The Great Outdoors

Daily Outfit, 1/28/11

The Breakdown:

• Abstract patterned skirt - Old Navy
• Striped tunic - Old Navy
• Tights - DKNY via Nordstrom
• Riding boots - Born via Nordstrom

Okay, so it's not the great outdoors.  It's just my back alley, but it's significant for a couple reasons.  One, I actually got off work while it was still light enough to take pictures and two, it was actually warm enough to take pictures outside.  And it was raining.  I know you all have been getting bored with my indoor shots, but now that it's staying light longer, hopefully there will be more variety.

I know not everyone is a fan of mixing prints in an outfit, but I am.  It's not easy for me - in fact, it's very challenging, but I like that it's a challenge. And I think even though it's definitely more mainstream now, it's still fairly unexpected to mix patterns and I like to have a little of the unexpected in my outfits.  This particular mix was not really a challenge - I think of this outfit as a no-brainer, really, but it's also a very good example of the rules I use for mixing patterns within an outfit.

I usually do two things when mixing prints.  One, I make sure the items I'm pairing have a color in common.  In this case, the skirt and the top both have cream in common.  Two, I make sure the intensity (or is it hue?) of the colors in the outfit are the same.  The print on this skirt is a sort of soft, almost dusty blue and the stripe on the top is tan, which is a soft, dusty color.

Do you guys like to mix patterns/prints in an outfit?  Do you have any tricks for doing so?

Gracey