February 26, 2019
12 Prom and Wedding Wearables Your Customers Will Want
Wristlet, knuckle ring and earring designs and wristlet photo: Franςoise Weeks. Knuckle ring photo: @theresaisabear.png. Earring photo: @botanicallyinspired.png, Bustier design & photo: Terry Godfrey AIFD.
What happens when you offer customers floral beauty beyond their expectations? Three good things.
They buy it. They show up at their event in style. Or, at least, they see you have creativity that differentiates your business—and refer others to you.
What to offer in 2019? Petal-pretty wearable flower designs. From knuckle ring to anklet, bracelet to bustier, petal dress to floral scarf, with shoes, purses, crowns and tiaras thrown in—pretty petals you can wear are taking the stage.
For prom, weddings or special events, fresh flower attire is flourishing!
To support your flourishing efforts, here are a dozen wearable floral ideas from Franςoise Weeks, Garrett Stupinksi, Carol Jillian and other designers. There’s fresh new looks for spring or any event. And we’re not talking your everyday corsage or boutonniere either, as Franςoise's designs above show (with more from her below)!
Consider this your 2019 guide to wearable petal-pretty attire. Included are floral mechanics tips for each with links to more detailed design articles where available.
Couture chic
Design & Photo: Carol Jillian
This fresh-flowers-to-wear craze recently stepped off the runways and into the fashion spotlight. More good news: your trendy-savvy clients can wear their favorite flowers for both formal and informal events.
Design & Photo: Carol Jillian
These petal pieces may not last long but the memory of trendsetters boldly rocking it will. What they wear to spring events, weddings and prom says a lot about their personality and style and even more about your creativity. You can start with your most adventurous clients and even create a line of custom designs.
Botanical Anklets
When prom season arrives, your trend-starters are looking for ways to stand out in a crowd.
Design & Photo: Carol Jillian
Artsy boutonniere art, botanical anklets and funky hats are a fun look for guys (or girls) who want to showcase their creative side, as the designs from Carol Jillian above show.
Design: Franςoise Weeks, Photo: Ted Mishima
Franςoise Weeks uses 1” flat wire as the foundation for her chokers, earrings, and bracelets. She offered this design tip for creating the botanical anklets in the photo above. She uses 12-gauge aluminum wire to form the base of her knuckle rings.
“I punched a hole on each side of the 1-inch Flat wire and zip-tied the two ends together once they were around his ankles.”
Add floral earrings for prom
Dress your prom goers with add-on floral accessories like earrings to match their wristlets or bouquets.
Design: Francoise Weeks. Photo: @theresaisabear.png'
Garrett Skupinski shared his stellar chandelier earrings with us in a previous IDEA Weekly blog, where you can get a refresh on his design tips. Try Garrett’s great prom flowers idea of floral chandelier earrings.
Naturally, Franςoise, author of The Herbal Recipe Keeper, has some earthy earring suggestions as well.
Design: Franςoise Weeks. Photos: (right) @botanicallyinspired.png, (left) @theresaisabear.png
To create the base of her designs, Franςoise likes to buy metal earring hooks at an art or bead store. She then punches a hole in a small piece of 1-inch flat wire. After hanging the wire onto the metal hook, Franςoise glues her flowers into place creating her sassy earrings.
Place flowers in her hair
Lower left photo: seanpurcellphotography.com, Top left/right photos: Carol Jillian
Floral headbands and tiaras may be trending over flower crowns, but don’t count crowns out yet! Update your look to keep your customers interested in these easy-to-wear styles.
Photo: Ivory+Bliss
Nicole Reisen, a Hy-Vee designer in Iowa City, Iowa, created this flower crown. See 7 Simple Ways to Design a Fabulous Flower Crowns.
What’s so fascinating about fascinators?
Upper left design Franςoise Weeks, photo @thereisabear.png. Lower left design Carol Jillian, photo Candice Ghai. Upper right design & photo Carol Jillian.
They’re trendy and fun to wear! A fashion must in the UK, fascinators are just taking roots here in the US.
Be the first in your area to promote flower fascinators for prom. Offer a few free designs to special guests of the next trendsetting wedding in your area to get the fashion started.
You could hold a ‘Fascinating Flowers’ girls-night-out hands-on class for attendees to make their own hats or fascinators in your floral business. Schedule it in advance of a local charity or Kentucky Derby parties so participants can wear them to their events.
To increase attendance, offer a donation to the charity for each person who makes or buys a fascinator from your shop and wears it their event.
Armatures are an easy-to-use base for participants in these classes.
Want more hat tricks? Revisit 4 Easy Steps for Creating Trend-Savvy Botanical Headpieces.
Necklaces, bracelets and anklets are in!
Let’s face it, wearing flowers is a timeless trend. Knowing how to wear them uniquely takes style and a bit of courage.
Designs: Franςoise Weeks. Photos: Ted Mishima, @theresaisabear.png.
Franςoise works her magic creating this necklace by winding a form of 12-gauge Oasis aluminum wire.
If your prom girl loves a boho vibe, don’t forget to encircle her neck, wrist or ankle with a matching ring of beauty. “For fun, I added a pair of floral gloves that I made,” says Franςoise.
“I made fabric using a glue gun and hot glue. I sewed the two pieces together once she had the anklet on,” Franςoise explains.
Franςoise sprays water onto either metal or glass and then drizzles the hot glue in the pattern she desires. This creates the glue ‘fabric’ for the base of these designs. She peels it off the hard surface when cool.
You may want to volunteer a few freebies to popular prom girls to jumpstart the trend in your area. Remember this look for the next bride planning a beach wedding, too.
Wrap it up with a floral scarf
Design & photo: Carol Jillian
Elegant designs like this by Carol Jillian are the perfect floral accessory for a special evening out. Imagine the feel and fragrance of a floral scarf worn atop a favorite cocktail dress!
Design & photo: Carol Jillian
You can present a mini runway show of these designs at local civic, garden club or ladies’ club meetings to introduce the new style.
For more on creating scarves, visit How to Create Fabulous Floral Fashion your Clients will Really Wear.
Remember purse and shoes
Design: Franςoise Weeks. Photo: @silviusjames.png
Are floral fashions walking out your door? If not, remember no ensemble is complete without the matching purse and shoes!
Take a business step forward by selling coordinating heels or boots.
Designs & photos: Carol Jillian
Carol really loves working with croton leaves. She keeps the leaves damp and cool in a sealed container.
“When applying them to a form with floral adhesive, the plant material begins to have a leathery feel,” says Carol.
Designs & photos: Carol Jillian
They look great, too! Want more tips? Check out Designing Botanical Shoes and Purses with Franςoise Weeks.
Dressmaking gone wild!
From fresh rose petals to wildflower clippings from the garden, these flower dresses are as fragrant as they are pretty.
Design: Carol Jillian
While it might not fit everyone’s budget, custom couture is a great new line of business for floral designers who focus on an upscale clientele.
Design; Laura Daluga AIFD. Photo: Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance, FLEUROTICA2012
Become the floral fashionista of your area with How to Create Wearable Floral Haute Couture.
Assign the task a designer who enjoys a creative challenge. Planning, precision and preparation are key to making these designs practical enough to be profitable.