Bows have made it off gift boxes and into our cupboards, shoe closets, handbags, nail designs, vanity products, kitchen apparatus…the list is truly endless. Absolutely anything your consumerist mind can concoct, we bet it’s available in a bow-coded avatar – For the right price of course. And this is a reality you either love or loathe. Because one thing’s for sure, there’s something utterly girlish about bows, and this presented the entirety of its context till it blew up in the possession of women with adult money and the rest was history. So much so that we’re positive about it being literally impossible to reach bow fatigue. And if you keep reinventing it based on your vibes for the day – that statement is less an assumption and more a fact. We expand your horizons this International Bow Day with the anything-but-humble aesthetic group.

This is the most obvious takeaway but many struggle to incorporate this element into their looks without feeling a tad bit childish. Nothing like it if that’s what you’re going for, but if you’re dressing up in bows and would very much like to look like you walked off a Parisian vision board on Pinterest, there’s a way to go about it. The trick here is restraint, but with intention. Think a pronounced bow clip embellishing your blow-dried, half-up-half-down hair; a well-tailored dress with no defining detail except for a boatneck fashioned as a bow or even cinching your waist at the bare back; or even simple – a ribbon tied into a bow at the side of the neck. In these instances the bow turns into the finishing touch, albeit a supremely-defining one. Structured fabrics and clean silhouettes work best for this aesthetic, as do classic colours such as black, ivory, navy and burgundy, though a lovely pastel if styled right can never go wrong.

Also Read: Shine-Maxxing is In! Why Everything from Your Face to Your Wardrobe is Getting Rhinestoned

This is where you start having fun with the knot because you’re taking it out of the restrictive box its been put in. The trick here, is to go for a slightly undone look. The sophistication that a bow is typically associated with collapses in such a set up, gleefully opening it up to interpretation. Think a satin bow worn with a leather jacket, a ribbon threaded through messy, undone hair, the laces on a pair of chunky black boots switched out with satin pink ribbons fastened into a bow, patchworked bows on to distressed denim – you can literally run amuck with this and will be truly surprised how versatile the bow really is.

Also Read: Alexandra Leclerc is Turning Pregnancy into the Prettiest Pinterest Fantasy

Having the bow work the field beyond the hair and the clothes is where you test your compatibility with it. It’s like taking the motif out on a few dates before deciding whether you want to take it to the next level. Start small and necessarily with accessories – delicate bow-shaped rings, earrings or pendants are a shoo-in as it nail art; for the latter, you can either go for 3D embellishments or simply have them neatly painted on to your tips. Shoes tend to come in just before you decide to go full-throttle, adding bows to your hair and clothes.

A small bow detail on a ballet flat, a ribbon-like fastening on a slick pair of heels, a Mary Jane strapped in with a bow or the ribbons on a sneakers knotted to perfection – once you’re here, you’ll be googling bow dresses before you even know it.

Welcome to girlhood – there’s a bow for everyone!