A Guide to Mixing Patterns
Okay chicas, it's time to discuss a topic CLOSE to my heart. Maybe it's the crazy London punk scene that I grew in as a child or my obsession with Boy George and the Culture Club, but I have been wearing the pattern mixing trend for as long as I can remember. Mix-matched socks, a tiara plus bows, striped skirt and polka dot tops; I have always dressed to the beat of my own drum.
Fast-forward 30+ years and the pattern mixing trend is now the cool thing to do. 'Punky Brewster-style' is here to stay and I'm gonna give you a few tips on how to get it right!
Rule #1-Stay within the same color scheme. If you are wearing a blue/green/orange combo on top, try to match it with a similar combination on bottom.
Rule #2-Stick with similar hues/color intensity. If you're wearing pastels on top, make sure you're wearing pastels on the bottom. This is especially true for my apple and pear shaped ladies. The mixing of neons, pastels, warm and cool colors can cause chaos to your silhouette throwing your shape all off
Rule #3-Wear prints of different scales. Do not walk out of your house completely covered in miniature polka dots. You will look like you have the chickenpox! Neither do you want to walk out of the house covered from head to toe in huge daisies. No bueno. Instead, if you are a pear shaped (narrow top, wider bottom), wear your bolder print on your top half to bring the eye upwards. If you have an apple figure (wider top, narrow bottom), wear your bolder print on your lower half to bring your eye downwards. If you are an hourglass, play with the print. You may find that you have a preference.
Rule #4-When all else fails, have fun. Many times, we get so caught up in the perceived "fashion rules" that we forget that fashion is an expression of our individual personality. Throw something together and if it doesn't work, it doesn't work. Keep on working on creating your individual personal style and you'll stumble on a one-of-a-kind masterpiece suitable for Vogue ;-)
Besos,
Dionne