Florals, frills and flounces swept the catwalk at the Brown Thomas spring show 2017 on Tuesday morning, a siren song to femininity highlighted by the lovely botanical backdrop of mimosa, genista, veronica and amaranthus arranged by Ruth Monaghan of Apassionata. You didn’t need to know about botany but it helped in decoding the creations from designers Dries Van Noten, Valentino, Celine and Peter Pilotto to the store’s newcomers like the Australians Zimmerman (white lace dresses with boned bodices), Maticevski (bright yellow balloon skirts) along with Magda Butrym (dark off the shoulder numbers) from Ukraine.

Each served up their own take on fairytale, sunshine frocks whether tiered, asymmetrical, boned, waisted or appliquéd and peppered with Victorian or 1980s references. Preen’s snakeskin and floral prints went a whole step further while cold shoulders – cut out, slashed or off the shoulder – were recurring motifs, particularly in blue and white shirty pin striped tops or dresses.

Pleats swung in there too – long colourful sunray pleated tents from Chloe or silvered pleated skirts from Victoria Beckham - but away from the ruffles and floral prints, some of the more outstanding items included a pale pink three piece ensemble from Givenchy comprising short coat and ruffled skirt (perfect for a summer wedding), a bird embroidered jacket by Stella McCartney (that could be used in a variety of ways) and a strapless, fitted black leather and tulle dress by Dior which closed the show.

Dior’s new director Maria Grazia Chiuri showed her strong hand at both tailoring and flounce with a black jacket topping a long sheer black pleated skirt, another show stopper and one easy to wear, nailing two trends, transparency and pleats, in one.

New takes on generic items like bomber jackets came from Coach and Balenciaga while Dolce & Gabbana’s jewel-encrusted jeans were a flashy offering compared to their more demure and alluring high necked ruffled dress in China blue print. Counterparts to all these feminine silhouettes were two outfits from Vetements, the label shaking up the fashion establishment; one, a bomber, hoodie and jeans in black denim and the other a tight fitting black denim skinny trouser suit, both straight from the street and not a flower in sight.