20 Floral Buys From & Other Stories, Zara, Mango and H&M

last updated 13 April 2021

This week, H&M dropped its A Meadow of Wildflowers collection, an edit of dresses, tops and skirts all embellished with hand-painted watercolour flowers (insert compulsory Miranda Priestly quote about spring). For someone who very rarely wears anything botanically embellished, I was surprised to find myself won over by the unashamedly pretty prints, and on reflection, it seems as though quite a few high-street brands have been offering up fresh takes on this traditional graphic this season.

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Perhaps, like me, you're turned off by the twee associations of a ditsy floral, or maybe you prefer minimalist blocks of colour over a detailed print. Well, humour me for a moment and allow me to present you with some floral-clad high-street buys that just might change your mind—they certainly made me reconsider my stance.

I'm talking about abstract iterations that offer a more artistic take on the traditional floral prints that are reminiscent of the 1960s and '70s and about the odd hits of crochet that have us daydreaming of sun-baked summer afternoons. At the top of my wish list are & Other Stories' cut-out top, which I'll tuck into wide-leg jeans and accessorise with square sunnies; Zara's feel-good yellow-and-black floral jeans; and Mango's knitted cardigan, which will look very '90s Gwyneth P styled with a slip skirt and platform sandals.

So even if you wouldn't usually touch a floral with a bargepole, scroll on down to see my edit of high-street buys that changed my mind about the print.