Monday, January 24

BREAKING THE RULES WEEK: PATTERN MIXING

Welcome to Breaking the Rules Week, where each day we'll feature a fashion rule that we're going to smash to smithereens -- and look amazing doing so! Today's broken rule is: Never mix patterns.

And here is my example of arrogant disregard for that limitation:



I found that staying within the color palette of my boldest print (the Reed shirtdress) helped the outfit from getting too Crazy Town. The striped belt picks up the blue in the dress, and the khaki-colored cardigan acted like a neutral despite having a pretty distinct print. I originally had on some polka-dotted tights as well, but it was a little too much look.

And some beautiful pattern mixing outfits submitted by you guys --

Here's Tara's (Mix and Match Fashion) take on pattern mixing, and how spot-on is her blog name for today's feature? The striped cardigan has a very subtle print from afar, so it almost acts like a solid piece with the lovely abstract print cami, which is why I think it works so well. But the fact that the cardigan is actually striped just gives it a fantastic bit of edge. The overall look is professional and polished! And hello, cute brooch!

And here's Lisa's (Respect the Shoes) rule-breaking ensemble, which is a bolder and wilder look! The gingham and stripes really shouldn't work together, but by keeping one print large and the other small, it manages to look cohesive and sassy without veering off into crazy. It doesn't hurt that Lisa's pretty sassy in general from her blog, so having the right attitude definitely helps! Also, pops of coral? Yes, please!


Last, but certainly not least, is Sara's (You, Me & Anthropologie) rebel outfit, which is actually quite sweet. The adorable polka-dotted skirt and printed top work wonderfully without looking like an overload of print because she anchored the ensemble with some solid colors in the cardigan and tights. And the pop of color in the shoe makes it all complete! Watch out, Sara -- you may see me stealing this whole outfit from you in the future, haha!

So overall, you can definitely make pattern mixing work by: keeping your printed items within the same color palette as your boldest piece, pairing louder patterns with more subtle ones, making sure that one pattern is smaller than another, or diffusing the look with solid pieces.

Thanks again to the lovely ladies who sent in their outfits, I really loved looking at them and picking them apart to figure out what it is that made them work so well! Again, if you want to submit your outfits for this week's features, check out the schedule at the bottom of this post here and email them to amy.kelinda@gmail.com at least the night before the post is scheduled to run.

27 comments:

  1. Arrogant disregard - I LOVE it!

    All of you ladies look smashingly fabulous!

    This is going to be a great week, I can feel it. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Everyone did a great job! Amy, love your look and love your post.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love Lisa's mixing! I'm a big fan of pattern mixing, and you're right, staying within the same color family brings cohesiveness. I'm still gaping at Lisa's use of stripes and pops of coral!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow! This is like the master class for pattern mixing! Great outfits, all! Thanks for the post!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks for the feature, Amy! Aw, you look spectacular in the red plaid reed dress (tries to hide grabby hands) - and your waist looks TINY in that belt!

    Tara and Sara both look fantastic in their pattern mixing - that whole "dress as a top" thing still blows my mind!

    ReplyDelete
  6. All of these looks are super cute. I remember when I first jumped into pattern mixing- it was so scary. Is it odd that I didn't even register the belt as a third pattern in this look. Doesn't that make stripes a neutral?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Great pattern mixing on all of you!! I totally agree you can mix patterns.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Such a fun post...and I love every single outfit! Great ideas for those of us that need help to be a little daring :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Two things:
    1. I may detour from Ohio and come to Texas with the sole intent of stealing your Reed Shirtdress....
    2. Was Lisa personally styled by Jenna Lyons herself??????? She looks A~mazing!The gingham...the stripes...I swoon!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hehe Amy, I love your arrogant disregard for the rules here. Well played!

    And Sara, I adore your use of the southward stop dress as a shirt, especially with the peppered and striped skirt. Fantastic!

    ReplyDelete
  11. You can steal mine if I can steal yours, deal? I can't wait to try your look with my blue plaid Reed Shirtdress!

    ReplyDelete
  12. This is such a fun post! All the ladies look so great in their mixed patterned outfits! And I love your cute Reed dress with the printed cardigan...fabulous!

    ReplyDelete
  13. That's so cool! I'm absolutely terrified of mixing patterns, but definitely feel better about it now. :'D

    ReplyDelete
  14. Yay! I love pattern mixing, everyone looks awesome! Amy, that belt makes you look so tiny! And I'm dying over Lisa's outfit...love! I absolutley love Sara's skirt!

    ReplyDelete
  15. I don't think PATTERN MIXING is breaking the rules these days at all! When it works it totally works and you ladies are all WORKING IT! Kelinda I luve esp. how you did it!

    ReplyDelete
  16. pattern mixing is my favourite- I love how your cardigan brings out the soft brown hues in the reed dress! And how awesome are Lisa's stripes and gingham! Yum! especially with the bright belt!

    ReplyDelete
  17. You guys make it look so easy! All these outfits are great and the mix and match patterns totally work!

    ReplyDelete
  18. You look so good... I have the blue reed shirtdress and always wear it really simply, I need to take some inspiration from you! :)

    ReplyDelete
  19. I love it- everyone looks great! Pattern mixing is so much fun, and we must have been on the same wavelength because I did it in my outfit today, too. Yikes. *backs away slowly from the computer*

    ReplyDelete
  20. Your outfit is inspiring me to break the pattern rule. If you see a post with me mixing patterns in a future post, be sure to know that it's cause of this. :)

    ReplyDelete
  21. LAAAME! I missed the post announcing this little project and missed out on participating :( Pattern mixing is my favorite rule to break :(
    Everyone looks wonderful, though!!

    ReplyDelete
  22. this post is so inspiring...i love seeing everyone break the rules!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Amy, on the weekend, i broke all the rules. I mixed patterns AND wore pink and red together. I think i'm a bit late to submit though!
    I think you and the other bloggers have done a fantastic job with making mixed prints work!

    ReplyDelete
  24. I love your mixing! Great job!

    ReplyDelete
  25. I'm with you! Iwas afraid to wear black and navy togrther for so many years, and I really like it together! I have always loved black and brown together, so I say forget the rules! Wear what you want.

    I love your mix of pattern and texture. The ring is such a great bold piece. The brown belt adds a pop of color in a subtle way.

    ReplyDelete
  26. gaaah, AMY! i friggin love your map cardigan, always have always will! i love it with the plaid! x

    ReplyDelete