February 22, 2019
this post is dedicated to Hazel…
If you have been making carefully-chosen wardrobe purchases for a while, and you’ve stuck with a color palette that’s reasonably restricted, you might find that you can assemble an outfit like these from your current wardrobe! That’s where having a wardrobe plan pays off…
tee – Bishop + Young; earrings – The Met Store; skirt – Robert Rodriguez; bag – Rebecca Minkoff; flats – Naturalizer
I spotted this combination on a little girl, but I quickly realized that this kind of outfit suits lovely ladies of any age! One of the things I like the most about having a floral skirt is that it often makes clear what your accent color will be for your outfit. The tee shirt and skirt above would also be lovely with white sandals (or a pair of white Keds!) and a white bag…
The touch of sea foam green in the following skirt made choosing accessories easy:
tee – Halogen; bracelet – Armenta; skirt – DVF; bag – Nooki Design; flats – Yosi Samra
If you own a quite dressy skirt (for which you were a bit extravagant!), this is a great way to be able to wear it more often, and to less formal activities:
tee – Uniqlo; bracelet – Miansai; skirt – Etoile Isabel Marant; tote – Lands’ End; flats – Børn
You could go completely overboard with your accent color! (the handbag with the bow comes in pink, but I wasn’t sure if that was just TOO much pink in one place…)
tee – Lands’ End; earrings – Kohl’s; bag – Ted Baker London; skirt – Yumi; sandals – Birkenstock
I know that lots of people will tell you that you have to make sure that “the scale” of the prints is similar… or else they’ll tell you that “the scales” must be different! Personally, you just have to be happy with how the pieces look together, and I don’t think there are hard and fast rules…
tee – Halogen; bracelet – The Met Store; bag – Vince Camuto; skirt – No.21; flats – David Tate
This kind of outfit can be quite bold:
tee – J.Crew; earrings – Talbots; bag – Longchamp; skirt – Boden; flats – Arche
Yes, of course this will work with floral pants, if you aren’t a skirt person!
tee – Eileen Fisher; earrings – Timeless Pearly; clutch – Lilly Pulitzer; pants – Comme des Garcons; flats – Børn
You don’t have to buy a bunch of matching accessories – in the following outfit, the touches of black in the skirt made me feel perfectly comfortable including black sandals with this outfit. Finding sandals in this color could take quite a while…
tee shirt – Lands’ End; bracelet – Alexis Bittar; bag – N’Damus London; skirt – P.A.R.O.S.H.; sandals – Naot
I mix patterns all the time, but I’ve never looked at a floral skirt, or floral pants. Maybe when my year of no shopping is over, that might be something to consider. Would you wear any of these outfits?
love,
Janice
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I have a dark red Desigual patterned skirt that I’ve never worn (featured in your “build a wardrobe from scratch” series). I think it calls for a striped T shirt in the same colours. Thanks for the idea!
ANOTHER young girl for inspiration! So glad you notice everybody. I adore mixing stripes and florals, and all of these are brilliant.
I’ve been seeing quite a few patterned pants around–some florals and some that I would call pajama patterns.
My favorite is the first with the light blue, the pleated skirt, and the red accents. So classic and yet fresh!
I will wear more skirts and dresses come spring and although my current warm weather closet is safely stored away, I will happily look for a translation of this combination that works for me!
Wow, what a fun post! I am quite smitten with the bold red number, but I all not sure if it might be too much for me… Sigh…
Thank you Janice for lifting my spirits this morning with these lovely outfits, it really makes me want to start sewing some pretty skirts for Spring. I don’t usually mix patterns as they draw too much attention, but I’m quite taken with some of these outfits. I particularly like the sea foam green, pink and the floral trousers. I’m going to shop my wardrobe and jewellery stand for some ideas and then have a look at my material stash…..
Floral pants-wow! I would never wear those, but I love the outfit for someone bold enough to pull it off. I would wear several of the skirt outfits. What a fun idea!
This is an effect I see all the time on women (of all ages) in Paris: stripes treated like a solid. The branchée younger women- say 16 to 25- will also not coordinate, so they would wear the green striped tee with a blue printed skirt, for example. That’s jarring to the North American eye, but to them, coordination reeks of effort, and one cannot have that!
I just bought that J. Crew marinière and was surprised by the weight, heavier than it looks, between a tee and a sweater.
These have all made me smile – but – I’m not sure I’d be brave enough to wear them. Well, maybe the floral pants with the striped top – the stripes are a bit more subtle and blend more with the print so I would give that one a try!
Love, love, LOVE stripes and forals! And stripes and paisley, and paisley and animal print, and polka dots and stripes… AND! I have a pattern mixing fetish going, but few patterned pieces. You are right about keeping the colors tight being the key!
I have some flowered pixie pants from old navy which I always wear with a solid top in one of the accent colors. I NEVER wear horizontal stripes on top but will try a striped scarf if I can find one. I have always been afraid to wear more than one print at a time. Thanks for the idea for branching out.
