Do You Mix Patterns?

Lets be honest, patterns have made a huge impact on fashion trends as of late. The summer saw florals and stripes while the fall has brought us plaid, animal print, and houndstooth. Is it really completely faux-pas if we combine these patterns? No! 

While it may not be everyone's cup of tea it's surely a fun way to spice up your woredrobe. 

Some of my favorite uncommon pattern pairings:

Plaid and houndstooth- I love this pairing for a few reasons. Black and white plus red go very well together (though other forms of plaid/tartan should work equally well). While it may look a bit too busy the straight lines of the plaid compliment the geometric print of the houndstooth. Still a little worried its not for you? Try a houndstooth pattern that's also in a plaid pattern. 

For this outfit I opted for a houndstooth plaid style shirt and a black and red plaid midi skirt. The black undershirt helps to seperate the patterns slightly as to not allow them to clash. The boxy pattern for both the top and skirt also help the patterns mesh well. 

Top: Liz claibourne 

Skirt: www.torrid.com

Undershirt: www.torrid.com

Animal print and plaid: with the right color combinations this is an easy to work pattern clash. Brown and red tend to work very well together especially for the autumn season. Paring red plaid with brown or tan animal print with minimal accessories help to pull the look together. You could also pull a color from the look and use that in your accessories as well. Animal print in brown, tan, black, taupe work well with red, burgundy, and wine shades of plaid but don't stray from experimenting with other shades such as black and white animal print with purple or blue plaid. 

I paired a lepoard print peplum top with a plaid midi skirt. I kept my accessories to a golden tone and let my shoes match both the nude shades in the top and the black of the skirt. 

Animal print and stripes: When wearing patterns with patterns sometimes accessories can come into play. A striped shirt can pair well with an animal print or even plaid scarf.  I also like pairing a stripped sweater with patterned dresses. 

Aside from the typical patterns here polka dots, floral, and even whimsical patterns can come into play this season (or any season) and clash quite well. I recently picked up a thought bubble print dress from www.forever21.com. 

http://www.forever21.com/Product/Product.aspx?BR=plus&Category=plus_size-dresses&ProductID=2000119844&VariantID=

The grey and teal make it easy to match with stripe tights or scarf and even houndstooth. In the spring you can probably make a subtle floral pattern work with this. 

 The best part of pattern clashing is to have fun with it. If you're having a hard time picking peices, start by matching peices with similar shades.  Keep it safe with black and white. If you love taking a risk and trying new things maybe clash patterns and shades. If you wear it with confidence there isn't anything you can't pull off. If you try this tend please share with me your pictures. Either comment here or hashtag #hirecycledstardust on Instagram so I can see your style!