm... I’m not sure about that!"

The funny thing is that just a few hours later, I’d completely changed my mind.

I think what changed for me was that I stopped looking at it as an Arsenal supporter and started looking at it through the eyes of someone who spends every day designing and making bespoke clothing. Instead of asking myself whether I liked it or not, I started looking more closely at the colours, the balance of the design and the little details that Adidas had put into it, and the more time I spent with it, the more I found myself appreciating what they were trying to achieve.

By the end of the day, I’d completely changed my mind.

You’ve almost certainly seen the shirt by now, but for anyone who hasn’t, it’s predominantly yellow with a series of very subtle tonal stripes running across the front. The collar and sleeve cuffs are finished with navy and burgundy trim, while the adidas logo, Emirates sponsor and the famous cannon badge all remain in navy blue. None of those individual design choices necessarily jumps out at you when you first see the shirt, but together they create something that feels much more balanced than I gave it credit for when I first saw it.

I also think seeing the launch photography makes a big difference. I’ll probably use the image of Steph Catley as the featured image for this article, not just because she’s my favourite player and I'm totally biased, but because she really looks amazing in the shirt. Once you see somebody actually wearing it rather than just looking at the flat product shot, the whole thing starts to really come alive.

That’s probably the tailor in me talking.

One of the things tailoring teaches you is that you almost never judge a garment in isolation. You’re always thinking about what sits next to, underneath and on top of it, what shoes you’re wearing, how the colours sit next to each other and how the whole outfit comes together. In this day and age, football shirts are becoming the same. Some supporters, of course, just look at the shirt itself, but others and people like me start thinking, what would I wear that with?

That’s where the burgundy detailing around the collar and cuffs suddenly became much more interesting. Instead of automatically reaching for a pair of dark blue jeans, I'm now wondering whether I should make myself a pair of really deep burgundy jeans or cotton trousers that would pick up those colours instead. In fact, if you look at Steph’s photographs from the launch shoot, she’s already wearing what looks like a really dark burgundy pair of jeans, and that’s one of the reasons the whole outfit works so well.

It’s funny where your mind goes when tailoring is your day job!

Of course, Arsenal and Adidas know exactly what they’re doing, because before I knew it I’d gone from being sceptical about the shirt to having it sat in my basket on Arsenal Direct. At the moment I’ve got Russo 23 on the back, although I have to admit I keep hovering over Georgia Stanway and her number 4 as well. I’ll probably stick with Alessia because I’ve been saying for days that she'd be on the back of my next official Arsenal shirt.

The trouble is that the shirt hasn’t made it into the basket on its own! I’ve somehow managed to add the Adidas Handball Spezial x Arsenal trainers as well, the mainly blue pair with the yellow stripes, and then the new yellow training top found its way in there too. Even with the membership discount, the total is now sitting at around £230, and considering we’re only at the beginning of August, my bank account is already looking at me with a bit of concern.

The new away shirt is still my favourite from this season’s collection. I absolutely love it. The blue base with the red and yellow detailing just works for me, and perhaps because there’s a very Spanish feel to those colours it goes down particularly well in my household too. The home shirt was an instant success in my eyes as well.

This one wasn’t right away, but then in a way I’m glad it wasn’t. Sometimes the best football shirts are the ones that ask you to spend a little more time with them. The longer you look at them, the more you start to appreciate the little details. You see them on the players, and you start imagining how you’d actually wear them on a matchday, and before you know it you’ve completely changed your opinion.

And that’s exactly what's happened to me with Arsenal’s new third kit, and yes, Arsenal have managed to prise even more money out of my wallet this season.

Sigh.

I’d love to know what you think. Has the third kit grown on you as well, or was it love at first sight? Are you even actually buying one, or are you still trying to recover from buying the home and away shirts?