Floral Style: A Masculine Guide to Fresh Floral Prints Flower Power

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Written by Salvatore Marashi

Masculinity and menswear have long been tied together. It’s no wonder that menswear gravitates towards dark solid colors and boxy designs. They all work to create a broader, fitter shape and thus appear more manly. Unfortunately, adherence to this has missed out on some great fashion trends over the years. One not to miss is floral style.

Floral prints have long been associated with womenswear. However, times have changed and hopefully, masculinity is more secure in itself than to buckle at the very thought of wearing something like a flower. If anything, the acceptance of colors like pink, baby blue, and teal have shown that men everywhere are ready to embrace the floral style.

Starting with Floral Style

The floral trend made its way into menswear with the Hawaiian shirt. Its large spread appeal gave way for designers to work with floral patterns outside of the traditional vacation button down. For beginners, this is a good place to start.

Currently, floral styles have moved away from the just the tropics to include Native American, African and English floral prints. The designs show the interest in global fashions and the willingness to experiment.

Read on for the best ways to wear the look.

The Power of a Flower Tee

Sometimes the best way to jump into something is to go head first. Floral tees aren’t subtle. They are however very stylish. Whether you opt for a shirt with the subtle embellishment of a flower on the breast pocket or for one with the print all over, you’ll be bringing a fresh pop of design and color.

Wearing a floral tee comes down to understanding how bold the look is. When you’re repping flowers across your chest, front and center, there’s no hiding from it. That means you should have a bit of confidence if you’re going to tackle this.

Like most audacious trends, it’s best to balance them out. If you choose a floral tee, tone its sartorial shout down by layering with something simple like a denim jacket. When it’s too hot to layer, solid color shorts will do the trick.

Our Pick:  Abercrombie and Fitch Floral Tee

Beach Meet Garden: Men’s Floral Swim Shorts

Swimwear has always been comfortable having more fun. Floral designs find themselves right at home on a pair of swim trunks.

When you’re half naked, you’re going to want the other half to do all the style work for you. Floral style is great here. Bright colors and intricate designs will give you beach-resort looks everytime.

Button Down, Flower Up

Much like the Hawaiian shirt, the floral button down has made its way back to us. Emerging from the dreadful stuffy style of their predecessors, modern floral shirts capture the cool, rebel spirit that the best of fashion is all about.

Choosing a great floral button down is going to ultimately come down to your personal style. If you’re the type of guy who feels comfortable rocking a full floral print shirt in loud colors then more power to you. If not, you’ll want to gravitate towards something understated like one that incorporates more neutral colors like white and blue.

Floral shirts can be either dressed up or down. This gives you some pretty great options. Throwing a floral shirt with some slim black jeans and Chelsea boots creates a look that the rock-gods of years past would be envious of. On the other hand, pairing the shirt with some chinos and a suede bomber jacket is classy enough for pretty much any occasion.

Our Pick: River Island Light grey floral print slim fit shirt

Suiting up with Florals

It’s the 21st century and suits don’t need to be boring anymore. Recently, men have started to embrace suits outside the comfort zone of blacks and navies. Men everywhere are opening up to olive and khaki suits as well as ones with interesting designs and shapes. So why stop there? Floral suits are the next boundary in men’s suiting.

Out of all of the floral looks, this is definitely the most out there. There’s no hiding a love for all things fauna when you’re literally decked out head down in flowers. That being said, the look can absolutely work.

It’s all about choosing the right colors. If you’re going to rep something like a floral suit, your color matching game needs to be on point. People’s eyes are going to be immediately drawn to you so anything off with your suit and you’re going to stick out like for all the wrong reasons.

Our Pick:  Topman Skinny Fit Floral Suit Jacket

Flower Ties for the Modern Gentleman

If the idea of wearing a floral suit causes an allergy-inducing panic attack, then I have the solution. Floral ties and pocket squares add a hint of the floral look without going all in.

This works best with solid color suits. When you’re looking to stand out but still need to dress conservatively, this is your move. Coordinate the colors of the tie with that of your suit and you’ll draw every eye in the room.

Our Pick: Jubilee Skinny Tie

Keeping that Shoe Game Strong

Floral style isn’t for everyone and it’s not for every day. That is unless you’re wearing floral sneakers. There’s no reason that men’s shoes should be such a drab affair. Wearing sneakers decked out in floral patterns are a fantastic way to get all the fresh style moves while still confining the look to something that will make sense in any guys fashion.

Just like with camo print shoes, starting with sneakers is a great way to work yourself into a trend. For floral shoes, hightops look especially good.

Be as bold here as you want.

Our Pick: Converse Chuck 70 Porcelain Peony Low Top

Keep the Seasons in Mind

Just like how different flowers bloom in different seasons, so too should your floral prints. I’m not saying you need a degree in horticulture so that you can meticulously determine which flowers are on your clothes. Rather, update your floral looks based on their colors. A bright and lively print is probably best for when it’s hot out while something with black and maroon undertones is excellent for winter.

Final Thoughts on Floral Styling

Floral style is the best men’s trend you haven’t been wearing. Shrug off any thoughts of this challenging your masculinity, because it won’t and start bringing some life back into your wardrobe.

How do you wear floral prints? Engage with like-minded stylish men in the Gentle Manual community in the comments below!

Salvatore Marashi

SOURCE: THE GENTLEMANUAL