Inspired by Flowers
Like many people, I love flowers. I find many, many varieties beautiful. (I’m very fun to garden-shop with.) I wear florals a lot. But I don’t think I had ever specifically styled an outfit after a flower. Until now.
I came up with the idea for this post a while ago, but decided to do it sooner than later a few weeks ago when I was wearing the first outfit in my parents’ yard and realized it went perfectly - and unintentionally - with some of their flowers.
For the purposes of this post, I tried to pick flowers that had one variety, or at least a signature color. No roses here! I also didn’t try to mimic the shapes, textures, or color proportion as the plants. While that would be fun, I’m working with my existing closet, not buying pieces to become petals. Though the idea of a skirt layered like a flower is appealing, and maybe I’ll be able to find one.
Lace-Top Hydrangea
green, blue, grey
This is the look I styled accidentally, so I wasn’t going for anything specifically related to the hydrangea. However, I really loved that the terrazzo print mimics the tiny flowers.
Iris
blue purple, yellow, white
I knew this would be difficult to do well because purple is under-represented in my closet. Instead, I added the lace top over a cami and skirt to mimic the veins that are on some irises, with the belt as the color. This is probably the outfit I’m least likely to wear in real life, though I do like the all-white base.
Fuchsia
pink, purple, green
Fuchsia remind me of my childhood, which makes it all the more fitting to use this skirt as it was one I used to wear for dress-up. The pleats, two layers, and ruffled edge are reminiscent of the upside-down bell of the fuschia flower. Wouldn’t a skirt that looked like this flower be really cute?
Croton Plant
green, pink, yellow, orange
So the croton plant isn’t a flower, but it is one of my favorite plants because it’s leafy and colorful. The orange skirt is a bit of a stretch, but I like it and that’s what matters. These photos (which I took the day I first saw the croton plant) don’t really do it justice so give it a google. I love the combination of the green cami, the yellow jacket, and the leafy scarf.
Zinnia
pink, orange, yellow, red
Zinnias come in a few colors, and I decided to include all of them because there aren’t that many, and they all happen to be well-represented in my closet. I have definitely worn an outfit similar to this before, though I don’t think I’d pair the red-orange jacket with the orange-red cami. The scarf actually has abstract poppies on it.
Peonies
pink
Peonies do come in multiple colors, but I think that they are commonly thought of as pink. While, again, I’d love a skirt (or dress, or top, or anything really) that was ruffled and layered like a peony blossom, I don’t have one. Instead, I decided to wear lots of tones of pink, white, and tan. Honestly, I wouldn’t have thought that the jacket and jeans would work so well together, but when there are other pinks too, everything tones nicely!
Black-Eyed Susans
yellow, black
Yellow flowers are my favorites, and Black-eyed Susans are another variety that are in my parents’ yard, so they’re in this post! This dress is an easy way to reference all of my favorite flowers, and I added the jacket to put a little more black in the outfit.
Poppy
red, black
Poppies are simple and I’d say somewhat dramatic. It’s difficult to tell in the picture, but there are spots of red on the velvet burnout scarf. This look doesn’t scream floral, but if you know, you know.
Daffodils
yellow, white, green
Of all the yellow flowers, daffodils are my favorites. This dress doesn’t have daffodils on it, but it does have all of the colors of said flowers, plus it’s a cute dress. I added a denim jacket for some shape, and my favorite white sneaks to go with.
What flowers should I dress like next? What are your favorites?