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Whenever I wear gingham I experience a mild panic before I leave my home, worried that I look too much like a picnic blanket. The two-toned checkered pattern makes me think of grassy lunches and yellow brick roads and the fabric shops my grandma used to take me to as a child. But it’s this nostalgia, paired with its general versatility, that makes gingham such a timeless print. While I only own a handful of gingham pieces — a red Ganni maxi dress, a second-hand overshirt and headscarf, and an overnight Baggu tote — this is a spring trend that I’m definitely co-signing.
These days, gingham has been adopted into micro-trends like the coquette aesthetic, often complemented by Peter Pan collars and bow details. Last year, Greta Gerwig’s Barbie featured Margot Robbie as the titular character in a baby pink gingham sundress; significant to the film’s depiction of girlhood innocence. On the spring/summer 2024 runways, designers used gingham in various formats, from handbags to dresses to head-to-toe separates.
This pattern isn’t just restricted to hyper-feminine (or thin and white) bodies either. It’s actually the kind of pattern that’s so versatile you can find it everywhere — from your favorite second-hand shop to your boyfriend’s wardrobe. Whether in the form of an oversized shirt, wide-leg pants, or a ridiculously-sized scrunchie, gingham’s superpower is that it doesn’t need to be the centre of any outfit.
To incorporate this summery pattern into your life this season, here are the styling tips you need to know.
Pair a gingham top with jeans.
Bring vintage-style gingham into the 21st century with any kind of denim. “To not get this Petite Maison dans la Prairie [Little House on the Prairie] vibe, style it with your favorite pair of denim jeans and a pair of boots or ballerina flats,” Dewet says.
Opt for gingham bags, headscarves and other accessories.
The power of the accessory shall never be underestimated. As seen in Anna Sui’s SS24 collection, gingham handbags, headscarves and scrunchie are subtle enough to make a bold fashion statement — without the impression you’re picnicking with a tin man and scarecrow.
Layer your gingham accordingly.
To style my red gingham maxi dress for busy (and chilly) London this spring, I’ll layer it with a more casual top or leather jacket, along with a pair of sneakers or boots. When I want my gingham to make a statement on its own (and the weather’s warm enough) I’ll wear it solo.
Gingham from head to toe.
This is a gingham endorsement if I’ve ever seen one. On holiday last summer, I paired my go-to checkered dress with some simple sliders for a full patterned look. A fashion rule of thumb? There’s always room for maximalists. Get your hands on a gingham co-ord, suit or separates.
Perhaps the best thing of all is that this pattern will always have a use in your home. When you’re eventually ready to move on, you can upcycle it into a chic headscarf, tablecloth or (dare I say it), picnic blanket.
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Ever stand in front of your jam-packed closet, staring at more than enough clothing options, and think: I have nothing to wear? Same. But perhaps the issue isn’t that you’re out of viable outfit choices. You just need a fresh dose of inspiration — say:spring work outfits— to help you see your wardrobe in a new way. That’s where Outfit Dump comes in. We supply you with enough ideas to fuel your style until the next drop comes along.
Getting dressed every day — for work, in particular — can be a chore. Fashion decision fatigue can make it feel like you have nothing to wear, when really your style inspiration has just run dry, especially when we’ve transitioned from one season to the next and your closet hasn’t caught up to the changes in weather. But the solution doesn’t have to be stuffing shopping bags (or virtual carts) full of new clothes (though adding a few thoughtfully selected items might not hurt); instead, you just have to try to style your existing wardrobe in fun and creative ways.
Thankfully, there’s plenty of inspiration to be found on our Instagram feeds, which are full of the hottest spring trends — think: patchwork denim, leopard print, and tenniscore must-haves — and fashion staples, like oversized blazers and crisp button-front shirts. Ahead, find 22 spring-ready outfits that you can wear to the office and beyond.
Spring Work Outfit Idea: Oversized Blazer + Skirt
Lean into your preppy side with a classic skirt suit (necktie optional), but add cool factor with an oversized blazer. We love how dynamic the extra-long sleeves seen here are.
