PATTERNS AND PRINTS

• Characteristics of PATTERNs & PRINTs
• How to wear STRIPEs
• How to wear CHECKs
• How to wear ANIMAL PRINTs
• How to wear FLORALs
• How to wear POLKA DOTs and others
• How to wear and MIX PATTERNs & PRINTs

DENSITY

The density of the pattern means the amount of coverage versus negative space. It ranges between low to high depending on the negative space between the elements.

LOW 

MEDIUM 

HIGH 

SMALL

MEDIUM

LARGE

LOW 

MEDIUM 

HIGH 

IN ORDER

SEMI ORDER

RANDOM

BRIGHT

MEDIUM

MUTED

PARTLY 

ALL OVER 

TYPES OF PATTERNS

STRIPES

Types of Stripes

How to Wear Stripes

Stripes have always been in fashion and have a huge effect for your figure adjustments. We give you some recommendations below in order to use stripes wisely:

Horizontal and vertical stripes have different jobs. Horizontal ones make your body slimmer, whereas vertical ones widen your body. For example, if you have a teardrop shaped body, avoid striped bottoms, they will highlight your curvy hips. Instead choose solid dark colour bottoms when you are pairing them with striped tops. If you have a triangle body shape and you would like to enhance your upper half, than you can use horizontal striped tops with different colors.

Wear vertical on the bottom and horizontal on the top. Wear vertical stripes with your bottoms and skirts, especially if you are on the shorter side. If you’re just starting to wear stripes, wear them with a block of color on your other half. Emphasize only one part of the body. Pair them with a neutral color if you want to feel safe.

The thicker the stripes the wider the area looks. When it comes to more form fitting pieces (dresses, skirts, etc.), thinner stripes will typically be more flattering.

The wider the stripe, the bolder the statement. If you’re hesitant about stripes, try pinstripes at first and once you feel comfortable in them. 

Background is also important when you choose striped outfits.  The dark background will also make you look slimmer opposite to light backgrounds.

Make sure you complement or contrast the colour of your stripes when choosing the other half of your clothing. With a multicolored top, you can pick out one of the colors and wear a matching pair of leggings. 

Don’t be afraid of mixing widths. A wider, horizontal striped top paired with a wide leg thinner striped pair of pants is certainly a chic look. As well, mixing horizontal and vertical on top and bottom is a great option, too.

Stripes can be mixed easily with other prints, such as florals and geometric patterns. The most versatile striped garments are white with black stripes–they’re just the easiest to mix and match with everything else.

There are different ways of styling STRIPEs:

One of the easiest of wearing stripes is simply pairing a striped top with jeans. Such as loose-knit striped sweater with boyfriend jeans, high waist jeans with a striped shirt with ruffle details, denim shorts with striped t-shirts, denim skirt of any length with a feminine striped blouse, a colorful, striped t-shirt with a pair of flare jeans etc.

Tights and leggings are also perfect options that will complement striped tops such as tunics. Horizontal striped loose cardigans are very popular with skinny pants or leggings. You can even put a skinny belts on them to break the look if you like.

A striped skirt with a plain top can look fabulous, as can a striped top with a plain skirt or jeans. 

Wear striped shirt or tees with a simple black or white bottoms. Since the stripes already become visual, you can break the tone down by choosing black or white. 

Vertical striped jackets, blazers can be combined with jeans or solid bottoms creates a very trendy look.

Black and white striped dresses go great with red accessories in order to create a dramatic look.

Feminine, long and flowing multi colour striped dresses come in all styles and fabrics and are ideal in the summer.

Wearing a pair of black and white striped trousers is both modern and feminine. Pair them with tight- or loose-fitting jumper with a collared shirt or denim shirts.

CHECKS

How to Wear Checks

There are huge variation of checks available with various widths, colours and spacings. It’s a look that you can wear from work through to the weekend and beyond. There are some easy and most effective examples of how to wear checks:

With strong checks, keep the rest of your attire muted and clean while with less obvious checks in grey and light brown cloths, a bold pairs can make a big statement.

When pairing checks, stick to the same colour family for each piece for a statement that isn’t too loud. 

Adding a pop up colour to your check combination makes the pattern more visible and injects some colour to an otherwise neutral ensemble.

The simplest and most effective way to wear check is to go bold with a statement coat or piece of outerwear. Beautifully tailored Prince of Wales check, single or double-breasted coat is flattering, warm and completely on-trend. Style it out with ankle boots and jeans for a relaxed look or pencil skirts, shirts and heels for a formal look.

A checked sport coat is a key item to have a well-stocked closet. They pair beautifully with solid trousers, cotton chinos, or denim.

Pair your check trousers with a secondary colour from the check and use that with block-colour knitwear or shirt on your upper half for a harmonious look. If trousers aren’t your thing, opt for checked midi skirts. It’ll give the simplest of jumpers a ladylike spin, you can combine them with a pair of ankle boots. 

Checked suit makes for an incredibly bold look. You can complete them with solid colour overcoats or accessories with the same tonal of your check pattern.

Checked shirts have been around for generations and they are one of the easiest ways to put some pattern into your life. Wear them with faded jeans and/or a T-shirt for a retro-inspired look.

