A lot of popular fashion bloggers create interesting daily wardrobe combinations by mixing different textures of fabric, different colours, and different patterns. Another great source for inspiration is J. Crew. They come up with some very unique and interesting combinations that sometimes I wouldn’t think to put together on my own. But it works!

Pattern mixing can be a little tricky and overwhelming at first. But here are some simple rules to help. I’ll also go into more detail with each rule.

 

1.)   Stay within the same colour family or choose complimentary colours.

2.)   Keep proportions roughly the same size.

3.)   Match horizontal stripes to vertical stripes.

4.)   Mix stripes and polka dots.

 

I happen to love this Zara blouse and skirt combination. I have the blouse but the skirt runs small and only goes up to a size XL, which is equivalent to a US size 10 or 12 (UK 12 or 14) at the most. While you have a lot of patterns going on, you can see there are really only three colours in this combination: white, black, and grey. These three colours are repeated in both the blouse and the skirt. This pattern mixing works because the outfit stays within the same colour family.

The following outfit uses Rules 1, 2, and 4. Not only am I mixing stripes and polka dots together, I’m also being mindful of the proportions so that one pattern doesn’t overpower the other, while staying within the yellow colour family. I keep the rest of the outfit simple with white trousers and to break up the three colours in the outfit, I throw in a pop of colour with the pink pumps. If you recall from the recent Colour Blocking article, greens and pinks are complimentary colours on the standard colour wheel.

 

Let’s take a look at the third rule, which is mixing stripes. My rule of thumb when mixing stripes is to keep the horizontal stripes on your upper body and the vertical stripes on your lower half. Why? Because the vertical stripes will elongate your legs and draw attention away from the horizontal stripes. If you are planning to mix stripes, I’d keep the other three rules in mind as well. Want to elongate vertical stripes even more? Go for pencil skirts that are 25” in length. Skirts this length will hit just below the knees and display the most slender parts of your legs, which are typically the calves and ankles. Pencil skirts are my favourite skirts. They help minimize hips (especially in a thick cotton fabric) and accentuate curves.

Sometimes just having vertical lines mixed in with horizontal ones can create the desired effect…

If you are having problems finding vertical striped skirts (they can be tricky to find), then choose a skirt with thin horizontal stripes that when viewed from afar, looks like one colour. It’s also best to keep to dark colours when wearing stripes on the lower half of the body.

Dorothy Perkins makes some lovely figure hugging striped skirts:

Another sequin option from J. Crew:

In the outfit below, I did a little pattern mixing with stripes and florals. I solved that issue of horizontal stripes on my lower half by adding a blazer, which hides my hips. So instead of seeing stripes all around my bottom half, you see what peeks out from the blazer. I also kept within the same colour family to create cohesion in the look.

 

Of course, if you want achieve a subtler version of pattern mixing, throw in a striped clutch with your polka dots.

 

 

By Nichole Delehant