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)

OMG, this is not a new combination. Maybe here on Mumsnet, but it really isn't - by the time Mumsnet, (M&S and John Lewis) is all over something, it's really not the zeitgeist.

My reading of bright white trainers, is that they are white (with little to no other colours on them) and not dirty/scruffy. As it happens, I loathe dark coloured shoes anyway, so the overwhelming majority of my footwear is white and has been so for most of my adult life. Wearing predominantly white footwear means I look after it, prevent it from becoming dirty and replace with new when it looks too grubby/can no longer be saved.

However, maybe I am wrong about what you mean by bright white trainers - are they something akin to Ross' teeth in Friends? In this instance, then no, mine are not that kind of bright white, thankfully.

And no, thank you, I will not be sharing pictures of myself - this is a public message board. Given I do not have a FB account and my IG is private, I have no interest in sharing images here.

So do you have pictures of decades ago of the combination floral mididress withbright whitetrainers? Because if you're just focussing on some kind of floral dress then yes, they are classic. But it's the combination that is quite new

Depends what you mean by "trainers"? If you mean what used to be called sneakers or plimsolls, meaning simple, laced or slip on canvas shoes, then no, it's definitely not new.

If you mean the heavy running/ athletic type shoes with stripes, ticks, logos, thick soles etc, yes, it's new.

In the summertime I've always worn dresses with sneakers, plimsolls, deck shoes, Converse, running shoes, trainers whatever style or whatever they were called at the time.

Different styles of dresses as well as trainers.

It works for me and I'm not going to stop because of a fashion decree.

We wore white Keds with white t shirts under slip dresses in the 90s.

The details change a bit but the basically principle is the same.

https://www.trotters.co.uk/products/hampton-canvas-plum-plimsolls-white?_pos=13&_sid=32efe5064&_ss=r

Floral dresses and this type of shoe really isn't a new thing or with espadrilles as well.

Dresses and plimsolls have been around since at least the 60s (just think Grease and Dirty Dancing both set in that era), it's not a new thing, it's not something the fashion followers discovered. I used to wear them with my school dress (before I got my DM shoes).

I don't know when this type of trainer (as opposed to sneakers/ plimsolls) became a thing with floral dresses. It's not a look I like.

Lily Allen was famous for wearing trainers and ball gowns.

www.stylist.co.uk/fashion/best-trainers-to-wear-with-dresses/411285

Ah, another thread which brings out the "wear what the fuck you want, I don't give a fuck, I don't buy into trends and will wear my floral midi skirts in my coffin".
(Although you did clearly buy into THAT trend at some point)

So unnecessary with all the fucks. Don't worry, the Guardian/John Lewis won't raid your wardrobe in the middle of the night and pry off your midi dresses. Personally, I have never liked this trend because it is just so ubiquitous where I live, plus florals always make me look like I'm wearing my grandma's curtains. Midi length is also unflattering on me, it makes me look short. But I do love white trainers. Like PP said, mix and match what you have to create new looks. Fashion and clothes are fun, not a uniform to be worn for decades at time (unless you have no interest in clothes, which I assume people do in S&B)

Personally I'm going for long-ish linen trousers, culottes and above knee skirts. I have clogs, birkies, and various other sandals. I just got a navy pleated skirt and I'll wear it with a cropped white boxy tee. I also do like hi-tops with slightly scrunched up socks and t-shirt dress/polo dress, a nod towards 80s disco style.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I have always thought you can have a huge interest in style and beauty without slavishly following every fashion micro trend.

Some things transcend trends because they just work.

Ah, another thread which brings out the "wear what the fuck you want, I don't give a fuck, I don't buy into trends and will wear my floral midi skirts in my coffin".
(Although you did clearly buy into THAT trend at some point)

I don't think I've ever sworn on Mumsnet. As to when I bought into floral midi dresses or skirts, I can't remember a time in my adult life when they weren't a major part of my summer wardrobe, so around 40 years ago. I had Laura Ashley long skirts and dresses even when I was a teenager.

