florals? for spring?
what i look for in a floral print
Happy Spring!
With the arrival of spring comes the return of ever-relevant floral print, even as blossoms begin to fall and summer slowly approaches. And though I’d like to pick up every floral item that catches my eye, I try to stay a bit selective with the pieces that actually come home with me.
For my closet, I’ve always been drawn to smaller, ditsy florals like those hallmarked by Liberty London or the calico florals that dotted Laura Ingalls’ bonnet in the television series of Little House on the Prairie.
The 70’s and 80’s was the perfect era for the books to be adapted to television with the abundance of Gunne Sax and Laura Ashely going around. Prairie dresses for days!
Liberty London has done many collabs over the years, lending their vast catalogue of floral prints to a number of brands. These sneakers from a recent Adidas collection have floated in my mind for a while, and there are a lot of great vintage Cacharel pieces waiting to be snatched up on secondhand sites.
now to highlight a few floral items in my closet:
This is a Sea NY dress I picked up after exchanging some clothes at Beacon’s Closet. I saw one of the puffed sleeves sticking from the overcrowded rack and gravitated towards it because of the print. I love it for its colors and resemblance to the watercolor-esque florals you often see on 1930’s chiffon dresses.
These sheer, gauzy gowns always call to me, hopefully one will be in my possession soon.
The skirt on the left was a wintertime find so its outfit debut has been long awaited. I picked it up at Antoinette Vintage in Williamsburg when there was still snow on the ground! It’s by Sonia Rykiel and has the oldest label I’ve ever seen from the brand:
The vintage fashion guild (one of my favorite sites to browse after some good vintage shopping), places it around the late 60’s. The fuchsia, lavender, and sky blue flowers sit so nicely against the brown background and are such fun colors to work with when building an outfit.
The second skirt is one that I have written about before, a ground-sweeping maxi I bought at a Brick Lane shop in London. The label makes me think it might be from from the 90’s or so but the print feels a lot like the 70’s prairie revival florals. The colors help keep it fresh, with the unexpected bright orange and baby blue combo and dark brown polka dots sprinkled across the background.
The final skirt is a corduroy number in a very warm 2000’s does 70’s colorway. It has seed bead flower clusters down the front that add an extra bit of dimension and have allowed me to work the skirt into dressier settings if needed. I’ve convinced myself that they make it feel sort of Dries Van Noten in a way.
That’s all I have! It’s fun to dive into a single print and figure out what exactly draws you to it, and through that, discover the consistencies weave their way throughout your wardrobe. There are so many fabulous floral prints out there and I cannot wait to continue adding more into the mix.