Details that bring clothes to life: animal motifs
Here is a wonderful and very fun detail that animal lovers in particular will notice and can bring into their street style.
When we take a quick look through our wardrobes, there are in fact many different details on our clothes. But I would say the most fun detail is animal motifs.
We can see that this detail, which came to light more last season and has been talked about plenty this season too, is starting to dominate street style as well.
Image: A mannequin dressed in a pink hoodie with a rabbit motif — Peachyeung316, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Image: A white knitted hat with a cow’s face and ears — Kaaa1319, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
It is a detail that will help us create very stylish outfits, especially with blazers or trench-style coats.
With animal motifs, which stand out as a lovely detail on dresses in particular, you can both keep your look chic and add a sense of fun to your clothes.
In street style, we should make room for the ease of animal motifs, which add a rebellious spirit to the casual blouses we most often pair with leggings, as well as to cardigans and knitwear.
You can also frequently come across this detail on shoes, bags, accessories and hats in particular.
Be careful: if you have included animal motifs in your outfit, never overdo it, and make sure all the other pieces you wear lean towards simplicity.
You can share your photos and your street style with us by tagging our @freshmodelsmagazin page.
Animal motifs and animal prints: what’s the difference?
Two separate ideas are often confused in fashion. Animal motifs are the silhouette of a cat, bird or fox added to clothing as a print, embroidery, appliqué or brooch. Animal prints such as leopard, zebra and snakeskin, on the other hand, are surface patterns that imitate the texture of an animal’s fur or skin. Both create a fun accent, but motifs leave a more playful impression, while prints make a bolder statement.
Three ways to style pieces with animal motifs
- A single focus: Make the motif piece the star of the outfit; choose the rest of your clothes in solid colours.
- Start small: If you are new to this trend, try it first with embroidered socks, a brooch or a small bag.
- Balance it with classics: Wearing a knit or shirt with a motif with a classic blazer or trench coat can carry the playful detail even into the office.
For families with children, animal motifs can also be a delightful common ground: mother and child wearing pieces with similar motifs adds a warm and fun feel to the look. Whichever route you choose, keeping the size and colour of the motif in harmony with the rest of the outfit determines the result.
Our suggestions for cardigans, one of winter’s most beloved pieces for pairing with motif knits, are in our trending cardigan styles article. For the place of animal prints in fashion history, see Wikipedia’s animal print entry.