Print is a BIG topic and this might be why you find it difficult to pick ones that feel good to you and your personal style. In fact there is so much to consider when it comes to choosing a print or any kind of embellishment in your outfits that it’s almost too much to cover in one blog post. But I’m going to give it a good shot!
Are you ready?!
Print adds interest
Wearing pattern is such a fun way to add interest to an outfit. It’s helpful to draw attention towards particular areas of your body but equally it can be used to disguise what’s going on underneath. It can be used to add more colour to an outfit and to support your true style personality.
When Print Goes Wrong
Have you ever noticed someone wearing a print and that’s all you can see? Their lovely face disappears behind the print. When you wear a print that’s too large for your personal scale, it totally overwhelms you – and the outfit. This is particularly important to avoid if delivering presentations is a regular thing for you. We want our outfits to frame us beautifully so that we are more visible – not have our clothes overwhelm us.
The opposite problem is wearing a print that’s too small for your personal scale. This is when a print can look busy/fussy and can actually make you look bigger than you really are. (See point 4 ‘Scale’ below to read more about this issue.)
four Essential considerations when choosing your best prints
Each of these 4 areas could be a blog on their own if I’m honest, but I’ve outlined the basics for you to think about below. Please don’t worry if this feels like a lot! Even taking one of these points into account should make a subtle difference for how you feel in your prints.
1. Choosing the right colours and level of contrast for your colouring
Colour is a BIG topic and the colours that suit you best are determined by your natural colouring (hair, skin and eyes). It (hopefully) goes without saying that you want the colours within a print to be flattering for your skin tone but it’s also useful to pay attention to how much contrast you can take.
To work this out – notice how much contrast you have between your hair, skin tone and eyes. If there is a big difference in your colouring (think Snow White with her dark hair, pale skin and bright blue eyes), then you’ll suit high contrast prints – black and white being one example. If you have low contrast colouring, where there isn’t much of a difference in tone between your hair skin and eyes then you’ll likely feel your best in low contrast prints.
2. Your bone structure determines the best shaped prints for your body
Your skeleton also has a bearing on your best prints. This isn’t about your size (although we do take that into account in step 4), but more about the shape of your bones. A ‘straighter’ bone structure suits stripes, checks and geometric prints. A curved one looks fabulous in dots, swirls and curvy shaped prints. One key indicator of whether you are straight or curved is the extent to which you go in at the waist. A very curvy figure has a significant difference between the width of their waist and hips. A straighter one has very little difference. Look at your shoulders too. Are they straight or rounded?
3. Your clothing style decides which type of print you’ll suit or whether you are not a print kind of person
Your style determines whether or not you suit print in the first place. If your style is heavily classic or natural or a mix of the two, you are unlikely to be drawn to print and that’s ok! Stick with flat blocks of neutral colours and you’ll look fab. There are other ways to style up your outfits.
If you suit the ‘dramatic’ style, you’ll be drawn to interesting, bold, sassy, graphic prints. And animal print – some say animal print is classic. I strongly disagree. A true classic would feel cheap in animal print.
If ‘girly’ is one of your best styles, you’ll love polka dots, gingham, florals and ditzy prints. If you try to wear these styles and have no ‘girly’ in your style mix – you’ll feel mumsy and frumpy.
4. Your scale
This is such a powerful thing to know about yourself and helps not only with print but with every other detail on your clothes and accessories. I have a special and unique algorithm that helps me to work out your scale and it works every time!
I work it out by taking into account your height, dress size, bone size and then bring in your clothing style (I give you a percentage for each of the 4 styles).
When you know your scale, it’s easy to see why certain prints will make you appear bigger than you are, when others will feel just right.
I appreciate that was a LOT of information to take in but if you just focus on one point at a time and experiment, I think it’ll make a big and pleasing difference to the way you wear print this summer.
Experiment and see what feels good. And don’t forget to leave me a comment and let me know what you discover!
