Move over naked manicures: this festive season, we’re back to having a bit of a fun with our nail designs. Enter plaid nails, a trend that feels both cozy and chic, seasonal and statement-making.
The fall is ripe for thematic and timely nail trends. We’re left behind the summery shades of sherbet, soap nails, and classic French manis to make way for the autumnal cozy color wheel of deep wine red, burnt orange, and chocolate brown, with the more adventurous (and skilled of hand) among us testing out foliage nails, abstract lines, and foodie decals.
Plaid nails more than fit the vibe, inspired by heritage prints and textured knits we’ll be wrapping ourselves up in for the foreseeable. It’s sleek but striking, a combo of criss-crossed stripes in various lengths and widths. While you can go totally classic, plaid nails are also completely customizable, with lots of opportunity to get creative and add your own personal spin with the colors and line styles you or your nail tech paints on. Maybe your plaid nails come in that familiar curation of burgundy, cream, and navy blue, or you mix it up with lilacs and pinks.
The preppy trend has long been permeating fashion, where there’s been no escaping the scholarly tropes of collegiate knit sweaters, check kilts, loafers, and classic trench coats. Think Michael Rider’s cinched Argyle knits in his Resort collection for Celine, Ralph Lauren’s ever-enduring allegiance to check, and The Row’s own selection of knits. It was only a matter of time before the school of prep swept beauty too—be the best student in class, and match your next set to your polo and skirt.
Kylie Jenner looked to her go-to nail artist, Zola Ganzorigt, for her own striped manicure this week. Ganzorigt—who is always first on the trends or coining them herself, a la Hailey Bieber’s glazed donut nails—opted for a colorful selection, with each long, almond-shaped plaid nail in a different combo: One chocolate and butter yellow, one lilac and moss green, one inky blue and gray.
Baltimore-based nail artist @nailology.101’s plaid nails take a more cool-toned approach, with a silvery base and gradient stripes in forest green, icy blue, and red—they look expensive. Sarah Brezel showed off a colorful but classic palette, pairing plum and lilac, moss green and navy, deep cherry red and burnt orange.
How will you be styling your own plaid nails for fall? Whatever your aesthetic, if you’re embracing prep, be sure to prep your nails accordingly with a good shaping, cuticle tidy, and strengthening base coat. Start with a neutral base polish to make your design pop like a true plaid, and keep a super steady hand for that intricate striping. Go forth, prepsters!
