Grow your flowers and wear them, too.

One of the things you can count on in the spring is flowers. Daffodils, hyacinths, and tulips are all popping up around this time of year. As much as I love live spring plants, I probably love to wear them equally as much.

– Deep South Pout –

I was recently hired as a stylist intern for my favorite retail clothing store in downtown Starkville, Deep South Pout. My job requires me to style the mannequins and focus tables in the store as well as sometimes making flat lays for their social media pages. Since it’s spring, the entire store floor is floral prints right now – anything from off the shoulder tops to really cute rompers and dresses.

          

Deep South Pout has a following of 52.2K on their Instagram ALONE. That means that 52 thousand people are seeing these amazing floral fashions, including things I’ve put together like the middle picture (it received 340+ likes). Most all of the posts with floral prints in them have nearly 200 likes, so it’s pretty consistent that DSP’s followers enjoy them. Florals are a seasonally universal pattern, but it seems like they become more popular in the spring. This year, we’re seeing lots of pastels and lighter colors paired with brighter shades in the same garment.

Floral fashions can be worn in tons of different ways, adding to their universal versatility. A simple way to tone down the intensity of a floral is to pair it with a solid cardigan. It is still really chilly in Starkville, so this is a really easy way to be able to wear a dress with no sleeves when it’s not sunny and 75. 

– Lilly Pulitzer –

Fashions that are inspired by nature have and will still be around for a while, no doubt. I think with companies like Lilly Pulitzer, floral printed clothing has become a norm. Lilly designed her shifts with the thought of hiding orange juice stains in mind. Icons like First Lady, Jackie Kennedy, were known to have worn LP’s clothes and soon it became a phenomenon. That was the 1960s – today, floral patterns and prints are still just as popular. Almost everyone has seen the extremely popular ‘First Impressions’ pink rose print from a few seasons ago.

Lilly had a short-term line in partnership with Target in April of 2015, but within minutes the line was completely sold out nationwide. You can still find remnants of this coveted collection on eBay or Amazon. Something to also know about Lilly Pulitzer is once a print runs its season it usually retires. Every so often they will bring back similar prints in new color options, but the likelihood of the exact print is pretty rare. Prints definitely appreciate depending on how much people want them and are searching for them. I’ve seen limited edition items go for $300+ in resale groups.

I own several pieces of LP myself, and the quality is pretty impeccable. Although it is pricey, they run sales two times a year at very large discounts – that $200 shift will probably be around $80 during the sale. This brand is more of a splurging once a year type brand than an every week ordeal.
               

– Sherri Hill –

Sherri Hill has also been using floral prints in their spring and summer formal dress lines for the past few years as well. Two piece dresses, a solid top and a large floral bottom, are super popular. This year, their new trend is fully floral gowns in pastels. Live flowers are usually worn to formal events via corsages, boutonnieres, or bouquets. These embroidered and printed flowers on silks and lace are extremely classy and very chic.

              

. . . 

 I love florals, and that’s not just because I study them. I think they bring a sense of fun and playfulness into an outfit, and that’s really my personality.

“Floral prints are really flattering, and they definitely help me make a statement.”               – Abigale Jenkins

Spring, summer, winter, or fall – I’m wearing florals, what about you?

XOXO, J