Polka Dots Go Uptown: The Manicure Trend Trading Kitsch for Composure

The polka dot has left the playground and found its way onto the manicure tables of Palm Beach, where nail artists are trimming the pattern down to its barest form. Instead of the crowded, candy-colored dot work of seasons past, the look now favors a single spare dot, or a quiet scattering of them, set against a bare or barely-there polish. It reads less like novelty and more like restraint, the kind of detail that holds up next to a good hem or a clean cuticle line. Consider it proof that even a shape this playful can be taught some manners.

With reporting from Elle.