Love these outfits. I am definitely going to give this mix a try in spring/summer.
Lise
I wear mostly neutral classics so mixing patterns, especially bold ones, tends to make me feel uncomfortable. But I’ve found that adding a floral or print scarf to a striped top or dress keeps the feeling classic enough for my comfort level. That little bit of interest puts some zip in my step on days when I’m feeling especially brave or exuberant.
I love that some of your chic sightings are young. My daughter is almost 7 and she puts a lot of thought into what she wears together. She has two striped shirts–I think she actually does wear this outfit occasionally! It always looks great on her. I might wear the navy ruffled skirt outfit or the pink one.
Sorry to be the lone nattering naybob, but no, absolutely NOT to all of this pattern mixing. I find this look distracting and would worry about anyone wearing it. Call me traditional…
You’re not alone! I keep thinking how much better these pretty skirts would look with a solid colour top. IMHO.
Everybody gets to have their own preferences and opinions – I welcome them all! If this doesn’t work for you, then you have learned something about your own likes and dislikes (well, maybe you’ve known this forever, and this just reinforces that!). Always feel free to share you thoughts with us, please!
hugs,
Janice
I would LOVE to wear the floral pants outfit but not sure I have the guts. I also like the pink outfit but would have to have a pink bag – no bow.
Thank you for showing how the pattern mixing can be done. I’d love to try it and have struggled with the scale / print combinations. These are really helpful illustrations. Hobart (Tasmania) at a far end of the earth is just like Paris, it seems, as some very stylish young women combine different colours+patterns for that look that says, I didn’t work on coordinating — that is so try-too-hard — but here is a jaunty outfit to bring a smile. Youth helps, of course … and a cheerful air. They cut the femininity back with tough shoes or ankle boots.
Nice work Janice!
That green P.A.R.O.S.H. skirt comes in a marvelous bright pink. At that price and my shape I am not considering them for myself, but I think they are lovely.
Love, love, LOVE the brown t with the floral pants!!!!! I’d wear that in a heartbeat.
Love these outfits for my name sake. Perhaps the red and green are too much for me but that’s personal taste, and who knows until I tried. Lots of hooped tops -I thought a fashion no no for those less shapely of us?
Some lovely outfits, but I think this mix of stripes and florals works better with the top tucked in. On those floral trousers, does anyone share my dislike of the way patterns are never matched nowadays? One leg has a lot more flowers than the other, and that would drive me mad. At the same time, if both legs exactly matched, that would also look odd. I did buy some floral trousers last year (small pattern, so lack of pattern matching not noticeable!), and didn’t get around to wearing them. I realised it was because I only had tops that dressed them up, and I spend most of my life dressed down. I’m going to wear them this year with white trainers and a loose, collared shirt.
These combinations are so reminiscent of 90’s interior decorating! Stripes and floral combinations were everywhere (wallpaper, pillows on sofas, curtains). The older I get, the more I see how fashion and design reuse ideas – although I’m sure it was all new to the little girl you saw wearing it! This is a fun idea, but like some others, I’m not sure I’d try it except as a scarf or bag.
I only ever wear florals on the bottom (skirts, usually, although I had a pair of Ralph Lauren floral jeans 25 years ago I’d love to get back), and I love the idea of dressing a skirt down. I’m more likely to do it with chambray and lug-sole boots, though, because the marinière trend kind of passed me by.
sweet. another extension to my current closet without buying anything!
I just adore these stripes with the florals!!
I will definitely be adding this look to my wardrobe. There are so many possibilities!
I love each of these and would wear each!
I could easily fit most of these into my life.
My favorite is the first group and the second group.
Thank you for the inspiration, I.m off to reconsider my spring wardrobe, mixing up stripes and florals.
I have a gathered waltz length Adrienne Vitadini floral linen skirt from the early 90’s that I was wearing until about 6 years ago when my waistline escaped. My favorite way to style it was with a long sleeved caramel and white narrow striped tee. The caramel related to one of the accent colors in the skirt, which was mainly pink, coral, pale yellow and white. I kept the look calm with caramel pointed flats and a narrow caramel belt. (I really do miss my waistline.) I got compliments EVERY time I wore it, which is not a regular experience for me.
I love the term “waltz length…” it sounds so lovely, graceful and pretty!
hugs,
Janice
This is such a cheerful post! I have a pair of spring/summer pants in a muted small print in teal, tan, pink and light blue. Looking at your outfits here makes me want to consider a stripped tee for these pants. It definitely would jazz up the very muted print of the pants. Hmmm. Do I dare?
Janice Collins Coyle, Washington, DC
These are so fun! I especially like the first one, with light blue and red. Thank you, Janice!
These are fun! Another approach that would work with most is to have the striped top in the accent color of the skirt rather than the background/main color. Especially with the green skirt; a black and white striped top would be sharp. – nancyo
I would wear 1, 2 and 5
some of the skirts the waist looks too fussy to dress down so that may be throwing me off.