This is the fourth set of May special dates and runs from the 16th to the 20th, and includes the following dates: 16th May National Piercing Day, 17th May International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia, 18th May International Museum Day, 19th May National Pizza Party Day; and 20th May World Bee Day.
As usual I’ve found a fashion picture related to each day, and also given a few shopping ideas for that theme. If you’d like to have a look at previous sets, there’s May Set 1 here, May Set 2 here, and May Set 3 here. There’s also a set of posts for April.
16th May: National Piercing Day (Ports 1961 SS2020)
National Piercing Day started in 2007 as an unofficial holiday to celebrate piercings, their cultural value, and the profession of piercers.
I chose this image of a model in Ports 1961’s SS2020 show for her piercings, although some designers feature piercings as a decoration, for example with Givenchy’s AW2015 show.
I found these really cute labret-style earrings, they’re available in both yellow and white gold, and if you’d rather have something that’s more of a statement earring, I also found these paperclip earrings – and they’re on sale as I write this.
17th May: International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia (Tomo Koizumi AW2023)
This day began as International Day against Homophobia in 2005 (after beginning as a concept in 2004), adding transphobia to the campaign name in 2009 and biphobia in 2015.
This look by Tomo Koizumi was the final piece in his AW2023 collection, which also featured a number of looks created from fabric provided by Dolce & Gabbana.
I stuck to the jewellery theme for this one, and I found some rainbow-themed bracelets and necklaces.
18th May: International Museum Day (Vivienne Westwood AW2021)
International Museum Day encourages people to visit museums, and every year there is a different theme for this holiday. This year the theme is “Museums, Sustainability and Well-being”.
The image was an easy choice – I was definitely going to use a look from a collection by Vivienne Westwood. While I was working there, there were a lot of pieces focusing on François Boucher’s Daphnis and Chloe – Vivienne Westwood referenced this painting in collections dating back to the 90s, but here it is on a dress in AW2021.
This season, there is a Boucher print swimsuit by Vivienne Westwood, and a number of other designers are also using artwork as prints in their designs.
Or you could buy from galleries and museums themselves.
National Gallery Shop
National Gallery Shop
19th May: National Pizza Party Day (Dolce & Gabbana SS2017)
The third Friday in May is National Pizza Party Day, and I’ve chosen this dress from Dolce & Gabbana’s SS2017 collection to represent the holiday.
Here’s some homewares that might help you with your own pizza party, just in case you decide to celebrate the holiday.
20th May: World Bee Day (Alexander McQueen SS2013)
Last up is World Bee Day, celebrated every year on the 20th of May. Alexander McQueen’s SS2013 show featured honeycomb prints and beekeeper-style hats.
Gucci also use a bee as a motif – it’s appeared quite a lot recently on accessories and footwear. It was first used by the brand in the 70s, then reintroduced by Alessandro Michele.