But @verdantverdure no one is saying you need to "slavishly follow every trend". Theres a huge discussion around how to update your style. You don't need to bin your collection of dresses, but if you never try anything new, it's the easiest way to look dated. Theres a good variety of jeans and skirts in different silhouettes right now - all worth trying to see if you find something new.
Also, it is a trend, and just because it works for you and others doesn't mean it works for everyone. I look awful in floral midis, and so do others judging by the responses here. I just dislike the "fuck trends" attitude because without trends and fashion we would all still be in corsets.

Midi and maxi skirts, either A line or gentle gathers in soft cotton. Worn sitting low on the hip with long line tucked in vest top or body, or worn on the waist with a top just cropped enough to show an inch of waist skin. Trainers or cons.

I don't wear either trainers or floral dresses but I have to hand it to Nike, Adidas, New Balance, Converse et al. Not only have they created this huge demand for their brands, but they have also managed to present themselves as somehow anti fashion.
I don't quite know how they've managed it and nor do I know what will come next, but what I do predict is that they won't let go without one hell of a fight.

Well I wear Adidas and Converse because they're comfortable, fit me well and I like the colour choices

I wore my first pairs of both at some point in the mid to late eighties so for me they have the longevity that others might find with more formal brands/styles, but even at school I remember the demand for them was huge.

@highfidelity

And no, thank you, I will not be sharing pictures of myself - this is a public message board. Given I do not have a FB account and my IG is private, I have no interest in sharing images here.

You don't have to. If it was so commonplace (according to you) decades ago to wear bright white trainers with midi floral dresses (the combination, not one or the other) than surely you'd be able to post some pictures of celebrities wearing that exact combi.

Floral dresses and trainers till i die lol

So do you have pictures of decades ago of the combination floral midi dress with bright white trainers? Because if you're just focussing on some kind of floral dress then yes, they are classic. But it's the combination that is quite new.

The combination is definitely decades old.

Fashion and clothes are fun, not a uniform to be worn for decades at time (unless you have no interest in clothes, which I assume people do in S&B)
Exactly this.
Taking an interest in style doesn't equal slavishly following trends either.

In fact, I'd argue the people who are interested in style are probably the people with a sense of personal style and are people who are interested in being creative with trends/experimenting with wearing their pieces in different ways/choose to be selective when they want to add an item to their wardrobe so that it's versatile and won't look dated in a couple of years.

The people who found a trend 3-5 years ago and cling to it whilst shouting about how awful it is that people interested in style talk about trends changing are probably those who don't have much individual style. When the next ubiquitous uniform comes round they'll decide at the peak of it's spread that's the trend for them, then complain if anyone points out it's another trend that's become a cookie cutter uniform which dates.

I bought 2 new floral tiered dresses in a sale yesterday. Also still wear bootcut jeans. Have never been a slave to fashion. Don't wear trainers.

I've become rather militant about wearing them since Big Fashion" told me not to

But "big fashion" did tell you to wear it, just as they are telling you now to wear mom jeans or wide-leg trousers. You have still bought into that trend at some stage. Florals midis and trainers are not some sort of subversive, anti-fashion movement. Recommend watching Devil Wear Prada for that fab Miranda Priestley moment when she tells an intern that even her "I don't care about fashion" clothes were very much created by the very fashion she shuns.

By all means, wear what you like, but please don't pretend your style is somehow created in a vacuum outside the mainstream

Is it? Floral dresses and sneakers/ canvas shoes/espadrilles is but with these very obvious " in your face" style trainers?

I remember in the mid 90s when women in formal business wear started wearing trainers to walk to work ; by which I mean the type of shoe I'd never before seen outwith a sports use. It looked really odd to me until the penny dropped about why they were doing it.

Generally when did trainers (again by which I mean the type of shoes which used to be worn when training or playing sport) become standard every day footwear?

Flowery dress fine, white trainers fine, but not together, it used to be fresh and a bit different but not now, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a trend become such a ubiquitous uniform particularly when teamed with a cross body bag and a denim or biker jacket, the look will stick around because it’s an easy and comfortable option but I don’t think it looks stylish at all now, it’s been done to absolute death.

@NatashaDancing I had a memory of my mum wearing this combo in the early 1990s. I've just had a quick look through some family photos and there's one of her wearing white trainers (the exercise kind) with a floral midi length dress. I was probably horrified at the time.😂 I know that a sample size of one isn't much to go on but some people were definitely pairing those two around that time.

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie any recommendations for broderie dresses pls?