So what are we wearing instead of floral midi dress and white trainers this Spring?

[KrabiBeach]

Like many 35-55yo women I've been wearing a floral midi dress with trainers every Spring/Summer for the past few years. I always buy dresses with pockets and love the comfort, practicality and coolness (temperature-wise) on a sunny day. Easy to layer under a denim jacket, biker or blazer and wear with any white trainers or converse etc.

It was inevitable that such an easy outfit would become so ubiquitous that the fashion world declared it "dead".

I'm gutted but I am a follower of style. So yes, I know it's shallow but this is the Style board so.... What other outfits fit the brief?

One journalist in the Sunday papers suggested trouser suits are the new floral midi dress and trainers. But I don't think a trouser suit would work in a hot day like a flowery dress would, no matter how much you keep it casual with a t-shirt and trainers - it's still too hot surely?

If you're a follower of trends, what will you be wearing instead of floral midi from now on?

(Article for reference: amp.theguardian.com/fashion/2023/feb/10/john-lewis-declares-death-of-the-floral-midi-dress)

@FancyFanny yep gazelles are the "new" trainer to be wearing.

I completely disagree. You can be interested in clothes and your own style without following/ caring about what some magazine or celebrity think looks good. I love clothes and read the boards here, but I don't give a flying f* what celebrities are wearing or what 'fashion' dictates!

It's more like going on What We're Reading and saying you don't read bestsellers, which is perfectly valid.

Personally I don't think trainers are going anywhere as "we" are much more casual now even when working & people are more into exercise. It's like skinny jeans have been "over" for a while but they are very much still seen as they are practical. Plus the 00s are coming back so skinnies will be very on trend at some point.

Absofuckinglutely.

Too many people on here think that being ‘stylish’ only means wearing whatever they have decreed to be ‘in’ (based on whatever evidence they have decreed to be the ‘right’ evidence). It’s like assuming there’s only one acceptable book to be reading and anybody wanting to read a different book is ‘dated’ and’frumpy’ and a ‘granny’ to be sneered at.

I remember wearing generic “baseball boots” in the 1960s with long floaty hippy dresses and aviator sunglasses. We got the boots and shades from the Army and Navy stores, where we also bought denim jackets and army trench coats for the winter. Trainers as such became more common in the 1970s and were also worn with dresses and the ubiquitous denim jackets.
There’s nothing new about the look other than it’s become conventional rather than “cool”.

Yup. The title of this board is 'style and beauty' - isn't the famous saying that beauty is in the eye of the beholder?

Style is just about one of the most individualised/ personal things possible.

It's not wrong to follow the fashion world either, but saying that people shouldn't post on/ follow these boards if they don't, is absolutely ridiculous and exclusive.

It’s so ridiculously reductive too. Look at a range of fashion shows and there’s never just one defining look.

I live in France and always think of the floral dress with white plimsolls as being from 40s France.

I don't think it is a look that has ever really gone in or out of fashion here as a floral print dress is a French countryside classic and white plimsolls were both cheap and practical and worked well in the hot weather as they didn't really get dirty and they were comfortable for walking on fields / country lanes.

Similar in Italy and Spain.

So I think it is a look that has been around for a very long time in Europe but was only fairly recently adopted in the UK.

I remember coming to Paris in the 90s and it was all grunge / DMs and satin slip dresses in the UK and the French girls were wearing floral dresses and white canvas shoes which of course were much better suited to the weather...

50s shirt dresses and white daps - totally classic look for the summer ever since.

This thread is ridiculous. So many posters seeking to one-up on whatever basis. I'm cooler than you. I'm older than you. I wear what I want. I am up to date. And full of straw man arguments. Who cares if Fergie wore plimsolls.

It's a specific look that has been around for the last few years and feels dated so people are interested in the new looks. What is so wrong or controversial about that, the mind boggles.

I certainly hope that trainers are here to stay. I love being comfortable. I do wonder though.... heels tend to be in and out of style on a cyclical basis so there is a chance that some future generation might find style more important than comfort

I think heels are creeping back in (tottering back in uncomfortably 😄) which I'm not thrilled about. Apparently (according to one fashion blogger who absolutely could be wrong) wedges are going to be quite fashionable this summer! Not long ago they were declared cruise-wear on here.

It does go in cycles.

Don't you ever give up? Why is it so important to you to prove your point, it really is irritating as you have hijacked this thread.

This top or similar with thick denim jeans, most shapes fine but the denim has to be proper thick not jeggingy.

www.riverisland.com/p/green-floral-tie-back-crop-top-766937

I have lost track if what this thread was about. I thought it was about finding alternatives to floral dresses, for those who want them.

Well said.

@Greenolivetrees well we should technically all have been wearing platform heels for a while & be transitioning to mary janes & yep wedges for summer. Fashion certainly does follow cycles (I used to work in buying) but overall we are now far more casual, homogeneous & tend to favour comfort. Plus ageing population demographics will drown out the youngsters trying to rebel & dress differently 😆

https://www2.hm.com/en_gb/productpage.0942075022.html

I bought this at the weekend and it looks really nice on.

Oh @Changeau I like that. Has a shape..Baggy dresses don't suit me.

Going back to the thread title, I plan to wear t-shirts & wide leg trousers with chunky sandals (I love sandals in the warm weather). And I want some nice shirts to wear with jeans - not worn a shirt in years & will have to start ironing again. I want some nice black linen midi dresses too. Dislike my stomach so will be steering clear of low rises & crop tops. Might jump on the spring sequin trend though!

River Island has some nice broderie dresses

https://www.riverisland.com/p/black-broderie-belted-midi-dress-755178

Pretty. I do wish shops would stop putting big frills on the bottom of dresses though.

I've been mostly wearing chinos or cropped wide legs these last few summers and, if I want to freshen things up, I'll probably go for combat trousers. But instead of pairing them with a vest top like I did last time around, I'll wear with something a bit smarter, like a silk shirt and / or linen blazer.

Or I might fancy a full, swooshy, just above the ankle skirt. Ines de la Fressange had some in her recent range for Uniqlo and they sold out while I was still switching on the laptop, so I'm obviously not the only one thinking this way.

Or a long denim skirt.

I think yes to wedges but maybe not the classic espadrille type.

These sort of threads always bemuse ne.

I guarantee they'll be one in a few years that says side-stripe trousers have, and always will be, a classic item.

It's ok to do trends, it's also OK to cling to them if they work for you.

What's not ok is a mad determination that the trend that works for you IS AND ALWAYS WILL BE A CLASSIC.

It seems to be skinny jeans and midis with trainers that trigger a passionate response from the adherents. It's absolutely fine if you want to wear either of those, but do understand that you are absolutely tapping in to a zeitgeist and then refusing to move on.

It's ok to do that, but you need to understand that you are doing that rather than doubling down and claiming it a stone-cold 'classic'.