Fashion is a form of expression. It is a way to mix and match garments in a way that communicates your mood and personal style. Still, it can feel like a chicken-and-egg story. You wear the clothes you feel like, but you may also end up feeling like your clothes.
If you’ve ever felt a little perkier when wearing a brightly colored dress over a pair of high-quality women’s leggings or experienced a wave of nostalgia when pinning your favorite brooch to your lapel, you can thank your clothes for that.
Clothing can have an effect on how people feel, so if you want to improve a bad mood or feel energized for the day ahead, it’s a good idea to pick a color and style that reflect that outlook. For the spring and summer seasons, you may want to consider adding a print (or two) to your wardrobe for a fresh and contemporary look. Here are eight ways to get started!
Make the Pattern Your Clothing
The simplest way to experiment with patterned clothing is to make the print your entire outfit. Consider a dress or jumpsuit that features a pattern you love, and then work around that with minimalist shoes and accessories.
Since your print comprises most of your outfit, it becomes easier to select other items that allow it to remain the focus. Remember that less is usually more, so refrain from matching your outfit with other patterned accessories.
Find Prints You Love
If you want to start with something more comfortable, especially if you’ve never worn patterns before, go with a print that you love and select smaller items with that pattern, such as earrings or sandals.
Eventually, you will become more confident with wearing prints, and you can start exploring other ways to incorporate them into your clothing. Keep in mind that even the most expensive outfits can look cheap if you don’t wear them with confidence. So, wear items that you love, and they will always be stylish.
Start with Small Items
You don’t have to go all out at once. These days, you can find highly affordable and stylish patterned leggings, tights, socks, jackets, and almost any other piece of clothing to match your subdued outfit. Start with something simple at first, whether that’s just a single heart on a pair of socks or an understated checkered pattern along the hem of a jacket.
Work from One Pattern to the Next
While some patterns complement each other, you don’t have to wear all of them if you’re not comfortable. In general, most patterns work well with almost any solid piece. If you’re wearing a zebra-patterned blouse, for example, try toning it down with denim shorts or plain black trousers.
Try Different Materials
Patterned clothing is not limited to just florals or geometric patterns. They also include different materials and designs that add depth and dimension to your wardrobe.
Try styling an outfit around an edgy camo jacket or thinking of pieces that would work well with a red velvet dress. When you expand your closet to include all sorts of patterns and materials, your possible outfit combinations will become endless.
Slowly Build Up to Mixing Patterns
Once you feel a little bit more confident, you can ease your way into mixing different prints and patterns in a single outfit. The best way to do this is to select similar patterns, prints within the same color scheme, or both.
An example would be pairing a floral top with sandals that feature another type of floral print. Wear them with solid-colored bottoms to separate the two different prints. As before, start slowly and work yourself out of your comfort zone, one outfit at a time.
Match Busy Prints with Staples
Feeling more daring and want to try a busy print? The best way to pull off this look is to match it with staples, such as a white cotton button-down shirt or a black A-line skirt. It’s a simple and easy trick to balance your outfit and make you feel like you’re on the runways of Paris with your fabulous outfit. As a rule of thumb, try to keep colors in the same color scheme for a more cohesive look.
Be Season-Agnostic
Style knows no season, so there’s no reason why your outfits should be confined to them as well. As you transition to your spring wardrobe, you can still adopt certain pieces from your winter collection.
For example, you can pair your animal print mini skirt with sheer black tights or layer a paisley dress with a heavier winter cardigan. Don’t be afraid to maximize your entire wardrobe when experimenting with patterned clothing.
Final Thoughts
Above all else, it’s good practice to wear what makes you feel like your most confident and beautiful self!
It would do you no good to have a beautifully stylish outfit if you kept tugging at it or fidgeting. Likewise, comfort should not be an excuse to not try a busy pattern. If you’ve always wanted to pull off polka dots but never had the gumption to do so, then go for it! You never know until you try.
At the end of the day, wearing patterned clothing should always make you feel great. So, turn heads this spring with a fashionable outfit paired with a light heart, a great smile, and a whole bunch of happiness!
Images and videos courtesy of Mikhail Nilov – Pexels
