Last year, girlhood aesthetics firmly dominated our interiors. (Think: bows, ruffles, pink, and even dolls.) Yet in 2024, the bow seems to be all that remains as the most popular decorative motif. Particularly now as we indulge in the holiday season, everywhere you look there’s a bow. This is especially evident while perusing interiors on Instagram, where the bow is most prominently displayed as a Christmas tree topper, or scattered throughout branches in big bunches like little glittering gems.
It makes sense: Rather than a star or angel, a bow offers a touch of personality—and a DIY mentality—that a traditional Christmas tree topper might not. It’s distinctly feminine, pretty, and serves as a modern interpretation of traditional holiday decor. The best part? People who live and breathe the pink-coded, girly aesthetic (as well as anyone else looking for festive inspiration) are weaving holiday decorating into the aesthetic using items they already own. “While decorating my tree, I was looking around my room for a good topper with items that I already had, and I wanted to do something different from the typical star and angel tree topper,” says Camri Hewie, a New York City–based model and content creator. “I used this big pink bow hair clip from Emi Jay that worked perfectly. I was able to clip the bow on my tree as I would in my hair.”
Rebecca Hessel Cohen, founder of LoveShackFancy, chose ivory and bright white bows for her Christmas tree this year. Her topper of choice was a massive bow—the biggest she could find. “Bows are beautiful and make everyone happy, so what better time than the holidays to decorate everything in them,” Cohen insists. Along with the tree, bows can be found everywhere inside (and outside) the fashion designer’s West Village town house. “My youngest daughter, Stella, did this adorable video asking friends and family who came over to guess how many bows were all over the house, from the tree to the stairwell to the candlesticks—guesses ranged from 500 to 12,000, but the final number is unknown,” she adds.
The bow-topped tree trend stems from the aforementioned girlhood aesthetic, but it also aligns with the cottagecore and coquette-ified interiors that dominated our social media feeds during the pandemic. But more importantly? It’s about personal style. And while home decor has come a long way when it comes to aligning with personal style, holiday home decor really does still feel like the final frontier. When shopping for the season, it can feel almost impossible to find things that don’t verge on totally traditional or uniform in style.
This is where bows can serve as a North Star, inspiring an abundance of creativity. While big red bows are classic when it comes to holiday decor, many people are using bows in their own unique ways. Just look at New Jersey–based interior designer Paige Kontrafouris, who designed a tree inspired by Wedgwood China by mixing actual china pieces with ribbons and bows for ornaments. She also designed another tree referred to as “toile le trash,” which involved wallpaper scraps, recycled ribbons, and branches from her own yard.
