Real vs. Fake: Which Boutonniere Flower is More Stylish?

At first glance, many might have a negative impression of artificial flowers. After all, when it comes to their use in interior design, they might conjure up images of something in doctor’s offices or your great-aunt’s sitting room. When it comes to boutonnieres, though, a faux flower might actually be a better choice than a natural bloom! Read on to discover the pros and cons of each.

Boutonnieres are a popular topic here at the Gentleman’s Gazette. In fact, we’ve produced numerous posts on how they are made, how to select the right ones for your outfit, how to wear them, and we even sell a variety of faux models at the Fort Belvedere shop! But, today, we’re going to take a step back to answer the broader question of whether or not you should even consider wearing a faux flower in the first place.

The faux flowers of Emilio Robba, for instance, can set you back quite a bit of money and cheap artificial flowers from China look just that – cheap. So, these higher-quality artificial blooms can be viewed more positively and, indeed, they are getting a bit of a reappraisal these days.

You may be interested to learn that artificial flowers weren’t universally reviled in history either. In antiquity, artificial flowers could be found in the palaces of Imperial China and Louis XIV’s courtiers are said to have placed silken blossoms atop their bed canopies. And various firms have been making high-quality silken blossoms for use as boutonnieres since at least the 19th century.

Indeed, the offerings at Fort Belvedere, which are made from 100% silk or high-quality 100% cotton velvet, are produced by a company that has been around since the 19th century. Artificial flowers do have their history then, including for use as boutonnieres. 

However, artificial materials of all types have uses in history, too. Indeed, people used to put faux marble in the interiors of their homes. So, just as you might want to get real marble for your home, why wouldn’t you want to wear a real flower? Read on to learn about how it stacks up against faux flowers!

Real vs Fake Boutonniere Flowers – Pros & Cons

In order to help you make an informed decision, let’s go over the pros and cons of both natural and artificial boutonniere flowers.

Natural Flower Pro (There’s Just One!): It Looks Alive & Vibrant

The big (and only) advantage of a natural flower for a boutonniere is that it will have the look of something real, living, vibrant, and fresh.

With that one big pro out of the way then, what you’re left with is a relatively long list of cons for natural flowers.

Natural Flower Cons: 1. Looks and Longevity

In general, the disadvantages of real flowers can be broken down into four categories: how they look, how long they last, the convenience of getting them, and how much they cost.

So, let’s starts with looks and longevity. First of all, can anything surpass the natural beauty of a real flower?

Probably not. But, the fact of the matter is if you wear one as a boutonniere, it’s not going to look fresh even after a few hours, let alone all day. Why is this? Well, after a flower is cut from its roots, it will start to dry out. The petals are going to droop, the color will lose its vibrancy, and by the end of the day, you’ll be left with something that looks dead because, after all, it is. 

Furthermore, a natural flower may actually be too heavy for your lapel, and it won’t present attractively with its petals spread out. In fact, you may end up seeing more of the side of the bloom – in botanical terms, the sepal and peduncle – than you do of the actual petals themselves. And, as we all know, it’s never a good idea to be out in public with your peduncle exposed.

For example, let’s take a look at a real rose. Real roses will typically have rather large thick stems, which may be difficult to get through your lapel’s buttonhole. If you do manage to do it though, you’re still going to see more of the side of the flower and not so much of its beautiful top. You can try to bend the stem of the flower to see more of the top, but it will still likely be too large and stand away strangely.

You may then wonder, “Can’t I just pin the flower to the front of my lapel? After all, I’ve seen it commonly at weddings and on other stylish gents like Boardwalk Empire’s Nucky Thompson?” The fact of the matter is that a well-dressed gentleman will never “pin” a boutonniere flower to the front of his lapel as it really is a sign of poor taste.

In the case of weddings, you’ll often see this taken to an even greater extreme, where what many of the groomsmen have pinned to their lapels resembles more of a miniature bouquet than a boutonniere. This is also a faux pas as a boutonniere should ultimately be just one element of your outfit that’s providing visual interest in a way that isn’t overpowering but rather working harmoniously with your other elements.

So, a proper boutonniere flower should be a single bloom or, perhaps, a grouping of very small blooms that has a stem secured on the reverse of the lapel by a keeper loop or a safety pin.