Spring Work Outfit Idea: Two-Tone Blazer
Have the kind of job where wearing a blazer is a must? Bring more variety to your look and make things more interesting by opting for a two-tone option instead.
Spring Work Outfit Idea: Two-Tone Suit
Or go the extra mile and make your entire office-ready matching set two-tone.
Because denim is definitely more dressed up and work-appropriate when it comes in the form of a midi skirt, right?
Spring Work Outfit Idea: Dressed Up Patchwork Denim
You can even take it a step further and push office-attire boundaries with a trendy patchwork denim set or dress. Bonus points for the equally on-trend colored tights and matching shoes.
Spring Work Outfit Idea: Black + White
It’s hard to go wrong with a classic black-and-white look — we love the shade contrast between the outfit and accessories in this Paris street style look.
Spring Work Outfit Idea: Trench Coat
Because any outfit feels a tad more sophisticated when topped up with a trench coat.
Spring Work Outfit Idea: Dress + Collared Top
Style your go-to workwear dress by layering it over a top with a statement collar. It’s a simple way to make a tried-and-true piece feel new again.
Spring Work Outfit Idea: Waistcoat
We’ve already called it: vests and waistcoats are going to be everywhere this spring, and, luckily, this is a trend that makes perfect sense in an office setting.
Spring Work Outfit Idea: Sweater Vest
If a structured waistcoat feels a bit too stuffy for your liking, try putting on a stylish sweater vest over your favorite white button-up.
Spring Work Outfit Idea: Touches of Leopard Print
The leopard-print trend is, undeniably, harder to incorporate into a work-ready outfit. But if you’re all in on the print, fret not: Sprinkle touches of it into your look — on a collar, a handbag, or even a pair of shoes — and you’re good to go.
Spring Work Outfit Idea: Matching Suit Set
Picture this: It’s a sunny Monday morning and you want nothing to do with work. Put on a matching suit — in whatever pattern or hue you prefer — and you’ll instantly feel ready for the week ahead, even if you’d rather be on vacation.
Spring Work Outfit Idea: Oversized Button-Up
Because nothing says “effortlessly chic” like an oversized button-up shirt.
Spring Work Outfit Idea: Pastel Midi Dress
Midi dresses are rightfully a workwear staple. Add some seasonal fun to your wardrobe by opting for one in a pretty pastel hue.
Spring Work Outfit Idea: Puffy Sleeves
Voluminous sleeves will ensure the only drama you’re creating at the office is through your outfit.
Spring Work Outfit Idea: Peplum Top
We don’t mean to alarm you, but the early 2010s are calling and telling you that it is indeed time to break out the peplum tops again.
Spring Work Outfit Idea: Metallic Shoes
Why not make the shoes the star of your outfit — especially when you have a covetable metallic pair to work with.
Spring Work Outfit Idea: Collared Mini Dress
This Lauren Chan look is the ideal spring fashion inspo: a warm weather-ready dress and cute ballet flats. Pro-tip: Experiment with the color and pattern of the socks to bring a bigger pop of personality to your outfit.
Spring Work Outfit Idea: Tenniscore
Tenniscore is blowing up again, largely thanks to Challengers and Zendaya’s highly fashionable press tour. Channel the trend by throwing a blazer over a sporty dress.
Spring Work Outfit Idea: Floral Jumpsuit
Do we really have to say anything more?
Spring Work Outfit Idea: Ruffles
Because how could you not have a good day while wearing frills and ruffles?
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While Jean Paul Gaultier is best known for being a visionary fashion designer, his first love was movies. At the age of 13, Gaultier became infatuated with the drama of a fashion show after he saw Jacques Becker’s 1945 film Falbalas (Paris Frills), which follows the story of a couturier. That stayed with him for the next decade as he went on to apprentice with names like Pierre Cardin and Jean Patou in the early ‘70s, before launching his eponymous line which would become marked by innovative trademarks like conical corsetry and trompe l’oeil.
“[Falbalas] was for me like a dream. It was theatrical,” Gaultier said during a talk at SCAD before the opening of the exhibition, which runs until September 30. “I didn’t go to a fashion school, my school was that movie.”
