7 Simple Tips for Wearing and Buying Prints Like a Pro

Many fear adding prints to their wardrobe, finding them to not be as versatile as a solid-colored garment. However, the best wardrobe is one that you enjoy wearing and properly represents your personality. Printed clothing doesn't have to be hard to wear, it can become part of your signature and add style to a simpler capsule wardrobe. Below I will share 7 simple tips for buying and wearing prints.

7 Simple Tips for Buying and Wearing Prints

1. Find a Neutral Print and Make it Your Signature

Yes, prints can be a neutral. Leopard print, stripes, your family tartan, or something subtle like houndstooth or tweed can be just as versatile as a neutral like black and gray. In fact, it can be more versatile because it often goes with all colors as well as other prints!

I personally love leopard print because it mixes both black and brown and is accented so nicely with the bright jewel tones I adore. I wear leopard print so often, it has become a neutral for me – a shoe to wear when nothing else seems quite right, a belt when a solid seems too harsh, a scarf when an ensemble is too severe, a skirt when the sky is blue (seriously, I could own a dozen leopard print skirts and still desire more).

I also do this with stripes – I seriously have an entire drawer of striped tops because I find them so versatile and more interesting than a solid tee or tank (and they do look quite spectacular with leopard print!). When an outfit feels too simple, I often find a Breton striped shirt to be just the thing to elevate the entire look.

Be it Black Watch or polka dots, once you have a certain type of print that is your signature, it becomes easier to mix it with other prints. You become so comfortable in that print you end up wearing it like a neutral, and it comes across as such. Just as one may find unexpectedly beautiful combinations with olive or camel, you will find it easier to mix Breton stripes with cabbage roses than another because you know the print so intimately. Not only that, those around you will know that print is your signature and find it to be a bit of a neutral, and your choices of pairings more interesting and less like dressing in the dark.

2. Mix Big with Small

Cabbage roses with a tiny dots looks adorakable, cabbage roses with giant polka dots can veer on clown costume territory. I have found much success in mixing a bold and large print with a smaller, more subtle one. I have a pair of skinny jeans with subtle polka dots that I love mixing with printed tops. The jeans are more interesting than a solid and I believe give a better backdrop to a large striped jacket or Ikat-print blouse. A small dot, subtly colored stripes, and watercolor prints are great partners to bolder and bigger patterns.

3. Have an Underlying Color Theme

I’m not saying you should pair pink gingham with pink paisley and pull it together with a pink polka-dotted scarf. The pairing should be more subtle – a navy paisley dress with a hint of teal cinched with a teal plaid fabric belt. An orange, purple, brown, and olive Ikat print skirt paired with a purple snakeskin blouse. I like to pick the least obvious color in a print and use that to choose accessories or contrast patterns – it makes people analyze the combination more closely and adds depth and thought to an ensemble.

4. Accessorize

A plaid skirt with a floral blouse can make you look as though you dressed in the dark, but if you pull it together with a smart belt or a fabulous pair of shoes, it makes the combination more purposeful. I have a ton of skinny belts in candy colors just for this reason, and I find adding a third print with my shoes (I own six different pairs of leopard-print shoes for this very reason) makes pattern mixing look more cohesive.

5. Choose Classics

There are some prints that never go out of vogue. Leopard print, Breton stripes, polka-dots in a classic color combination and size. Mirror prints, Ikats, photo prints and such will come in and out of favor. Extend their life by mixing with classic prints, and veer towards classic prints to have pieces that can be staples for more than a season or two.

6. Befriend a Tailor

To be a successful print-a-holic, it is imperative to have good fit. Too small or too large is far more obvious when you have a garment screaming for attention. A well-fitting garment is also a sign of purposeful styling, which makes prints more stylish and understood.

Along these lines, have silhouettes that are as signature as your prints. When you show up one day in skinny jeans and a tailored blazer, the next day in a circle skirt and twinset, and the day after in distressed boyfriend jeans and a stretched out band tee shirt the prints may not make as much sense. Own your prints, and choose them in silhouettes that flatter them and you. Always buy for the full package – the fit, the cut, the relevance to your personal style as well as the awesome pattern.

7. Go Big or Go Home

If you’re going to be known for your prints, do them well. No shrinking violets, have your closet full of bold patterns that demand attention. A bright blue print will make more of a purposeful statement than one in a pale cornflower hue, black and white dots make more of an impression than those same circles on a tan ground. When you look at fashion icons who rock patterns on a regular basis, they are wearing jewel tones, strong patterns, and bold contrasts. Own your personal style and wear it with confidence!