Motifs: Horses

Despite my fascination with the furry legs of Clydesdale horses when I visited Busch Gardens over a decade ago and an army of My Little Ponies as a toddler, I was never a girl that wanted a pony.  The number of times I've actually been on a horse can be counted on one finger, and while it was fun for the day, my desire to have a horse still remains minimal. 

However, somehow I've developed a fascination with prints featuring horses and carousels.  Go figure.

It all began with my first order from Taobao- this dress from Rose Melody.  This dress is also responsible for my obsession with OPs, but I digress.  At the time it was a (far less elegant) replacement for my first dream dress, Merry-Go-Around by Innocent World. 

While I still have not managed to obtain this dress (if you're selling it, contact me?) I did manage to purchase the skirt version. 

Printed on chiffon, the Innocent World's carousel is quite elegant and intricately detailed while only utilizing two colours.

At PMX I purchased my third horse print, the Gertrude JSK in blue.

While it breaks away from the carousel theme, it has a very similar feel to it.

The print is once again on a flattened plane with the horses at strict profile, though this print has more of a sketchy quality to it.

I've joked making it a personal mission to deliberately collect horse related prints now, but it would be too expensive of an endeavor to ever seriously consider.  There's been quite a few released from different brands, and it's interesting to see how each approaches the same concept.

Angelic Pretty alone has a wide collection of prints with horses.  The first that comes to mind is the extremely popular Sugary Carnival.

I chose the black version to show the details better, since a lot of Angelic Pretty's pastel prints lack a lot of contrast, but personally I find the lavender the prettiest. 

There's also Starry Night Theatre, although I couldn't find a larger image or print detail.  The horses are much less prominent in it so you may have to squint.

Pony Applique, for simplicity's sake:

Probably my favourite of the bunch, Carnival from 2006.  It's old and expensive, but there are plenty of replicas floating around.

 

And then just recently, a couple more!

That was more than I anticipated, and I didn't even include a few of the rocking horse prints...

Metamorphose also has their own Merry Go Round dress:

And of course the recent Twinkle Journey... though they're technically pegasus...es.  I think Meta, being the innovative deviants that they are, deserve some credit for breaking profile format with having the mother pegasus twisted.  It's also the only one where the design extends beyond a single plane with an established fore and background.  So while it's not my favourite of the bunch, bravo for doing something a bit different.

Not wanting to be left out on the fad, Bodyline also produced a carousel print that's been quite popular and sold out rather quickly in everything but yellow.

So if you made it this far, which horse print is your favourite?  Did I forget any important ones?