How to Wear Mixed Prints and Patterns

Q:

Spring Trend How-To: Mixing prints and patterns is a top trend but how do I pull it off without looking like a lunatic escaping a fire?

I’ve been seeing reading all sorts of tips about how to mix prints but whenever I try to wear a combination of different prints, I always feel like a fashion disaster. I must look like a fashion mess as well since I feel like people look at me cockeyed.

Are there any styling tricks to combine different prints that I should know about to avoid looking like fashion victim?

Spring Trends: Print on Print at ShopBop

A:

It’s not that difficult to wear a combination of prints if you find the similarity in each piece that you want to mix.

While sometimes the result can look more than helter-skelter, including some of the runway combinations, there should be a bit of a glue to keep it all together.

Fashion tips to wear mixed prints:

  • The easiest way to mix prints is to remember to combine prints with the same or very similar background color, like black or any other neutral.
  • Then counter balance out the scale of each print. A large floral against a tiny floral of the same colorations.
  • Keep to a similar theme of patterns. A safari-themed flora and fauna combination accented by a small leopard print.
  • Pick up a detail in the bolder allover print. This is usually a no-brainer when the designer does it for you but you can combine an all-over print with something that just has touch of it’s pattern as the focal point on a more solid article of clothing.
  • Use accessories to do the mixing. Pair a solid or very muted print with bolder accessories, like a scarf or patterned shoes to add some interest.

Never forget that no matter how on-trend or fashionable something may be, if you don’t feel right about wearing it, it is the making of a fashion disaster.

Sometimes it’s easier to wear mixed-prints when the designer combines it for you. Take a look:

 

 

Photos:catwalking

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