Pattern Mixing

11/2/19

Pattern mixing is one of my favorite ways to take an outfit from so-so to sensational. I just love how different textures and prints play off of each other to create a completely unique look. But pattern mixing can be a little tricky to pull off without looking like a clown. One of my secrets is to keep all of the patterns and prints in the same color family. I came up with this Fall outfit with items pulled straight from closet to show you just how easy it can be. Read on for all the details!

With the Fall temperatures in NYC still hovering in the 60’s most days, I thought it would be fun to style an outfit around shorts. I happen to have a pair of loose, highwaisted grey shorts that I wore to death over the summer. I found them at Zara last Spring and they have been a faithful fashion friend ever since they appeared at my doorstep. The faded grey denim is a gorgeous base to build an outfit around.

I knew I wanted to add a jacket or blazer to make this more of a functional fall look. I’ve had this grey plaid blazer for a few years now and I wear it over everything when the temperatures drop. It’s wool and quite warm so I use it more as a lightweight jacket. The longer length and slightly oversized fit make it the perfect topper for any outfit and I just love the way it looks with the grey denim. In fact, once of my very first blog posts was another take on pattern mixing and I featured this blazer, you can read it here.

The key to this pattern mixing look was the black and white polka dot blouse. The black and white mixed with the shades of grey in the jacket was the perfect combination of texture and print. And keeping everything in the same “greyscale” color family really made the look chic and sophisticated. I think that you can mix black, white and grey prints and patterns in almost any combination and they always will look good. I’ll continue to wear this outfit in the winter and just swap out the shorts for some grey denim jeans.

As much as I love how this pattern mixing outfit looked, when I added the boots this really took the styling to a whole new level. There is something so cool about knee high boots and shorts right now. I’ve seen so many great street style photos recently featuring this look and I have to say I was thrilled with how my own take on the trend turned out. I’ve had these boots for over 10 years and they look as cool now as they did when I bought them. Unfortunately they are just as uncomfortable now as they where then! I knew there was a reason I hadn’t worn them in a while!

The beauty of this look as that I wear all of these pieces separately and regularly – it really was so easy to just combine them into a single outfit. I bet you have some of your favorite black, white and grey prints and patterns that are on heavy rotation in your weekly wardrobe. Why not try combining some of them for new take on your old favorites? Leave me a comment below and let me know what you think! And I linked a few of my favorite styles below in case you want to get a similar look to the one I’m wearing in these pics.

See you soon!

Pattern Mixing

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