Florence Welch Embraces Her Inner Mermaid on the Red Carpet

As one of pop music’s most individual style stars, Florence Welch has spent the past decade building a set of wardrobe staples that is unmistakeably, well, Florence—among them ’70s-inspired flared suits, bohemian batwing-sleeve dresses, and enough hats to start her own millinery store, should she wish. Over the past few years, she’s finally met her match in the fashion world, too, thanks to her ongoing collaborations with Alessandro Michele at Gucci. Whether she's starring in the brand’s jewelry campaign or walking hand in hand with Michele up the Met Gala steps in a beaded cape covered in birds, Welch has shown she shares the designer's love of fantastical style.

Last night, at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards in London, she proved once again why she’s the perfect Michele muse. She was dressed in a custom Gucci gown in flowy, pleated chiffon and accessorized with a simple purse that told a bigger story: a gilded, bejewelled clutch in the shape of a seashell. Of course, this isn’t the first time Welch has flirted with nautical references—who can forget her dramatic appearance at the Spring 2012 Chanel show, where she emerged from a giant clamshell in the guise of Botticelli’s Venus. But the subject of water and the sea is one Welch also returns to in her music, from her early B-side “Swimming” to her 2011 hit “What the Water Gave Me.” Trust Florence to take a classic, vintage-inspired gown and give it a very personal twist.

Originally Appeared on Vogue