It’s a hot day, you’re at a friend’s barbecue and, bless her, she’s carved up a watermelon to keep you cool. You start to wolf down a piece, and said friend slaps it out of your hand. What—you’re not supposed to eat it? If you even have to ask, then you obviously haven’t been doing your Instagram homework—#watermelondress is taking over feeds, and it involves (you guessed it) watermelon slices masquerading as dresses.
Let me explain. Some genius has realised that holding up a slice of watermelon to a person’s chin while standing a few metres away makes them look like they’re wearing a (rather delicious) red dress. Babies, men, dogs—they’re all at it, posting pics of watermelon wedges that have been carefully nibbled into dresses with sweetheart necklines. One boy even fashioned himself a watermelon jumpsuit.
Watermelons are in high demand this summer—and not just the kind you get in Tesco. According to the global fashion search engine Lyst, searches for watermelon are up 140% year on year. Skinnydip’s floating watermelon phone case is currently the most popular item (£18). Lazy Oaf’s £58 watermelon swimsuit—the scarlet body is covered in black seeds and has luscious green frills at the hips—is all but sold out. There was also a spike in searches for “watermelon shorts” in the 48 hours after Lily Allen wore a pair to Glastonbury.
But it’s not just watermelons in shopping baskets. Searches for “pineapples” have been at an all-time high over the last six months, with lemons, avocados and cherries not far behind. Harley Viera-Newton’s fashion line, HVN, has made cherry prints a mainstay for the A-list set all over the globe—like Lily Aldridge wearing the Jordan Dress (£490) above. Meanwhile, other new brands are coming to our attention thanks to this juicy trend: Take the Colombian jewellery designer Mercedes Salazar for starters—influencers like Man Repeller’s Leandra Medine can’t get enough of her Carmen Miranda ready earrings.
Clearly a raw diet and green smoothies just aren’t cutting it—the fashion pack want to wear as well as eat their five a day (and they say they aren't bananas). So go through the gallery below to shop the tastiest pieces, from Other Stories to Prada.
Your new five a day?
For the part-time trend hunters out there, this is a subtle take.
Ganni’s fruity tees have the street set’s approval.
Make the most of strawberry season with these diamanté-studded danglers.
Delicious stuff from Gucci.
When life gives you lemons, just hope they’re on a fabulously flattering piece from Aeryne.
Pinning this paste cherry brooch onto denim jackets will satisfy sweet tooths.
Frills + fruit = our dish of the day.
Designer makeup bags can easily be regular bags.
You could say these are very appealing.
This printed pineapple smock from Other Stories is ripe for remote island getaways.
The rarely spotted pear makes an appearance on Kayu’s embroidered straw clutch.
