There is Nothing Twee About the Powerful Visual Metaphor in This Season’s Florals 

by Karly Rayner

The topsy-turvy nature of the past couple of years have been undeniable and — as the hopeful Spring of 2022 blossoms— the must-have prints of the season are a real case of art imitating life. 


While spring’s exuberant outburst of floral patterns is a time honoured celebration of the natural cycle of the seasons, the distinctly cottage-core flavour of the prints echo our own experience of bringing the indoors out. 


There is a feel of flinging open doors and allowing interior-inspired prints to run free from the confines of the home. A fitting metaphor for the way many of us are appreciating the expansive feeling of freedom after a double-dose of springtide restriction. 


The bucolic domesticity of Grandma’s china with its wedgewood blues and subdued florals is all over spring 2022 collections, but it’s transformed from something stale to a living, breathing thing as it’s dappled across classic silhouettes. These symbols of cosy home life break free of the confines of the cabinet, bringing interior energy out into the wild. 


 



Image credit: Boden Embroidered Blouson Jumper and The Shirt Company’s very own Gwendoline floral print shirt 

 


Sometimes florals get a bad rep for being ‘safe’, but the way that popular pandemic pastimes — such as embroidery — have crept onto the clothes we will wear to emerge into a hopeful new spring feels anything but boring. 


 



Image credit: Thierry Coulson’s Yana blouse and The Shirt Company’s Boho Greta Shirt 

 


It makes sense that our collective time shut into our homes has been absorbed into the very fibres of fashion. After all, designers have been more confined to the domestic space too, perhaps finding new meaning in the beauty of decorative flourishes we lovingly garnish our homes with. Often unnoticed interior details such as tassels are hidden in plain sight, but these emblems of the indoor realm are also appearing in spring/summer 2022’s garments — eager to experience the fresh light of day. 


 



Image credit: The Shirt Company’s Salma Cotton Muslin dress and Patou’s SS22 knotted tassel-inspired earrings

 


Spring is not the time to dwell on the past, but there is a certain retro feel to the meadows of ditsy florals which are blooming. As the saying goes, everything old is new again and this celebration of the enduring spirit of femininity still feels contemporary.


 



Image credit: The Shirt Company’s new Elspeth Dress, Philosophy SS22 collection and our brand new Callie dress 

 


This season’s clothing offers a romantic vision of spring and summer which summons a warm, playful day sipping cocktails at a garden party. There is a carefree, flirtatious charm in 2022’s spring collections which speak of a hope for a less restricted summer of ease. 


 


Here at The Shirt Company, we can’t wait.


 


 


 


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