Modern romance: fashion's latest love affair

With a chorus of articles and trend reports crying 'athleisurewear is dead' in impassioned unison, and the coolest of street style stars swapping their Vetements-Eastpak neons and Off-White belt bags for soft florals, fussy bows and demure shapes, we're experiencing something of a backlash against fashion's recent period of anti-romance and sports-luxe.

And as such masculine severity and minimalism seeps out of the womenswear limelight, in wafts a sartorial dreamscape of nostalgia, lace, and frills.



(Left: Emma Stone in The Favourite, Right: Alighieri earrings)


Take, for example, our current devotion to pearl earrings. The release of films such as The Favourite and Mary Queen of Scots only sped up an industry-wide mania for them, whilst the pearl-drop designs of cult jewellery brands like Alighieri and Wald Berlin have been trickling down onto the high-street with increasing pace. And our period costume-craving goes beyond the trinkets: even the puff sleeves and ruff-collars of regal gowns have been mirrored in designs of brands like Batsheva and The Vampire's Wife.

Decorative Baroque and Elizabethan accents aren't the only trends this new sartorial movement are riffing on. The prairie dress is fast becoming one of Instagram's biggest hits. Ruffled, long-sleeved, billowing, and floral, they are distinctly bohemian in attitude, and serve as as a feminine counterpart of the Western trend's leathery 'cowboy chic' aesthetic.

Instagram stars like Stephanie Broek are pioneering the trend, while everyone's favourite whimsical label Shrimps debuted a SS19 collection the is made up almost entirely of this ilk.



(Left: @stephaniebroek in Shrimps, Right: @aurorajames in Batsheva)


Then, there's the bows. Small bows, big bows, thin bows, thick bows... Whether it's the mammoth ones fixed to the back of couture gowns on red carpets, or DIY strips of ribbon fixed into a plait, they are undisputedly the finishing touch du jour. Hot in pursuit is the humble hair slide, which has gained popularity with an almost sickening speed, from Ashley Williams' widely-circulated 'ANXIETY' clips to Gucci's crystal-embellished slides and combs.



(Left: @alisonbrie wears MiuMiu. Right: @simonerocha)


So, as bucket hats make way for bejewelled barrettes and turbo-trainers are swapped with girlish flats, is this a final adieu to sports-luxe? We doubt it. But, in the mean time, we're happy to play dress up and live out our own meadow-skipping fantasies in a really good prairie dress.