We all own at least one article of floral-print clothing. Whether you actually wear it or not doesn’t matter. It’s still in your closet somewhere.
florals are always trending (sorry)
You know that scene in The Devil Wears Prada about florals for spring being groundbreaking? It's funny because it's true (I’m sure we didn’t need to clarify that for you).
Florals for spring and summer isn't a trend. It's a season. It's the fashion equivalent of pumpkin spice in October. It's going to happen, you can't stop it, and apparently most of us don't actually want to. Because it keeps coming back year after year.
But "florals" as a category contains multitudes. And not all multitudes are created equal.
But whatever your feelings, we have a lot of florals in the shared closet. And what we’re interested in is why some florals feel cool and others feel dated. We don’t have the answer, so we’ll let you be the judge.
a brief taxonomy of florals
Ditsy florals / microprints. Tiny, scattered, almost imperceptible. Romantic, and sometimes without trying too hard. Sometimes trying too much (we’re talking about those mass-produced fast-fashion floral wrap dresses we’ve all had at some point in our lives).
Liberty-style prints. Detailed, vintage, a bit British countryside. Looks expensive even when it isn't.
Abstract florals. Less obviously floral than the rest, more up-for-interpretation (i.e., questionably floral).
Botanicals. Leaves, palms, ferns. Technically not flowers but kind of in the same category?
Grandma's curtains. Big blooms, cottagecore, slightly chaotic. Polarizing. Either incredibly chic or incredibly... not.
Photoreal florals. The kind that look like someone Photoshopped a hydrangea onto polyester. Can be cool, but use with extreme caution.
Dark florals. Moody, witchy, autumnal even in July. The compromise for the woman who always wears black.
We’re probably missing like twenty more categories but I think we’ve made our point. Florals come in many flavors. And we have all of them in the shared closet.
so why are some florals cooler than others?
This is the real question, right? Why does one floral dress look like it costs €400 and another looks like it's about to host a baby shower in 2009?
It's not really about price. It seems to be about scale, color palette, fabric, and a bit of indefinable taste magic that I will not pretend to fully understand.
But what we do know is that there's a version of floral for almost every aesthetic, which is probably why they've outlasted every trend cycle since fabric was invented (bet).
the case for trying before you commit
So if you're what we like to call ~floral-curious~ but burned by past floral mistakes (we've all had one), this is the exact kind of trend a shared closet was built for.
Borrow the cottagecore maxi. Test-drive the abstract top. See if botanical is maybe the right middle ground for you. Try them all, give them back when you’re done, and figure out your floral identity without filling your closet with regret.
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