A check blazer, which can be dressed up or down depending on the occasion. If there are other colours in the blazer, pick one of those out for your trouser colour. Style a checked blazer with a pair of flare-legged or boy friend jeans for a timeless casual look.

When it comes to all an all-over print, like wearing check shift dress, pair them with a little denim jacket and stylish black sock boots or cowboy boots.

Types of Animal Prints

How to Wear Animal Prints

As far as prints go, animal prints are pretty sexy and they were never out of fashion. Managing to stay on the right side of animal print style is a mark of true sophistication.

You have an option to keep it casual or dressy. It mostly depends on on how to pair them.  There are some ways to add animal printed outfits to your wardrobe:

Begin with small portions, such as accessories, wear it in the form of a narrow belt to subtly draw attention to your waist, or on sunglasses or a scarf to draw the eye up toward your face or a classy handbag. They can even elevate your look from casual to classy especially when you use them with your monochrome outfits.

It’s important to combine these bold patterns carefully with other items to achieve a sophisticated look. Choose only one or two animal print garments and accessories per look in order to keep the balance.

Leopard-printed flats are great for dressing up basics like black pants and white collared shirts. You can use animal printed high heels with your dressy outfits which would create a dramatic sexy appearance.

Recognize your body’s proportions and figure out what you like to play up best, avoid wearing animal prints on any areas that you would prefer not to draw attention to. If you’re on the shorter side, lean towards garments with smaller graphics like leopard print, avoid larger patterns such as giraffe print.

Always choose one animal printed clothing and match it with a solid bottom or top. Garments in neutral tones that appear in the pattern, such as black, white or beige are very versatile and easy to combine. 

Pairing animal prints with jeans always works. Pair a leopard-print blouse with denim shorts or pants for more casual look.

If you like to wear all over printed dresses, layer on a belt or a jacket to break up all that print and keep the look grounded with simple accessories and flats in neutral colours.

You can add a bright pop up colour or neon hues to your combination, but make sure not to wear more than three different colours in the same outfit. Avoid overloading on the accessories; one key scarf, bag, necklace or pair of shoes will do. 

FLORAL PRINTS

Types of Floral Prints

How to Wear Floral Prints

You can find floral pattern in just about every article of clothing. They are romantic and feminine and whether you love them or hate them depends on your fashion personality. Floral is such a versatile pattern, there are many ways to make it work for your style, they can make you feel sweet and feminine, but you can also style them to be edgy and tough. 

We’re used to seeing florals in the spring and summer, but they became popular in Autumn in Winter as well. Here are some tips on how to look modern in floral prints:

Small, soft, pastel wildflowers are suitable for summer, but larger scale, bright, less dense, exotic blooms are for more cold weather. Also, lookout for more substantial, more luxurious fabrics that look gorgeous in a floral print for fall or winter clothing.

A tiny floral pattern can be a great way to wear floral in a more subtle way, they are softer and more delicate. On the other hand wearing a bold, large floral print makes a statement and always looks totally sophisticated. A high contrast mix and over-sized blooms create more dramatic, edgy look.

Think about your body figure as always when you consider any printed outfit because they are the focal point of your combination. So, if you have a fuller bust and a regular bottom, avoid wearing a busy floral top, you can wear floral jeans instead. On the other hand, if you are tiny up top and fuller on the bottom, wear a flowery fall top and combine it with dark solid colour bottom.

Consider bringing floral into your outfit by the way of accessories. This is an easy way to add some floral to your day without a full commitment. It quickly adds a fun, feminine, and playful touch to any outfit.

Choose accessories that complement one of the other colours in the print in order to balance the look. Avoid adding more colours and textures to your overall look.

A simple way to make sure your floral isn’t too much and over power you is to break it up with a jacket, vest, or cardigan. It also gives the look structure and shape.

There are many floral dresses in all kinds of silhouettes from casual to formal, some of them also create a boho vibe. Avoid going big on accessories with floral dresses. Complete with a pair of sandals and denim jackets. Or you can pair them with knee high boots, a cosy over-sized cardigan and the classic trench coat in colder weather.

If you are feeling romantic, try incorporating floral print into the bottom half of your outfit such as printed flares or mini/maxi skirts for a 1970s feel, you can add a sun hat to complete the look. Maxi floral skirts are all seasonal popular items, throw on a bold, over-sized knit jumper with a pleated floral skirt for colder seasons.

How to wear Paisley?

Paisley pattern has been captivated by designers across the globe since the 70s. Since paisley is such a busy print, those women who are on the conservative side can pair any type of paisley print with a solid neutral colour pieces and only with complementing accessories to avoid looking flashy.

Paisley tea dresses are less bohemian and they add some flair to your look. You have option to achieve the modern boho look by going for a paisley print maxi dress. You can pair them wedge heels or clogs and statement earrings.

Another great way to wear paisley is to pair it with a solid color, preferably neutral to channel some modern bohemian vibe. For best results, you can replicate one of the colors found in your paisley print.

A pair of paisley flared or wide leg pants creates a bold bohemian statement, on the contrary, a modern statement can be achieved by going for a pair of paisley leggings in non-earthy shades and pairing it with a bright colored top and stilettos.

Other Patterns & Prints