IN DETAIL HOTHOUSE FLOWERS

Sunday Herald, The, Mar 9, 2008 by Eva Arrighi

FLOUNCY florals are not for everyone, but this season there is no getting away from it: old-school ditsy flower prints are back with a vengeance. Rather than do what I usually do when faced with a trend I can't stomach - go into denial and act as if said movement just isn't happening - I have decided instead to face up to it.

Bold and brash florals I can handle, but show me the more polite forms - delicate sprigs and powdery blooms - and I flounder. I just don't know how to handle them. As Michael Caine as Alfie might say, they're all a bit mumsy.

The best I've ever seen them was on Lisa Bonet in the 1987 film Angel Heart, Alan Parker's oppressive and darkly sexual vision of that original sin city, New Orleans. Bonet, all hot and sultry, with fabric sticking to her in all the right places, was unforgettable in her faded floral tea dresses. The prize for the second-best use of florals goes to the costume designer on Pearl Harbor, admittedly a stinker of a movie, but watchable in doses to ogle Kate Beckinsale and Jaime King pairing a good red lippy with an endless selection of wowzer 1940s print dresses.

For me, it is only when such floral patterns are paired with the sexual signifiers of seamed stockings, the aforementioned slash of red lipstick and fancy French fishnets - but then underplayed by a dorky shoe, like a T-bar Mary Jane, lest the look descends into Parisian inter-war hooker territory - that they really work. The more tasteful a dress is supposed to be, the more I feel you have to undercut its sweetness and light. You only have to look at the parka and cute dress combo that's cropping up all over town like grunge never went away, to understand there are many ways to imaginatively wear a delicate floral dress, although looking like a sloany Sunday school teacher from the early 1980s sure ain't one of them.

This red patent leather clutch with bow detail, GBP139, LK Bennett (www. lkbennett. com) is just the kind of saucy wee number I'd pair with this season's ditzy florals to give them a jolt of frivolity - the faintly fetishistic nature of red patent leather, albeit formed into a cute bow, sends out all the right contradictory messages to balance off the sweetness of the print. A bold necklace can also serve as an interesting counterpoint to pretty dresses. This black beaded cluster necklace, GBP85, Jaeger London at Jaeger (www. jaeger. com) is just one item from an increasingly brilliant range of jewellery pieces at Jaeger and would work superbly with simple printed shift shapes.

Moving on to cosmetics and skincare, a new star product from Clarins, Younger Longer Balm, GBP60, 50ml (0800 036 3558) is a moisturiser that makes you look like you have turned back the hands of time - trust me, it really is that good. It also provides a great base for foundation, although when choosing a base anything too cake- like is ageing. So instead, opt for Benefit's You Rebel SPF 15 tinted moisturiser, GBP19.50, 50ml (www. benefitcosmetics. co. uk). It gives a great covering without masking your natural bloom. To Clarins again for my new favourite thing in the world, Clarins Eyeliner Pen, GBP16.50 in Chocolate Brown (0800 036 3558). For precision liner on the go, it's up there at the top of my list and you can get an unfeasibly thin line with it. Plus the deep brown shade is a great alternative to vampy black. Talking of alternatives, NARS Lipstick, GBP21, in shade Viridiana (www. narscosmetics. co. uk) is a fab, deep burgundy shade for those who like their red lipstick but feel scarlet is a little too carnal.