Floral shirts are the summer 2024 fashion trend nobody expected

When we think of shirts for summer, airy linen, classic stripes or staple poplin pieces usually spring to mind. 

Floral shirts, however? never, unless we're going to a Hawaiian-themed party, trying to revive pieces from our dad's 70s holiday wardrobe or heading to a festival. 

All of a sudden, some of the most fashionable female faces and street style muses on the planet have been ditching the quintessential floral dress and donning botanical shirts, putting a fashion-forward twist on the frivolous aesthetic - be it with the actual shirt design or their personal styling hacks.

© Getty

© Getty

Saying we're fans of floral shirts was the last sentence we'd expect to be exclaiming this summer. But alas, the following sartorial icons have converted us completely for 2024...

Alexa Chung

© Instagram / @alexachung

British It-girl Alexa Chung is the most recent fashionista to flaunt flowers on their shirt. Recognised for her 'classic with a twist' style agenda, she donned a white poplin shirt with classic pleats from Bode, adorned with embellished wildflowers in hues of pink and purple. Her delicately feminine shirt elevates the classic white shirt with an injection of fun, adding interest to a positively failproof outfit formula: light-wash jeans and a crisp tailored shirt. The slightly sheer material, which she layered with a contrasting black bra underneath, brought the outfit together and made it 2024 cool-girl-approved.

Jennifer Lopez 

© Instagram / @jlo

JLo is in her Hamptons mom era and we can't get enough. On Independence Day,  she donned a feminine short-sleeved shirt with puff sleeves, featuring vintage stripes and a French floral motif from Ralph Lauren. Giving her look a touch of contemporary cool, she completed her farm-girl aesthetic by adding some high-waisted beige trousers, a pair of tan-toned flip-flops and a straw fedora hat.

Blake Lively

© Instagram / @blakelively

Last but most certainly not least, actress Blake Lively styled a vintage-style floral short suit with a floral shirt that she took from her husband Ryan Reynolds' wardrobe. In promo pics shared on Instagram for the film It Ends With Us, Blake wore a brocade suit from Bode with Ryan's orange shirt left open underneath, layered with a cropped black bralette. She captioned her post: "@bode thank you for the coolest short suit. And @vancityreynolds thank you for donating your @bode shirt for me to layer with said suit."

Unexpectedly, floral shirts are thriving this summer.