As Winona alluded to in her guest post on spring trends, florals are ubiquitous this spring, blooming on all manner of garments and accessories. The florals range from graphic to mini, but the predominate feel seems to be vintage throwback prints. Now, it’s not as if all three of us chics were impatiently waiting for florals to return to the “in” column of style. In fact, A. and E. both had traumatic past experiences with floral prints, particularly in the match-with-all-available-female-relatives variety.
Add to that a question we return to frequently on Academichic: how and what do your clothes communicate? As a general rule, florals are socially coded as feminine. How might that affect how you are perceived in a work environment, like the American academy, that still tends to pit femininity against Serious Academic Pursuits? I (E.) know that, at least on some level, I do fear being dismissed intellectually were I to show up to give a conference paper in a floral frock. La Historiadora De Moda of The Fashionable Academics has mentioned before that she sees florals as being “anti-authoritarian,” so she tends to avoid them for the first weeks of a semester when she’s establishing her position in the classroom, but then pull them out during exam time.
Are we over-thinking it? Maybe a little. But that is how we roll.
I’ve also realized that there are some fascinating histories and alternative uses of floral prints. For example, in the Second Empire in France, Empress Eugenie wore floral brocade silk to certain official functions because it was domestically produced by the silk makers of Lyon. She thought of these dresses as her political gowns, and wore them despite admitting to her stylist that she feared looking like a couch. Or think of the role of floral print fabrics in other cultures. In Hawaii, where I grew up, floral prints are defacto business attire for men in the form of aloha shirts. My dad’s closet primarily consists of floral aloha shirts, and for him they function as a means of announcing insider cultural status. I say all that to remind myself that there is room for florals to mean other things and to operate in provocative ways.
Which is good, because we’re challenging ourselves to self-consciously incorporate this spring trend of florals into at least one outfit a week for the month of April. The idea is to both experiment with how florals can be subtly and seamlessly added to our personal styles, but also to push ourselves to try looks outside of our comfort zones. In the process, maybe we’ll even figure out if florals can be subversive. As always, we welcome you to play along and to send us your own successful floral looks and any tips on wearing florals well!
Interesting topic! I have never been much of a floral person, but find that now I am slowly moving back to adding floral pieces to my wardrobe. With so many pattern options these days, it’s easy to find something you like. I lean toward abstract or geometric florals. Recently, juxtaposing the more romantic floral prints with harder accessories has been fun, like I did in this outfit.
Looking forward to your interpretations of this trend!
Great topic! I am a very girly feminist, a paradox that I have embraced. I like wearing skirts and dresses, I feel like it reminds people that I am female in a powerful, subversive and yet, subtle way that slacks and other menswear inspired style don’t. But I too have sort of shuddered at the return of florals and how to incorporate them in to my public image in a way that won’t undercut my authority in a male dominated field.
So far I have tried pairing decretely floral tops with blazers and pencil skirts. I have found the hard lines of a blazer paired with the softness of the floral sort of balance each other out. Plus the floral isn’t dominating the look. But that’s the only thing I have tried so far, so I am looking forward to ya’ll challenge for the month of April!
All of that being said, I don’t see myself getting up to lead a room full of people in a floral dress. For my autority and for my 10 year old 1980′s self, I think it would be a bad choice.
It amazes me how little thought I give to these matters sometimes. I guess I’ve always relied on my personality and comportment to trump any unintended messages my clothes may broadcast … but not everyone talks to me, or spends any time getting to know me so I’m sure some gather their own impressions and move on.
I love, though, that you’ve included the flip side of florals. It’s good to know they’ve been and still are power prints under some circumstances!
Almost forgot! Husband Mike was SUPER sad that none of the Liberty for Target mens stuff fit him. Not all men shun florals!
http://www.blueisinfashionthisyear.com/2009/09/easy-to-wear-floral-dress-biker-jacket.html
^^That post is from Fall 2009 and some of the looks are a bit too trendy for me but I really like the idea of contrasting “softer” looks with something a bit more edgy. For example, I have a thrifted leather jacket which I love to wear with an eyelet dress on cool summer nights.
In my opinion, florals are completely appropriate for feminist academics, but one should be aware of the outfit’s context. In some circumstances I think it’s fine to wear flowers and ruffles and heels to my heart’s content, but I like Cara’s suggestion of pairing florals with more tailored pieces for some professional events.
My friends and I are dealing with similar issues of “what” and “how” our clothes mean on our blog, so I’m looking forward to seeing what you ladies do with your florals!
Boy, you are really analyzing the art of dressing. I am glad I never had a job that made me think that deeply about the meaning of my clothes. Being an interior designer and owning a furniture store, I just tried to look stylish.
I actually like florals, but only if they are paired with “harder” element. Like grungey 1990s style. I wore a silk floral dress and surprised my friends, but I didn’t wash my hair and wore combat style boots. I like that look alot.
http://cohabitatingcloset.blogspot.com/2010/03/love-letter-to-janeane.html
I like a touch of floral, but as a woman in a mostly male profession I am up against men my own age, plus young turks trying to unseat me.
So one floral element is enough. Nobody needs to think of me as they’re aging/soft mother that they can knock out of the ring!
