Deirdre Reynolds: ‘Even Paul Mescal can’t convince me white socks look good on a man’

New images of the Maynooth hunk posing up a storm for the Italian label set the internet ablaze this week.

But, I’m afraid, it’s one step forward for the 27 year-old - and two steps back for Irish men’s fashion.

Just when we’d managed to convince husbands, fathers and brothers everywhere that GAA shorts should only be seen on the football pitch, or chain necklaces on Mr T, along comes Paul proving the exception to the rule - and giving other fellas from Kildare to Kerry the misplaced chutzpah to think they might be as well.

Dubbed ‘Argos chic’ in Sally Rooney’s Normal People, Connell Waldron’s signature silver chain - as worn by the actor in the lockdown TV sensation of the same name - sparked a rash of copycat jewellery on the high street, a hashtag and even an Instagram account thirsty for @connellschain, with the big-hearted star later auctioning off the real thing for mental health charity Pieta House.

When in 2020 he was papped out and about in London in thigh-grazing white O’Neills shorts, drooled over by GQ for showing off “his brawny pins”, there was a similar trickle-down effect, including a €550 lookalike Gucci pair.

That’s not to mention the Mescal-isation of the mullet and signet rings on the red carpet.

Still, I’m going to have to put my foot down over the fashion house and its latest ambassador now trying to make the ultimate ‘Irish dad’ look a thing this season.

A slippery slope towards the dreaded ‘socks and sandals’ combo, the brown or black leather Horsebit 1953 loafer modelled by Mescal in the campaign will set you back a cool €750, and that’s before you throw in a pair of the sporty white foot warmers, which start from €150 on the brand’s official site.

So don’t you just know there are already throngs of twenty-something lads scouring Penneys for cent-pinching dupes.

Really, I should just be thankful he’s wearing hosiery at all, with the sockless look still going strong among millennial men here; or that the thigh-high black leather boots he wore in Interview Magazine last year didn’t take off in pubs up and down the country.

Slagging aside, it’s of course great to young Irish guys finally experimenting with fashion beyond Ben Sherman check shirts and stonewash Levi’s.

Ahead of his starring role in the upcoming Gladiator sequel though, let’s just hope trend-setter Paul doesn’t do for loincloths what he’s done for everything else..