We’re dressing like a child again

 

In a society that keeps striving for a younger, fresher, more vibrant appearance, it was only a matter of time before our clothes would follow. Kidult dressing is here. It’s colourful, it’s vibrant, and it’s perfect to tackle our winter blues: “We notice a much more frivolous take on fashion. Print and patterns are key to this trend, so we will see a lot of that. Anything that can bring you back to that childhood world works: from cartoon characters to florals, or even a playful slogan or doodle”, Hewan Franchi at WGSN tells me.

 

                                                                               TikTok teens have been rocking DIY beaded necklaces for a while, but now we’re seeing them in upgraded materials such as                                                                                       coloured enamels, quality chains and pearls to fit an older age group. At Marco Rambaldi, for example, we saw big, eye-catching                                                                                 earpieces shaped as hearts or rainbows, for that true DIY charm, accompanied by pearls dangling from gold or silver chains.                                                                                       The same fruity coloured shapes returned as a necklace, layered over chunky pastel beads for that ultimate maximalist look.

 

                                                                               “After seasons of neutrals, colour is key. We’re seeing a lot of bold combinations that guarantee joyful dressing”, Hewan adds.                                                                                      This message was well-received at Mira Mikati. Bold colour combinations and huge, vibrant flowers almost make you forget the                                                                                  cold and grey London air outside your window. A wide array of clashing prints and colours make for some great pick-and-mix                                                                                      dressing. From chunky knits to fitted summer dresses, it’s all there ready to brighten up your day.

 

Where Y2K dressing was there for us to release our inner Britney, the kidult trend is one for the more innocent amongst us. 

“Even though the trend has been simmering in silence for a while, it was at Moschino’s S/S22 show we saw it emerge for the

first time on a luxury level. The biggest eye-catchers were the large box-charm accessories made out of synthetic materials

that seem to be taken straight from a baby’s toybox.” Next to this, animals seem to be key at Moschino. We see colourful

candy-like suits that are held together by buttons featuring your favourite animals from your babyhood, along with flowy

dresses, bustiers, and babydoll coats with that same nostalgic animal print. And yet, amongst all these clean silhouettes and

soft hues, it was, in true Moschino style, hard to draw the line between cute and just plain trashy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At Colin LoCasio those vibrant tones return in knitted vests and sweaters, accompanied by 3D flowers and bows. The white fabric serves as a canvas for a variety of novelty doodles that seem to have been plucked straight out of your high school notebooks. Think aliens, rockets, smiley faces, … That same doodle-like print returns at Mithridate, but where it resembles a bored teenager’s drawing at LoCasio, Mithridate’s seem to be executed by what looks like a rather frustrated toddler.

 

Clashing prints and mismatching colours are what make kidult dressing so fun. Naivety is key, which kind of means there’s nothing you can do wrong. In light of this I’d advise you to get out of bed and get dressed because if you ever thought it was boring, you sure won’t find that anymore!