The New York Times does nothing if not spot (and/or invent) trends, and this week it's pointed out one that's been walking New York's streets this Summer: young women dressed in floral skirts and dresses, lace-up boots, and messy secretary-bun hair. It's derivative, for sure, but is it imitating fundamentalist Mormons or Elaine Benes from Seinfeld?
The consensus, or the New York Times, says it's Elaine — the more empowering of the two. Julie Louis-Dreyfus, who played Elaine, says the show's goal was for her to look feminine but tough. Elaine "didn’t have girlfriends. She was one of the guys," Julia said. "It wasn’t about trying to look sexy. It was about looking like a girl who pushes people around.”
Considering a lot of the young women sporting the boxy-floral look now are too young to have watched Seinfeld in prime time, it's hard to write it off as nostalgia. Fingers point to the current revival of early-'90s fashion and music as its impetus, but also actress and designer Chloë Sevigny. Oddly enough, she plays a polygamist on Big Love. Maybe it is all connected?!
More likely, it's designer Chloë contributing to the trend. Her 2011 resort collection for Opening Ceremony takes the boxy look and shortens the hems, creating the updated Elaine. Maybe it wasn't intentional, but now that the NYT has called it out whatever comes next will be.
Photo courtesy NBC
If you're looking to get hair perfectly poufed, then you should look to the ladies of the FLDS and not the creatures of 
