Fashion
Ditch basic black in favour of mixing prints
Carlyle Routh
Fashion
Ditch basic black in favour of mixing prints
Digital editor Kate Wells learns how to mix her prints for a confident look.
Photography by Carlyle Routh. Hair by Jukka/Davines/Plutino Group. Makeup by Jodi Urichuk/Bite Beauty/Plutino Group.
Have you ever flirted with the idea of trying a daring style but weren't quite sure how to pull it off? We found six women who were intrigued by a trend they usually avoid, then we gave them the support and style advice to help them make it their own. Here, digital editor, Kate Wells ditches her wardrobe basics for a shot of pattern-mixing confidence.
(Read about our other style dares here: crop tops for the office, skinny jeans for curvy girls, figure-hugging dresses, upper arm confidence and feminine ruffles.)
When your wardrobe happy place is a pair of beloved jeans and a soft hoodie, your style priorities are clear: Comfort wins out over fashion. But because Kate works in an office, she sets her sartorial sights a wee bit higher from 9 to 5. "I'm kind of all over the map when it comes to who inspires my clothing," she says. "I love Emma Stone's quirkiness, Drew Barrymore's bohemian vibe, Jessica Alba's girlishness and Gwyneth Paltrow's modern minimalism." The common thread binding those four styles is the stars' love of pattern—and their ability to master the trend of mixing prints.
Coat, $529, tedbaker.com. Turtleneck, $50, express.com. Skirt, $95, necklace, ring and clutch, bananrepublic.ca.
Combining two or more exuberant prints in a single outfit is surprisingly simple: All you need are a few guidelines and—more importantly—confidence. For Kate's look, we piled on three florals in slightly different scales. Although the prints aren't the same, the fabrics are in the same colour family, with a dark background hue to tie them together. One trick to help multiple prints look less loud is to throw a solid garment (here, it's the turtleneck) into the mix.
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