By SHANE WATSON, FASHION COLUMNIST FOR INSPIRE MAGAZINE Updated: 12:06 BST, 16 June 2026
Daily Mail journalists select and curate the products that feature on our site. If you make a purchase via links on this page we will earn commission - learn moreIf you‘re wondering where fashion stands on the floral dress in the summer of 2026, go on to the Marks & Spencer website, scroll through the first page – 48 items in total – and you will find precisely two: a mini kitsch number your teenager might wear to prom and a slip dress with a little rosebud print.When John Lewis declared the death of the floral dress in 2023, British women were not quite ready to relinquish their everyday ‘pull on and go’ friend, but now the floral dress is all but extinct on the high street.And if you were thinking ‘that’s OK, I’ve still got a pretty one at the back of the wardrobe’, think again.As of this summer the floral dress is bottom of the fashion charts and top of the clothes that will make you look years older than you are – the reasons why are also the key to finding a new everyday alternative...Florals are now dowdyLittle ditsy prints were never the answer for fifty-plussers but now that the mood of fashion is sharper, cleaner and smarter, most florals look mumsy – with the exception of graphic, linear prints. If you really want to stick with florals avoid bias cuts, puff sleeves and lace trims. Instead, keep the look tailored and stick with monochrome. Try H&M’s short-sleeve shirt dress in a white on dark brown botanical print (£19.99, 2.hm.com).Chic trumps prettyThe mood of the moment is bold and stylish, and the goal is to look slick and pulled together rather than boho-soft and pretty. A good alternative to the everyday floral dress is a tailored but easy-to-wear button-through waisted denim dress with shades of Stella McCartney (£50, marksandspencer.com) or Wyse’s plain, deep midnight button-through Kelly dress with those all-important elbow-length sleeves (£195, wyselondon.com). Other prints have taken overThe prints that dominate now – and that, incidentally, all work together – are stripes, polka dots and checks of all sizes. Designers have turned their back on florals in search of cleaner prints which happen to be infinitely better suited to grown-up women.Hush’s easy-to-wear Grace air flow V-neck dress (£115, hush-uk.com) comes in eight colours and patterns, including blurred-lines green (a little bit like a light zebra stripe) and soft leopard. Not a single ditsy floral among them.... especially leopardLeopard is a neutral and it’s also the chic monochrome alternative to florals – smarter, sharper and all-weather appropriate. A simple summer dress in leopard print works in the day and you can easily dress it up for evening with red, gold or shiny black.If you want something you can wear for smart occasions too, Wyse’s bestselling, albeit pricier, silk with a satin finish Fabienne dress (£295) suits all shapes.Belts look mumsyLots of dresses come belted this season. But, sorry to say, a belted floral dress will always make you look like your mum at a village fete.Plain is your best bet, and one that’s perfect for work, with a polished 1970s vibe, is Zara’s indigo button-through dress with a collar and three-quarter sleeves (£39.99, zara.com) which comes with a tan suede belt.It's a skirt momentThis summer the focus has shifted away from dresses and now the spotlight is on skirts. The tailored look is easier to achieve with a skirt plus a coordinating top or jacket – and a skirt plus a jacket now looks very new Chanel (modern, cool, works for any age), whereas a jacket over a dress looks a bit mother of the bride circa 1989.The skirt shape that’s taking off now and that will be everywhere by the autumn is a bit below the knee, straight or slightly A-line with a split or a few pleats. Zara is ahead of the game with its light striped beige below-the-knee skirt (£59.99) that comes with a matching cropped boxy jacket (£89.99).The dress is not the answer to everything it once was – and the future is full of flirty skirts.If you still long for florals, just try a different route. The new way to wear them is as a bold accent in the form of chunky jewellery. M&S has a cracking pair of white and black floral studs to soothe your cravings.
