Butterflies are always in fashion… aren’t they? As a butterfly lover and life-long adorner of the butterfly as fashion accouterments, I would say yes. However, according to the fashion gurus of our day, butterflies flutter in and out of popularity.
Vogue traces the use of the butterfly in fashion as far back as the 18th century. I would argue that butterflies have probably adorned people much farther back than a mere few hundred years ago. Still, Vogue may know a thing or two more than me when it comes to modern fashion.
The 1920s, which some people are looking to as an example of post-global pandemic life, claimed the butterfly motif as part of its fashion contribution. Then there was the foray into butterflies in the early 2000s, chainmail butterfly dresses and cute little butterfly hair clips, before butterflies once again migrated out of fashion.
Now, in a hopefully soon-to-be-post-pandemic world, butterflies are making their way back into the limelight once again!
Of course, we butterfly lovers know that those colorful pollinators never really go out of style. From the majestic azure of the blue morpho, to the classic orange and black of the monarch, to the wildly erratic creations of an artist’s mind, butterflies make great compliments to anyone’s ensemble. Once again, style aficionados and fashion bosses, like Gucci and Versace, are calling upon these beautiful insects. Butterflies are once again on the runway!
The trend’s resurgence brings a multiple array of options with it. Clothing, jewelry, and handbags are plenty. In keeping with the times, one can even find face masks decorated with colorful beauties. Shoes even! One pair of boots I found sports a raised heel in the shape of multiple butterfly wings. I’m afraid they missed the mark on this, as it looks as if the boot is about to crush the delicate wings of our insect friends. These days, butterfly fashion is not limited to pins and colorful fabric.
The fashion industry may be finding new inspiration in butterflies, but we’ve been here all this time. Have we been cutting edge in the fashion industry, and we didn’t even realize it? Lepidopterists, the real fashionistas?