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When Harry Styles dropped the video for "Watermelon Sugar" last year, it wasn't just the horny euphemisms that got the timeline talking. Beyond the sun-soaked frolics, the outfits worn by Styles and his gang of good-looking pals had us dreaming of sticky sand-and-suncream summer holidays. Styles' longtime stylist Harry Lambert reached for Gucci to dress the musician – think crochet tank tops, Elton-esque sunnies and seashell jewellery – but for us, the standout style moment was the retro floral prints.
How does a retro floral look different from those on offer every time summer rolls around, we hear you ask? Looking back to Italian designer Emilio Pucci's psychedelic prints of the 1960s, the defining characteristics are an abstract shape, kaleidoscopic colours and a defined outline. Mary Quant's designs from the same era also took the basic outline of a flower and filled it in with pop brights, laying it out on repeat, but typically the retro floral is busy and out there. It's not one for wallflowers.
Sixty years later, the print is as appealing as ever. Réalisation Par created the most wanted item on our feed with its could-be-grandma's-curtains Mary Jane Shrooms dress. Dodo Bar Or also celebrates the throwback floral via everything from turtlenecks to swimwear in browns and blues.
Dolly Rocket, an exciting new indie brand founded by Sara Brown, is full of '60s-inspired pieces in sizes 8-32. Of course, the best way to shop this print is vintage: if you can't snaffle out original pieces by Pucci or Quant, Etsy and eBay are brimming with secondhand '60s florals for a guilt-free and more authentic purchase.
Click through to shop our favourite psychedelic florals for summer.
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