Due to their appealing visual appearance and complex symbolism, flowers have been incorporated into various forms of dress since the times of ancient civilizations. In ancient Egypt, the lotus motif was often seen on clothing and jewelry. This flower, associated with the Sun god Ra, symbolized rebirth and life after death. In ancient Greece and Rome, floral wreaths adorned the heads of gods, heroes, and brides. Victors were crowned with laurel wreaths, while garlands of roses and myrtle were attributes of the goddesses of love, Aphrodite and Venus.

In the Middle Ages, via the Silk Road, fabrics decorated with floral motifs arrived from Asia to Europe and were used to make clothes. In the 15th and 16th centuries, Italian cities as Venice and Florence were renowned for the production of luxury fabrics, while from the 17th century, the French town of Lyon became the center of silk textile production. Patterned silk textiles – velvet and brocade were highly prized, and embroidery techniques were also used for floral decorations.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, floral motifs became ubiquitous in both men’s and women’s court fashion across Europe. While men’s clothing in the 17th century was considerably more extravagant, in the 18th century, women’s clothing took the lead in opulence. Women’s dresses were often made of silk brocade adorned with various floral patterns. Among the fashionable dresses of the 18th century was the robe à la française, known for two vertical pleats in the back that fell from the shoulders. These pleats often appeared in clothes depicted in the paintings of Antoine Watteau, so they were later named Watteau pleats. 

Floral-patterned clothing became accessible to broader social classes with the emergence of chintz – a glazed cotton fabric with printed or painted motifs that gained popularity in Europe in the 17th century. Initially imported from India, chintz began to be produced locally in the 18th century. Renowned centers of chintz production were located in France, England, and Switzerland.

Basma, a cotton fabric with printed floral motifs, had an important role in the Balkan dress. During Prince Miloš Obrenović’s visit to Constantinople in 1835, the rooms where the Serbian delegation was accommodated were equipped with carpets and basma-covered ottomans. In the 19th century, basma with various floral designs was frequently used for linings in men’s and women’s Serbian urban dress.

In the second half of the 19th century, within the Ottoman cultural sphere, women’s dresses richly decorated with metal thread embroidery depicting floral branches, vases, and flower baskets came into fashion. These dresses, most often made of dark red or dark purple velvet, are historically known by the Turkish name bindalli, meaning thousand branches. They were worn at weddings and other festive occasions and were part of a bride’s dowry. Many bindalli dresses are now kept in museum collections worldwide as part of the traditional attire of various national and religious groups that lived within the former Ottoman Empire, including Serbian women from southern Serbia and from Kosovo and Metohija. A frequent decorative motif on bindalli dresses was the rose.

Flowers have remained in fashion throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Floral motifs marked the hippie trends of the 1960s and also could be seen in the wardrobes of celebrities like actress Audrey Hepburn and Princess Diana. Today, they appear in street fashion as well as on clothes of renowned brands such as Valentino, Dolce & Gabbana, and Erdem. In some countries, Floral Design Day is celebrated on February 28.