You might also say, “I’ve seen stylish gents through history like Cary Grant, Noël Coward, or the Duke of Windsor wearing boutonnieres that were probably real flowers. So, how did they do it?”

Well, it is possible to wear a real flower in a somewhat stylish way, but it takes a bit of time and effort to prepare the flower. The green, wide underside of the blossom has to be removed first, by hand or with a small knife, and then, there are probably going to be some loose petals. So, you’ll need to remove a few. After excess bulk has been removed, the blossom will need to be taped with florist tape so it stays together and can be angled properly.

Most florists in the US, probably, won’t know how to do this at this point as it is something of a lost art. So, either you’ll need to find an experienced florist or try to do it yourself as we’ve done here. This, of course, is a lot of time and effort for a boutonniere that, again, you can only wear for a single day, not any longer.

In fact, to source the real carnations and roses we used in this guide, we did have to take the time to go to both a florist and a grocery store, which was certainly less than convenient. In either case, this is going to be quite a bit of time and effort for a bloom that you’re only going to get maximal use out of for a few hours anyway.

As you can see in the photo below, we were able to do an adequate job with the real carnation that we sourced. But still, it doesn’t present as attractively as one of our Fort Belvedere carnations and I would probably need more practice in order to master this.

Remember, too, that when going to a florist, you may have limited options in terms of size, so you might end up with something too large for your lapel.

Also in the realm of looks, a real flower’s petals might stain your lapel or they could spread pollen, which brings us nicely into our next category.

2. Lack of Convenience

Whether the bloom you’ve chosen still has a fair amount of pollen inside it or not, be aware that others around you could be allergic to the type of flower you’ve chosen, which could lead to an unsavory or unsafe social situation.

The other big factor of inconvenience is one we’ve alluded to already, that since natural flowers are essentially single-use, you’re going to have to go to a florist each time you want to get a new one.

You could also resort to growing your own flowers for boutonnieres, but you’d still have to deal with some of the other preparation issues we’ve already outlined and you probably won’t want to hack your garden to pieces either.

3. Cost (You’ll Spend More Over Time!)

The fact of the matter is using real flowers for boutonnieres isn’t exactly cheap as a florist might charge anywhere from $10 to $20 for a single bloom, and this can add up over a lifetime.

Furthermore, there’s always the chance that you might get upsold and end up with one of those miniature bouquets on your lapel rather than an elegant single flower or small grouping.

So, you can decide for yourself whether or not a real flower for a boutonniere is worth it to you. But, as you can see, the list of cons is quite long.

Your Alternative: Artificial Flowers

Of course, there are artificial flowers, as we’ve clearly outlined, and these do come in a few different types.

First, there are those that are made out of fabric and aren’t even made to look like a natural flower, but, really, are more of ornamentation akin to a lapel pin. These will often have simple pin-backs or short metal stems. And while they can work in some situations if they’re small and understated, they’re best left to more modern fashion-forward contexts.

Alternatively, you may see artificial boutonnieres that have buttons on the back, allowing you to simply button them through your lapel buttonhole.

This, of course, leaves us with higher-quality boutonnieres such as the ones made available in the Fort Belvedere shop. The flowers themselves are intricately made by hand from 100% cotton or 100% silk with no nylon or polyester, and the stems are made from metal wire and wrapped in 100% silk thread.

We’re quite proud of the flowers we offer, but in the interest of fairness, we will go over their own list of pros and cons as well.

Faux Flower Pros: 1. It Has Different Sizes

We, of course, have a wide array of different colors and styles of flower, and they come in different widths.

These can harmonize with your lapel as a small bloom may look a bit odd on an especially large lapel, and a larger flower is going to look out of place and gaudy on a skinny lapel.

2. Longevity

Perhaps the biggest pro of our boutonnieres though is their longevity. They’re never going to wilt and you can wear them over and over again for years. If you use the sturdy Fort Belvedere box that the boutonnieres come in to store them, they can be kept safe and secure and you can even travel with them this way as well.

Of course, they are delicate handmade items, so you shouldn’t do anything too reckless like take a 3-hour walk when it’s pouring outside, hug 30 people every day, or wear a heavy overcoat that will crush your boutonniere. But, if you behave responsibly with them, they should last you for years to come.

