13 Polka Dot Nail Ideas to Try for a Cutesy Manicure

Whoever is working on the PR team for polka dots deserves a round of applause. The retro print comes in and out of the trend cycle, but it’s having a well-deserved moment thanks to co-signs from designers like Stella McCartney and Miu Miu and It Girls like Devon Lee Carlson and Jennifer Lawrence. In the nail world, polka dots have always been present—if you couldn’t master hand-painted designs, you could at least figure out how to pop a little dot on your nail with a bobby pin or dotting tool.

However, like in fashion, more intricate polka dot nail art is dominating the trend cycle. It started when manis inspired by Jean Paul Gaultier’s clothes and art by Yayoi Kusama went viral, and the rest is manicure history. There’s a bunch of fun, polka dot nail art out there that even minimalists can get behind—and lucky for you, we rounded them all up in one place. Ahead, the best polka dot nail ideas to try.