As such, Falbalas gets the prime spot at the two-floor showcase which welcomes visitors with a clip from the movie and a black-and-white tuxedo-style gown, inspired by the fashion show scene, from Gaultier’s 1999 collection. Marcel Rochas — Falbalas’ costume designer and inventor of the guêpière corset — gets his credit with an original ’40s corset that’s juxtaposed against the prototype of the cone brassiere designed by Gaultier for Madonna’s 1990 Blonde Ambition Tour, a job the designer got when he approached the star after seeing her wear a black corset during a performance.
“I said, ‘For the next show you do, it’s not necessary to make a copy of my clothes,” he said. “‘You ask me, I will do even better.’”
“If [a director] asks me to make clothes for a movie, it’s not my story — it is their story. So I have to adapt my style… When I am doing my own collection, it’s my own story… it’s my choice,” Gaultier said during a walkthrough of the exhibition when asked about the difference between designing for a film and a fashion show. “I am more spontaneous for my collection. Sometimes a mistake can be good because it can be something different that I didn’t expect. [In film, it] is very strict.”
Memorable looks from Gaultier’s collections inspired by movies rather than worn in them round out the costumes: a James Bond-influenced black kilt from the men’s spring/summer 2006 show (the designer was one of the first couturiers to design skirts for men), a skull-adorned top and leather skirt from the Mad Max-themed fall/winter 1995 showcase, and a Clockwork Orange-esque harness look from Gaultier’s final spring 2020 collection. While the mariniere (a Gaultier signature), featuring a bare back with the illusion of the tattoos, takes influence from Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s movie about a sailor, Querelle, it also commemorates an important moment for Gaultier, who made waves at the time for eroticizing men in his 1983 collection titled “L’Homme Objet” (Boy Toy).
“I was shocked by the woman [seen as an] object. Around me, I was seeing strong women, they were not the object at all. So it’s why, when I did the men’s collection, I wanted to show the male object, because if there is a woman object at that point, it has to have a male object,” says Gaultier.
But while his transgressive designs that often featured nudity have earned Gaultier the moniker of L’Enfant Terrible, the designer says that he was simply depicting the freedom and societal changes that were happening around him. “When I did those things — like, for example, the corset for Madonna — I didn’t do it on purpose so that people [would] speak about me,” says Gaultier. “I was showing only a reflection of what was going on, so it was not provocation… the time was changing, the people were changing.”
William Klein, whom Gaultier has long been inspired by and met in the ‘80s when the fashion photographer-filmmaker was commissioned to make Mode In France documentary, also gets a large chunk of the exhibit space. In particular, Klein’s 1996 film Who Are You, Polly Maggoo?, a parody of the fashion world, was a source of influence for Gaultier. “He didn’t like fashion. That’s why he did a very good movie,” Gaultier said. At one point, a clip from the film shows a model getting her arm cut while putting on an over-the-top dress made of sharp metal, a nod to Paco Rabanne’s 12 Unwearable Dresses show in 1966: “It was sarcastic which is good. We need critics in any profession.”
In the same room, Gaultier‘s first employer Cardin — whom Gaultier says he learned “freedom” from — gets a mention with a dress, made from synthetic “Cardine” fiber that could be molded at a high temperature, worn by Lauren Bacall. It’s fitting not only because Cardin taught Gaultier to experiment and “to show fashion like a play, like a theater, even if it was showing something that has to be a reality,” but because, in a full-circle moment, the exhibition is housed in a former property of Cardin, who resided in Lacoste.
While a good number of Gaultier’s looks fill the rooms, it’s interesting to see the subject of an exhibition give so much space to other creatives, ranging from filmmakers to photographers. Much like Gaultier handed over the reins of his brand to guest designers like Haider Ackermann, Glenn Martens, and, most recently, Simone Rocha — “It’s interesting to see their vision of Gaultier… to change some of my codes in their own way,” says Gaultier — he has no qualms about highlighting art that continues to inspire him today: “I love fashion so I love to see all the expressions.”
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