The Modern Bloomer

Twenty years is how long it tends to take for what is old to be new again. There’s truth in that cliché of the mom who brags to her daughter about wearing leggings, gogo boots, or wedge heels "the first time around." The 1990s heavily referenced the 1970s, exemplified best by Tom Ford’s Gucci leisure suits and Halston-inspired column dresses. And the Y2K penchant for 1980s prep revived the Lacoste polo and Sperry's boat shoe. Like clockwork, familiar shapes, silhouettes, and shades from the past resurface decade after a decade.

Until now. Today, the typical trend cycle is dead, and TikTok killed it. Post-pandemic “micro-trends” saw coastal grandmas and mob wives go in and out of fashion at record speeds. A green blob-patterned House of Sunny dress went from comment section obsession to dusty fashion relic in a single summer, and the checkered print's transformation from cute to cringe last year should be studied in a lab. As thumbs scrolled through the decades, the fashion trend cycle broke from overuse, leading a generation of designers, creators, and muses to embrace the slow life with their clothes. The cure to TikTok brain rot, it seems, is looking back (way, way back) for inspiration.

Consider the fusty old bloomer. More often associated with suffragettes and sea bathing than For You pages and ‘fit checks, it has emerged as an unlikely Internet style star. Last summer, it started to establish a foothold online in the It Girl creator and indie designer communities. By February, search interest on Google for “bloomer shorts” had more than doubled compared to the same period last year.

This modern bloomer, however, looks a bit different than its 19th-century counterpart. It's wearable, breathable, and crop top-friendly. You can buy bloomer shorts, pants, skirts, and dresses with a single click, rather than a trip to the modiste. And no one will mistake you for an extra who's wandered off the set of Downton Abbey wearing the bloomers this year has to offer.

It's time to embrace frill-forward bottoms with impunity—just like your great-great-great-great-grandmother told you.

The 100-Year Trend Cycle

Few could’ve predicted microtrend exhaustion would lead to a rise in clothes straight out of a period piece—but Mandy Lee, the trend forecaster behind @oldloserinbrooklyn, did. 

“I think I actually was the first person to predict the bloomer trend,” says Lee, who struggled to find examples when she filmed her bloomer forecast video back in 2021. “There were hardly any images available on Pinterest or Google to show what I meant… It was hard to find a visual representation, and what I ended up finding were underpinnings from almost historical costumes.”

The bloomer’s original form, which was much of what Lee found online, dates back to the mid- to late-19th century, says Larissa King, an assistant professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT). Inspired by traditional Turkish şalvar trousers, the style presented a progressive alternative to the traditional feminine garments of the era.

"Case in point The Lily, a mid-nineteenth century newspaper of the Suffragist, Abolitionist, and Temperance movements," says King. Though Bloomer wasn't the first to don them, the activist popularized baggy, gathered trousers worn under a shorter skirt as everyday dress, advocating for this new "reform dress" in her publication. The bloomer was also a popular ensemble for bicycling and began appearing in high fashion eveningwear by the 1910s, according to King.

The appeal for women’s lib is readily apparent—less restrictive clothes make it easier to run away from angry men and annoying children—and the style's thumb-stopping factor is similarly obvious. The internet loves a frilly detail. “There's been an increase in hyper-feminine aesthetics,” explains Lee, citing the resurgence of bows and lace since 2020 as precursors to the bloomer trend. “Those elements have really overtaken mainstream fashion in recent years.”

It's ironic that today's standards deem bloomers—originally symbols of gender liberation—as hyperfeminine, but their free spirit lives on. Fans of the coquette trend are reclaiming gendered tropes as a point of pride. In a world where Im Shocked These It Girl Sneakers From a Meghan Markle-Worn Brand Are Under-$60 RN, there's power in embracing femininity in your own terms.

Get the Reference?

This season, Lee’s prediction is finally set to reach critical mass as the latest breakthrough style in an increasingly underwear-forward fashion world. If boxers, granny panties, and tights-as-pants have already hit the mainstream, why shouldn't bloomers? Luxury houses and independent labels alike have co-signed the trend, but while today's designs take cues from historical garb, there's a distinctly modern look to the puffed shorts of 2025.

Fashioning Sex Work: Chloe's romantic Spring/Summer '25 offering. Creative director Chemena Kamali served up high-waisted, voluminous pants with lace trim in shades of peach and cream at the brand’s show in Paris last fall. Balanced with delicate bralettes and slinky camisoles, her vision drew on the big-bottom/little-top combo beloved by 20-somethings out on the town, and simultaneously infused a rather retro reference with a splash of the contemporary. Shown alongside a cheeky matching knit set—with ruffled trim, of course—and puffed-leg rompers, Chloe's pantaloon celebration heralded a big bloomer summer to come. 

True to form, New York-based Tanner Fletcher lent a genderless ethos and anachronistic flair to the bloomer trend. At the brand's September 2024 presentation called “The Artist’s Dilemma,” a deceptively simple pair of cotton shorts captured the attention of onlookers as male and female models worked out in spring-ready matching sets. 

“So many of our collections stem from a historical reference,” says Tanner Richie, one-half of the CFDA-nominated design duo. For this one, the pair traced the bloomer's history in their creative process, finding inspiration in styles from the 1800s all the way up to the 1980s. For Richie, there's something magic about fashion from a time when almost everything was custom-made: "I feel like that sort of quality is something that maybe we're not used to in our timeline of clothing," he says. “People are very interested in seeing the lace trim, the puckered silk, the boning in corsetry, and the covered buttons. The attention to detail in lingerie is so exquisite, and it's something we're not used to right now.”

