This is my latest article for Femme Magazine (MT) about one of the season's prettiest trends: floral appliqués Also please note the article featured a horrible grammatical error by the publications proofreaders. This is an angel wing not an angle wing.
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One of the greatest misconceptions in Fashion Land is that we all have to re-invent our wardrobe each and every season just because the designers in the Fashion Acropolis have decided to walk down a different road this time. Well, whereas that is a perfect excuse to justify yet another shopping spree, we also have to admit that it is not entirely true. Fashion, like history, tends to repeat itself. Not only do trends come back every twenty or so years, sometimes the hype surrounding a particular print or sartorial detail withstands the fickleness of the industry and magically lives on for two consecutive seasons.
Do you remember the overdose of 3D floral sweaters last year? Bloggers, celebrities and even the occasional sixty year old (who thinks she’s eighteen) donned one of them. I recall resisting the whole garden-inspired phase like a proper fashion enfant terrible until one of those once in a blue moon sales on one of my favourite online fashion stores. It was there that I stumbled across a gorgeous angel wing top in a crisp white colour. I was instantly drawn to its striking shade of innocence as well as to the flower corsage detail on the very high neckline. Half-attracted to the much more minimal treatment of the floral appliqué and half-fancying myself looking like an angel, I went ahead and put the item in my shopping cart.
Little did I know at the time that only a few months later, everyone who mattered would be re-including these 3D floral details in their collections. Like vertical stripes, white-outs and statement prints, 3D floral appliqué were amongst the ‘chosen ones’ for this Summer.
To say that Chloé’s overlapping florals were stunning is only but an understatement. The blogosphere went nuts over the way these floral details were incorporated into Prada’s eye-catching sixties-inspired sweaters. The same happened with the Dries Van Noten sweaters. I can almost still hear the echoing applause at the end of the show at the back of my mind. Oscar de la Renta’s floral appliqué contributions were, as per usual, almost too good to be true and Erdem is being hailed as the ‘king of florals’ this year. Even Chanel took the plunge and applied floral appliqués on some of their dresses for the Spring and Summer collections!
If, on the one hand, you weren’t lucky enough to bag yourself a 3D floral appliqué garment during the last days of the sales like I did, there is no reason to panic. All it takes is a pair of good scissors, some thread and a trip to your local crafts or euro store! This is by far the season’s prettiest trend, so I can’t blame you for wanting to give it a go as well. Let’s face it, it is also a great way of adding dimension to a trend that keeps coming back every single year. Florals for Spring and Summer are hardly groundbreaking are they?
Rummage through your wardrobe and find an item that you are either bored of and want to update or something you are brave enough to sacrifice for your DIY endeavors. You will also need some good-sized floral appliques from the craft store or haberdashery. Alternatively, you can use sensibly-sized flowers from an artificial bouquet, recycle previously-owned floral hair grips, or any other sort of flowers you happen to come across. All that is left to do then is to attach them to your item of choice.
The great thing about this trend is that it leaves you free to choose the garment, item and positioning you personally prefer. You can opt for a shirt and attach the floral appliqués to the cuffs or collar. Instead, you can also place these floral friends sporadically all over the shirt. If you are patient enough, you can even sew on scores of flowers to make your own floral sweater! Bags are also worthy contenders of the garden-inspired details and can be used in multiple ways according to how casual you want your final product to look. Needless to say, you are also pretty much free to decide which colour combinations you fancy the most. Fashion freedom at its best!
If, on the other hand, the odds were in your favour during the sales last year and you did buy a floral appliqué piece of clothing, this is not the year to exile it to that side of the wardrobe you never consult before getting dressed up in the morning.