Mix ‘n Match

by lillipilli

Blouse: Harris Scarfe

Belt: Portmans

Skirt: Princess & Queen (via Etsy)

Shoes: Diana Ferrari

 

I actually really love the idea of pattern mixing, but it’s not something that comes naturally to me. I’m a bit of a matchy-matchy girl when it comes to getting dressed in the morning, and I don’t have that splendid innate ability that some women do of looking at two very disparate items of clothing, and understanding how they’ll work together.

It’s a shame, because I love my prints, but you’ll notice I never wear more than one patterned piece at a time. It’s not because I don’t think it looks good – my favourite fashion bloggers are masters at it (floral dress & polkadot tights! Genius!) – just that I haven’t figured it out yet. It doesn’t help that printed plus-size clothing has historically been so difficult to find, because it means I haven’t been able to turn to places like Fatshionista, Flickr or Tumblr for inspiration.

A week or so ago I read a blog post somewhere (and now of course I can’t find the ruddy thing to link to it) about pattern mixing for beginners, and they suggested baby steps like “match the colours”.

Recently I’d seen a woman on the street wearing a fantastic monochromatic outfit comprising of a full 50’s style skirt and a blouse. The skirt was black with white polkadots; the blouse white with black polkadots. It. Looked. Amazing. It also looked like something I’d be able to manage.

Combining that black-and-white aesthetic with the spots-and-stripes of pattern matching worked out pretty well, though I think I probably need to re-hem the skirt to a shorter length so the stripes don’t overwhelm the spots quite so much.

The skirt was custom-made for me by Princess & Queen on Etsy. It’s made of a thinnish cotton fabric and is pretty cheap ‘n cheerful, but it fits well, and the stripes aren’t wonky which is more than I can say for the striped skirts that I’ve attempted for myself!

 

 

 

 

33 thoughts on “Mix ‘n Match”

  3. Oh, I’m so flattered to be mentioned by you Lilli! You are one of *my* favorite bloggers as well, and one of my inspirations 🙂

    I think your pattern mix today is quite lovely, the matching colors is a good tip! My friend Shannon from Wardrobe Review wrote an amazing guide on pattern mixing actually, which is full of many good tips as well 🙂

    Reply

  6. Oohh, I have a skirt from DP’s that is very similar to yours. This post is giving me ideas! If only I had that darling blouse as well.

    Reply

  8. Great match. I’d even suggest keeping the skirt at its full length. It does not overwhelm the blouse pattern (in the photo anyway.) But I am a stripeophile, so I will always privilege the stripe when possible!

    Reply

  9. Lovely! I think you’ve done an excellent job of pattern mixing-they balance each other well and it still looks polished. I like the skirt the length it is-dont think it overwhelms the blouse at all!

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.