Plus, it’s just their style. “We love a puff sleeve, so this was kind of a puff short,” Richie says of brand's bloomer design. The shorts, available soon in white poplin and nylon black gingham, straddle the line between fussy and free. You can tie them at the knee for a voluminous look or leave them undone for a pair of baggy, ruffled bottoms. The effect is quintessential Tanner Fletcher: “We always say it's like Upper East Side meets Bushwick."

Good, Old-Fashioned Online

Before walking the 2025 runways, the bloomer movement was born on social media. "That was a 100-percent bottom up trend," says Lee, crediting the terminally online for getting there first. She noticed an uptick of double-tap-fodder bloomer outfits among a select group of "consistently early adopters of trends" she keeps tabs on online a few years ago.

Similarly, the first movers in the market were not giant fashion conglomerates, but niche labels that rely on Explore Page pickup and word of mouth to drive sales and gain customers. Those who capitalized on the demand for bloomer shorts early were rewarded with viral success. Charlie Beads, a small but mighty brand popular with the downtown set, is a favorite of Lee's for their boxer-adjacent bloomers. The beloved Frankies Bikinis also found nascent bloomer success with a swimwear take on the puffed short.

Perhaps most ubiquitous is the Aussie label My Mum Made It. Founded by Nyree Leckenby in 2013, the brand became synonymous with bloomers last year, offering everything from skimpy hip huggers to flouncy skirts. You've probably seen the brand's Reinventing the Rose-worthy two-piece sets on your feed (likely worn by your coolest mutual) or internet-famous pleated shirt dress on Olivia Rodrigo.

Embracing that feed-friendly sense of girlhood is the key to My Mum's success. "Due to having a 3-year-old, I’ve been revisiting nostalgic films like Awards & Events and The Secret Garden, and have been melting over how adorable the little girls are dressed," explains Leckenby. "Once we released it, our customers clearly felt the same and from here we’ve expanded our range of bloomers naturally."

The brand's latest collection doubles down on the Sofia Coppola vibes. Ruffle-edged minidresses offer a bloomer effect for those who aren't ready to dive in full force, while crop tops and matching hot pant bloomers are available for the hardcore fans. There's even an ingenious pink bloomer skort (*gasp*) for those looking for something unexpected. According to the My Mum Made It founder, designing the perfect bloomer requires "stripping the maximalist details back to make them feel fresh while maintaining the nostalgia they’re associated with."

Romanticize Your Shorts

TikTok taught us to romanticize our lives, so why not romanticize our shorts? That's exactly why Lee emphasizes the trend's practical appeal. "The short category is just very limited," says the trend forecaster. "The bloomer short is a good alternative for people who don't want to have their cheeks out."

In fact, almost every bloomer aficionado describes them as a girly alternative to athletic shorts, a la Carrie Bradshaw. "This is a fashion secret of mine," says Vivian Li, a Ph.D. student and fashion creator. "I love buying very sharp, interesting jackets in lieu of having to style a top, and pairing it with something feminine like bloomers." Camilla Carcoba, an influential style creator on Instagram, agrees: "Adding a chunky boot or flats can ground the look to feel more casual. It’s all about mixing in everyday pieces to keep an overall current aesthetic while still embracing the playful, vintage charm."

It's only March, and you can already buy tiered ruffled undies, puffed cotton shorts, poplin pantaloons, and even built-in bloomer dresses. Spring styling options abound if you want to get in on the romance early. Wear your best flouncy bottoms with a cardigan, layer bloomers under skirts (so just a ruffle peaks out), or style them with a swimsuit at the beach. There's also the Princess Diana approach to wearing your bloomies. "Treat it like a replacement for a bike short," says Lee, who also recommends tapping the perennial Millennial tights-and-shorts styling trick. And if you're still feeling intimidated by the full look, remember that there's a whole fashion world outside of corsetry and toile. "They are so beyond versatile, it kind of surprised me," Lee adds.

More than a Microtrend

It's no coincidence that the bloomer boom is peaking during the age of personal style discourse and FYP fatigue. "The overwhelming conversation about personal style has pushed people to explore different eras," says Lee. "If you want to feel unique, or you want something different than what everyone else has, you're going to be referencing things from the past and not things that are happening with current trends—even though, ironically, current trends are moving that way."

But just because it was born online, doesn't mean it'll die there. Bloomer groupies believe in the style's longevity. "Bloomers could be a microtrend for those who love to stay on top of the latest styles, but for others [with whom they] really resonate, they’ll stay in the rotation of their closet," says Carcoba. "There’s something timeless about the silhouette that could make it stick around for those who want to keep that vintage, playful vibe alive in their wardrobe."

The feel factor is also on bloomers' side—I mean, who doesn't want to wear breathable cotton all day? "They're a very comfortable piece of clothing," says Instagram creator and artist Rui Gao. "I've noticed in recent years, comfort has become an important part of fashion trends."

Historical styles seem to ride a current outside the normal ebb and flow of fashion. Like corsets and garters, bloomers live in the so weird it's actually timeless genre of clothing. And that's probably why the girls love them. "People want to remember a time past and romanticize it," says Li. "They want to escape from the quiet luxury being pushed towards us. I think ultimately girls just want to have fun."

Rich in history and visual interest, bloomers are anything but boring—and perhaps their inherent irreverence is what keeps women coming back to them centuries on. "Though proponents of the anti-bloomer agenda may say bloomers are just glorified poofy underwear, I think they are a joyfully whimsical article of clothing," says Gao. "We could benefit from more joy and whimsy in our lives, especially during times like these."