Who Put the Fruits onto the Garments?

Nowadays, fruit print clothing are a Do. On average, every person has at least one item in their closet with this pattern. Read about the history when this delicious food conquered the fabrics.

 

 

Disclosure: This post has affiliate links.

 

Printing with Fruits and Vegetables

Embellishing clothes goes back to ancient times. An easy way to save expensive dye was to print on the fabrics. The famous paisley print has its origin from printing with a cut fruit. This pattern is often referred to as Persian Pickles. You may remember printing with potatoes in elementary school.

On kimonos with landscapes or other motifs occasionally, fruits and vegetable were within the picture. More on the history of kimonos.

 

18^th to 20^th Century

In the 18^th Century, waistcoats were embroidered with berries. A century later,  the paisley print came via Great Britain from India to the Old World and was a favorite among the Rich and Aristocrats. Obviously, the food inspired motives like the strawberries on the dress below were in fashion for girls in the late 19^th century.

 

 

At that time, textiles and etiquette asked for garments decorations for the wealthy classes, even though they were not so ornamental like those worn by entertaining circles, elitist or Aristocrats. A decorative afternoon reception dress like the one below was a Must-have. More on the fashion of the Victorian Era.

 

 

 

After the Great War, art turned to a more abstract style and fashion followed along. The onset or Art Deco led to abstract prints of cherries and berries on women day dresses. More on the simplicity of the 1920s fashion.

 

 

In 1953, Christian Dior designed attire with berries, blueberries and strawberries. Still today many retro 1950s dresses don cherries and strawberry prints.

 

Don’t let your outfit be a random thing. Wear the right look in every situation by looking up what to wear when in How to Dress for Success in Midlife. Buy the book now.

 

People Actually Wearing Actual Fruits

Obviously, in ancient times fruits were used to create head decoration as the below photo of a man stature suggests.

 

 

Josephine Baker wore her banana skirt in her daily revues in Paris in the early 20^th century. More on her life in this post on Afro-American Women History.

 

Fruit Prints Time Line of the 21^st Century

The following (incompletely) lists when which designer featured which fruits in their collection.
2003: Junya Wanabe – strawberries, grapes, apples, pears
2004: Phoebe Philo – graphic bananas
2010: Stefano Pilati – strawberries
2011: Stella McCarthney – citrus
2011: Miuccia Prada – bananas
2012: Dolce & Gabbana – tomatoes (more on their Alta Moda collections)
2012: Rossella Jardini – apple, grape, pepper, watermelon (also other food like carrots, onions)
2014: Stella Jean – Tropical fruits
2016: Bertrand Guyon – cherries and strawberries
2017: David Lynch – cherries and lemons
2017: Alessandro Michele – pineapples
2019: Thom Browne – cherry and pineapple appliques
2020: Daniel Lee – pineapple

 

 

My Fruit Print Summer Clothes

When I was in high school, we sewed a nightgown in our sewing class. I had picked a flannel fabric in pink with strawberries being left out in white. Later, in my 20s, I owned a PJ in navy and white featuring rows of blue cherries on the top, while the bottom were navy shorts. Otherwise, all my fruit-related prints have been paisley.

 

 

 

How Fashion Bloggers Style Fruit Prints

See this video to see what fashion bloggers wear with their fruit print garments.

 

 

 

Don’t forget to hit subscribe to receive the bi-weekly free High Latitude Style newsletter with a summary of all new posts and more about Fashion, Life and Science at the Last Frontier.

 

This post was featured on Links à la Mode fashion roundup by Independent Fashion Bloggers.

More fashion articles:

• Who Put the Fruits onto the Garments? by High Latitude Style
• It’s time to bring back some glamour by Looking Fabulous at Fifty

 

Photos of me: G. Kramm

© 2013-2023 Nicole Mölders | All rights reserved