Blogger Spotlight: Mixing Patterns and Prints

When mixing various patterns and textures it is very important to make sure the items selected are cohesive.  For this look I was going for a preppy theme. Normally for visual purposes I suggest 3 patterns. Photo’d above I selected plaid, pin strip and paisley. I added argyle in my sock selection just to give an additional element to the ensemble. The focus of this color story was to mimic traditional private school colors (red, green, navy and yellow). When selecting shirt and tie combinations make sure one piece is less dominant. In this case because the red and white strips (less dominant) are smaller and closer together almost giving the allusion of a solid shirt, I was able to add a larger print (dominant) paisley tie that fit within the same colors. To break up the bold plaid pants I added a solid navy vest. For additional styling, I added various accessories that compliant each other. When first starting in mixing patterns you may not want to go this bold, but try the occaional stripped shirt with a poka dot or pasley tie around the same colors and just see if you like the response you get! I mean you only live once, right?

Clothing: Navy double breast blazer- Goodwill; stripped shirt- H & M; paisley tie- thrift store; navy vest- thrift store; plaid pocket square- K & G Superstore; plaid pants- Tommy Hilfiger; argyle socks- Ralph Lauren; brown brogue wingtips- Goodwill ($7.00!!!)

Accessories: Fedora- 21 Men; Briefcase- thrift store; Bracelets/ Brown rosary beads- ALDO SHOES, tan lasso- extra small women’s belt from Forever 21 (get creative);  red rubber band- Wal-Mart; green woven braid- Urban Outfitters; large face brown watch- ALDO SHOES

As you can see you don’t have to spend a lot of money to be stylish.