Mix & Match
How can you pair together unthinkable pieces and achieve an unexpected yet perfectly balanced effect?
Being able to match the pieces in your wardrobe in a new manner playing with colors and prints is an art that can be learned but that necessarily also passes through daring experimentations and inevitable mistakes.
What better opportunity then than the time spent at home to get out of our comfort zone and become familiar with daring combinations without the fear of looking like a fool?
Here are some tips to match different prints. A compass to get started:
1. A decorative pattern (flowers, leaves, animal prints) is best matched with a geometric pattern (stripes, checks).
2. Two similar motifs (geometric or decorative) must instead play on scales of different sizes.
3. The two patterns must have at least one color in common (the same or graded).
Obviously for pros all the rules can be broken and everything is allowed, but if you are at a beginner’s level, it is better to stick to these guidelines.
Step 1: the striped shirt
Forget the white or blue shirt and opt for a white & dark blue or white & grey or white & pink striped shirt. The effect is immediately more original.
We did that in look #1, in the shades of blue. The accessories, minimal in style, recall the white & black of the chevron of the trousers. The pro note is to break the balance adding a contrasting candy pink piece of outerwear.
Here (look #2), on the other hand, the flower print suit with shorts gets bolder thanks to the men-styled fuchsia striped shirt.
The shoes are flat, which adds a chic touch to short trousers, and the cherry-colored bag is in tone with the flowers of the print.
Step 2: the "false plain color"
Black and white can be considered a "false plain", that is, a motif that is almost a solid color when viewed from a distance, only more interesting, and, in the same way, we are keen to view the animal print.
In this way, we can pair it to another print, even in a totally different color, as in look #3. The jungle printed shirt in the shades of green creates a WOW effect with the black & white pleated skirt. The black & white stripe is so ‘neutral’ that we have dared to add a leopard print parka. The cream-colored bag featuring a super clean line is the relaxing element, as well as the strappy sandals that recall the tones of the shirt.
Being a “false plain color”, the zebra printed shorts (look #4) are matched with a flower printed shirt and the micro houndstooth, another “false plain color”.
Here the game is all played around the different black and white motifs, accessories included. The disruptive element, which creates harmony, is the touch of yellow of the top flowers.
The same holds true also for the animal print shirt (look #5) that is here paired to a geometric patterned skirt with vaguely tribal echoes.
The animal printed bag plays on a bigger scale while raffia shoes recall the ethnic theme. The disruptive element here is the leather jacket that, taking up the black of the skirt, adds an unexpected rock touch.
We have dared a lot. And you? Are you ready to mix & match?