Double floral: is it allowed?

Way back in the day when I was a wee slip of a fashion girl, I worked for Laura Ashley, where for a while I was assistant to the print selector for the UK market and we picked out which prints went into the garments in the UK Laura Ashley shops. I was reminded of this job when visiting the Boden print room last week and I had a wave of nostalgia for the days when we used to spend hours contemplating hundreds of floral prints. It was a fab job and my boss taught me a huge amount about how to appreciate a good floral from a bad- even today I can’t buy anything printed that is badly drawn, has mismatched screens or is poorly produced.

It also taught me that I am prone to fall head-over-heels in love with a floral, needing to instantly buy something in it, only to get sick to death of it within six months. Consequently I have learnt not to buy floral curtains/carpets/wallpaper or anything expensively permanent, as I know I’ll go off it fast and want to replace it with the next floral-crush. In fact I hardly ever buy florals now, I just ‘love’ from afar, it’s safer that way.

However, I have fallen hard for two shirts in the last year, one vintage large multi-floral (mid 60s M&S) that I bought in Crystal Palace Vintage emporium last year, for £20 and another this week from Zara, in a floral/fruit combo at £29.99. Both are printed on thickish rayon and are in similar muted orange/green/tobacco colourways. As I hung the new Zara one up I realised it looked rather fab next to the vintage one. It’s simple scooped neck shape looks good styled underneath the M&S shirt style, hmmm, I could layer one over the other I mused.

But two florals together…….double denim is a fashion no-no, so what about double florals? Fab or floral overload? I can’t decide…..what do we think ladies?

9 Comments

  • Precious says:

    Go for it Amanda – I love the mix of pattern and all the tonal colours – can just see this with white capri pants and big sunglasses, oh and a negroni – very dolce vita!

  • Initially I thought not but I’ve just bought the Liberty print Nike boots and I’m going to try them with my floral pants!

  • Amanda says:

    Ah nice idea…I think it has strong potential this double floral lark….there’s the Clark’s floral desert boot to get in the mix somewhere too! Ax

  • Darci says:

    Love it

  • Sarah says:

    It depends what you wear on your bottom half… if you team it with dark skinny jeans and some camel coloured leather booties and minimal accessories, I think youi’d look quite old-school/flung together/original. But if you wear it with a flowy skirt or black pants or flat shoes, you’re going to look like the Oxford librarian that time forgot.
    ;)

  • Amanda says:

    Well thank you for the tips ladies, I do have a pair of dark skinnies and tan boots, so maybe we’re getting there with the look….Ax

  • Erin Thompson says:

    double print is the new double denim, you will be ahead of the curve, do it and do it now.

  • Amanda says:

    OK Erin, I am boldly going double floral this weekend. Ax

  • Romney says:

    Double stripes works. I’m not sure why double floral doesn’t for me.

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