The Christmas Tree Topper of the Year? A Bow.
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Photo: Belathée Photography
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.
“I love how bows bring an unexpected element when it comes to decorating,” Knotrafouris says. “I am a big fan of using unconventional items for holiday decorating, which allows you to repurpose a lot of what you already have. As a designer, I often hear from people that they don’t enjoy decorating for the holidays because they don’t like the traditional red and green color schemes, but you don’t have to stick to a traditional color palette.”
For people like Hewie, putting a big pink bow on a tree means finally getting to have a Christmas that aligns with their own aesthetic. “I feel that most people decorate their trees with the traditional red and green, candy-cane, angel-topper theme. That’s what I remember my family Christmas trees looking like while growing up,” she explains. “I’ve always adored the color pink and everything girly, so I love having my own space to now decorate my tree in the way that I would want. Adding items like pink bows, ribbon, swans, and ballet shoes are some of my favorite ways to elevate a tree while adding my own personal touch. I personally believe there’s nothing better than a pink Christmas.”
Likewise, for content creator Samantha Klein, bows naturally fit into her vintage maximalist-themed Los Angeles home. “This year, I found the most amazing vintage inspired Art Deco tree lights and knew the bows would be the perfect complement,” she says. “As a bow lover and vintage enthusiast, I’m always a fan of any trend that puts a fun retro spin on holiday decor. Bows can also be extremely versatile; there’s so many sizes, colors and textures you can choose.”
Klein suggests using ribbon to get a totally custom look by way of DIY’ing. “Buy some velvet ribbon and get to work with your own at-home bow factory until every last inch of your tree is covered,” she adds. The fun thing about covering your tree in bows is that there’s no wrong way to do it, and you can go in pretty much any direction, whether you want something extremely girly and pink or more minimal and subdued.
Trends come and go, but the bow is everlasting. And as far as the holiday season is concerned, bows are thriving at the top of our Christmas trees, serving as the grand finishing touch to wrap up the festive season. So why not put a big bow on the top of your tree? It’s simply more fun that way.
Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