I’m still an undergrad (stillllll!) so I haven’t really had to think of this kind of thing. Now though, I’ve really started wondering about what I’m going to wear on my future job. I want to slowly start acquiring pieces (as I know I won’t have the money to go out and buy everything at once when the time comes) for my career since I’ll, of course, have to get a “big girl job” as I work on my Master’s. I’m a social work major, and while this seems to be a female dominated profession (I haven’t seen any figures/statistics but the vast majority of the other swk majors and actual social workers I know are female), I’ll still be in a professional environment (probably a hospital), so does this mean I’ll have to give of my beloved fun prints, of which my favorite is the floral?! I’m realizing, the closer I get to graduation, that I am totally clueless. I am especially eager to follow the upcoming posts on this.
I also have an internal debate about florals. As a young professor (who unfortunately can look younger than I even am), I worry that some florals will not only come across as too soft but also as too immature. This is where layering (under a cardi or blazer) helps. Bolder colors versus pastels also help add weight. But I’ve also been excited by water-color trends. I think that having a floral that looks watered down and softly abstract can bring a level of sophistication.
I say, if you want to wear the floral frock to give your paper, wear it. And then give a kick-ass paper and let everyone else reassess their prejudices. You don’t have to be a guy to be good in your field, and you don’t have to dress like one either.
Once I saw a floral frock at a conference, (it was in computational math), and the professor didn’t look too soft, or feminine. She must have been in her 50s. Rather, she look creative, and full of innovative ideas, in a room full of men in slacks.
But, I think her age, was a key factor in pulling it off. And, the dress was in dark colors.
I, however, wouldn’t wear a dress to a conference yet. It’s probably not a good idea if you are very young, in a male-dominated field.
D–
I’ll own up that skirts and dresses appear regularly in my conference attire. But I find I stick to pencil shapes and pair with menswear-inspired shirts or blazers. I feel like they strike a nice balance.
I just started reading academichic last month and it has quickly become my favorite fashion blog. This is likely due to the fact I will be starting a PhD program in the social sciences next year, and the questions and issues you ladies address are absolutely on my mind these days! I am so glad to hear that you will be incorporating florals for the next month, because I too am a feminist scholarly gal who favors florals and dresses. Keep up the awesome work!
Hmmm..due to the unusually warm temps expected here tomorrow, I am going to wear a skirt with one or two flower appliques…hey…it is spring!
What Ros said. Honestly, I see why you worry, but someone can wear the “appropriated” clothes, make up and acessories… and it means nothing if the paper or the presentation are lame.
Wear your florals. The ones that please you and that flatter your skin tone, hair, body shape.
i like florals with SMALL print–I tink large florals are unflattering on me (if not most people dare I say??).
and I mean esp as an all over print. I lov a touch of floral like on your lovely dress. i rarely see that. it is just a nice touch and doesn’t overwhelm the dress–or the person wearing the dress which is often what I see with floral prints!
teri
Inspired by your post (and because I’m easily distracted like that), I went to my closet to check what I own in the way of florals. Not much, it turns out. I don’t actually dislike florals, but I don’t like them as much as stripes, the dominant pattern in my closet, so I wasn’t surprised. But here’s the intriguing part: except for a couple of summer dresses and one summer skirt which I received as a gift, all my floral prints are on tops or on accessories. My bottoms, on the other hand, tend to be sober and structured. This dichotomy (floral on top, strict on the bottom) is actually rather common, and I’ve never thought about it before. But I think it’s worth (fun?) pondering: why is the authority relegated to the pants/skirt? Why do we soften (as many readers have suggested above) the top part (near the face?) with florals? And why do we feel that floral dresses or skirts, which break up this balance, are inappropriate professional wear?
Lucy, I do the opposite. My summer wardrobe contains a bunch of floral or print skirts that I mix and match with tops. Most of them can be “professional” with tailored pieces.
I’d never thought about the social role of florals, but you all have a point. At a recent conference, I saw fun colors and even a ruffle or two, but no florals.
On the other hand, in my weird little decorative arts program, floral prints seem like an embracing of our museum’s gardens. A few weeks back a high ranking (male) employee stopped my classmate to tell her he loved her purple floral paisley dress and that she looked very professional! Go figure.
[...] such as floral or damask. Because I do wear my fair share of floral, I was also intrigued by the comments you left on our recent Fashion 101 post in which some of you argued that you wouldn’t wear [...]
I am interested in how the femininity of florals changes with scale. For example, a small floral print usually indicates feminine and young, especially if it is at all pastel. A medium to large floral print is more maternal and womanly. A large, bold or graphic floral can leave behind the feminine connotation almost altogether, e.g. hawaiian shirts and this black and white linen dress I bought at the gap once: http://www.omiru.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/tropical-linen-shift_051808.jpg
On the question of florals and perceived authority, I’ve deliberately used florals to project an air of authority in the classroom.
Granted, this was towards the end of the semester, so I’d already established a fair bit of rapport with the students, but: I was leading a discussion of Plato’s Symposium with a predominantly male class, mostly engineering majors who were required to take this course, and less than thrilled about doing so. For reference, I am female, and not too much older than my students, and as the TA was just leading discussion, not selecting the readings or teaching the lectures.
I hemmed and hawed about how to handle the blatant issues of sexuality and love in way that wouldn’t risk losing the class altogether. I considered doing the pants-suit serious-academic thing, but ultimately just decided to confront the whole gender-and-sex issue head-on. I showed up for class in a navy-and-white floral skirt, pale green top and cream cardigan, big flowered bracelet, and a ‘go ahead, make my day’ attitude. Could be a coincidence, but that afternoon we had one of the best class discussions I’ve ever seen.
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