Remember the elaborate little dresses, with flouncy skirts, puff sleeves, and oversized pussy bows we wore as a child? Molly Goddard has made the design of these children’s clothes a key inspiration for spring/summer 2022. Whether thrifted or made by had by her mother and grandmother, Goddard she took apart, traced, and blew up those clothes into adult proportions (and then some) — something that many of us may have dreamed of doing to our Barbie’s clothes once upon a time.
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Photo: Ben Broomfield/Molly Goddard
But Goddard’s aesthetic is not a nostalgic trip into a little girls’ world; these are clothes with ready adult world application. The prevailing theme of the collection is the babydoll dress, created in translucent tulle in white, and pastel and neon shades, all unabashedly decked out in tier upon tier of ruffles and pleats, from voluminous crop tops to playful mini dresses and full blown gowns.
In true London style, these flouncy clothes are paired with lived-in baggy jeans, cosy grandma knits and slinky track pants, often topped off with bucket hats. Even the ballerina slippers — in various happy hues — when styled on the boys with basketball shorts and chinos, are intriguing and altogether persuasive.
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