You’re also not going to lose any petals with our Fort Belvedere boutonnieres. A bit of a story here is that Raphael wore a real orchid on his lapel on his wedding day. But, over the course of the day, petals started falling off. If he had designed orchids from Fort Belvedere to wear at that time, he wouldn’t have had any issues.

3. Numerous Style Options

In terms of choice, you can find close to a hundred different styles of boutonniere in the Fort Belvedere shop. So, you could, for example, buy several and then take them on a vacation or a cruise with you and wear a different option each night.

In terms of cost, a single boutonniere from Fort Belvedere costs $35, which we’re aware isn’t exactly cheap. However, remember that what you’re getting is a high-quality, handmade item from Germany that comes in a sturdy box.

As with other items in the Fort Belvedere shop, you can get got bulk discounts. So, if you buy three boutonnieres, you’ll get them for just $30 apiece including free shipping in the Continental US. And if you buy more, the price will go down even further per boutonniere.

Faux Flower Cons: It May Look Unnatural Up-Close 

Other than having to take into consideration your own budgetary concerns, the only major thing that we’d list here is that you might be able to see that they’re not real from just a few inches away if you’re looking very closely.

However, speaking from personal experience, onlookers have almost always thought that my Fort Belvedere boutonnieres are real when I wear them and will ask me so, and Raphael has had much the same experience.

We’ve designed our boutonnieres with care to look as realistic as possible and, for most people, they will genuinely look real.

Slight Con: Artificial Flowers Won’t Smell Like Real Ones

Another potential con of an artificial boutonniere may be that it doesn’t have the pleasant scent of a fresh flower. But, this is really secondary to appearance and we think it’s far outweighed by the other concerns we’ve highlighted today, especially those like allergies.

Conclusion

At the end of the day then, the choice of what to wear for a boutonniere is ultimately yours. But, you can see why we here at the Gentleman’s Gazette are big fans of artificial boutonnieres. 

Assuming you buy one of high quality, it’s going to look 99% like a real flower, have a much lower cost per wear, and simply be more convenient. You won’t need to worry if your local florist has boutonnieres or spend the time to go get them. In other words, peace of mind is another big reason why these artificial boutonnieres are the winners in our book.

So, if you are now curious about artificial boutonnieres, head over to the Fort Belvedere shop, take a look at our selection, and, perhaps, even compare them to the offerings of your local florist. We’re confident that you’ll enjoy them as much as we do.

And, of course, if you don’t, feel free to return them for a full refund at zero risk to you. We’re confident that you’ll like our product and we do stand behind it. Does your local florist offer that kind of a happiness guarantee? You’ll have to find out for yourself.

Hopefully, we’ve convinced you, then, that if you take the time to seek out quality an artificial flower is nothing to scoff at when it comes to boutonnieres and, indeed, may actually be the better choice in the long run.

Outfit Rundown

I’m wearing an outfit with an orange and green color palette. One element of which is my boutonniere. It, of course, is one of our offerings from Fort Belvedere, and it is the mini green carnation, which we’re calling the Oscar Wilde carnation boutonniere. This mini carnation is a good size for my smaller lapel and also harmonizes well in color with my shirt, which features a microgrid pattern of lime green on white ground.

My herringbone sport coat features primarily tones of gray and black in its weave but does also have flecks of brown and green upon closer inspection. My trousers are plain brown, and my shoes are two-toned wingtip Oxford spectators featuring tan leather and fabric inserts also in herringbone to harmonize with my jacket.

While the shoes originally came with bright red laces that I thought were quite loud, I’ve substituted some laces from Fort Belvedere in grey into them to harmonize better with the colors of the herringbone fabric.

Other Fort Belvedere accessories include my grenadine tie in wool and cashmere and in colors of orange and gray, my two-tone shadow-striped socks in medium brown and green, and my pocket square, which is in a dark bronze matter silk featuring a diamond motif and paisleys in red and green.

You can find all of the Fort Belvedere accessories I’m wearing, including the tie, pocket square, socks, and shoelaces, as well as the boutonniere, of course, along with a wide variety of other styles, in the Fort Belvedere shop.

Would you choose a faux flower over a natural one for boutonnieres, too? Let us know in the comments!