It’s Going To Be An Ugly-Floral-Dress Fall

Fashion is obsessed with that which is old. Vintage showrooms are experiencing a boon as stars like Kylie Jenner and Kaia Gerber opt for rarely seen pieces for red-carpet events, and the past has never been more relevant. But for Fall 2025, designers are tapping into that which is actually vintage: chintzy patterns pulled straight from ‘50s curtains and your grandmother’s beloved plastic-wrapped floral sofas.

One of the main jumping-off points for this inspiration comes from the runways — more on that in second — but also the vintage findings of Devon Lee Carlson. Carlson visited her boyfriend Duke Nicholson on set in rural Mississippi earlier this summer and fastidiously documented her Americana-leaning vintage hauls. The hero pieces were discarded dresses, well-worn and yes, covered in schmaltzy florals that are, on first glance, objectively ugly. But leave it to our favorite girls to show us how to pull them off. Addison Rae dipped into the Rodarte archives for a performance at the Grammy Museum, wearing a 2011 dress in crinkly taffeta off-set by a blurred, sat-on-for-decades sunflower print. Vittoria Ceretti gave the wallpaper-florals dress a go with her vintage Betsey Johnson number; ditto Devon Lee’s sister Sydney, who styled a problem pattern with sexy black sandals and a black handbag.

The inspiration Devon Lee got was, yes, from the Goodwills of the deep South, but the urge to cop said dresses surely trickled down from the runways into our collection consciousness. Prada sent down trash-bag-lite sack dresses in troubling patterns and color-ways (when I spoke with Chloë Sevigny shortly after the show, she mentioned them as a fall wishlist item), ditto Bally, Balenciaga, Eckhaus Latta, and several more. There’s something inherently cool about leaning into ugliness with a refreshing silhouette, and Demna and Mrs. Prada are sending not-so-subtle hints that this fall will be the fall of the ugly floral dress. Leave your Dôen flower frocks for the rest of the world, and instead make sure you’re putting off even yourself as you get dressed.

Find some options at a pleasing price-point below to embrace the unsettling trend before it hits high-street retailers.