Trousers on the March: A Found Moment in Venice’s Lagoon

Part of my Found Moments series — whimsical fragments noticed along the way. This one comes from Venice, where even navigation markers have a sense of humour.

Bricole in the Venetian lagoon — navigation markers that, in the right light, look like trousers wading across the water.

There are many strange things to be found in the Venetian lagoon, but none quite as peculiar as the wandering trousers.

Look closely. Out there, striding solemnly across the water, a whole parade of them. Pairs upon pairs, wading purposefully towards some unknown destination. Perhaps a laundry line has gone rogue, or a tailor’s delivery overshot the fondamenta.

In reality, of course, they’re bricole; timber piles marking the safe channels for boats. But once the trousers appear, it’s impossible to unsee them. The lagoon becomes a catwalk, the tide their runway.

Venice has a way of making even the most functional objects whimsical. Gondolas glide like swans, chimneys sprout like chess pieces, and sometimes… trousers walk on water.