Sound Styles Soundings

Quote of the Week:

All well and good Mr. Kors.

For some of us, though, mixing and matching can be a scary, intimidating realm that keeps us from even trying. However, adding more color, texture and pattern to our wardrobe can be fun, interesting, definitely stimulating and worth the effort.

So, let’s be bold and step up to the plate and try a little mixing and matching. Let’s get ourselves out of a mindset that whispers in our ear “you could never pull that off!”

Are you with me?

Today's lesson plan will offer up a few tips on how to take the intimidation out of that mix and match moment. By the time we're done, nobody will wonder if the lights went out in the closet this morning when we answered the question "What do I wear today?"

Mixing prints can be simple and subtle or big and bold. Wear what makes you comfortable and confident. I chose examples of fabric swatches that are fairly common to most of our wardrobes. Most of us might have something striped, dotted, checked, floral or plaid. These are basic and a great place to begin.

• Keep your fabrics in the same color family. Match colors not prints. Always pick two different prints that share a single color. My swatches all share the color blue, navy to be specific.
• Choose one print to dominate and one as an accent. If the stripe or floral is the dominant piece, then accent with a dot or plaid or another print which keeps true to the color of choice.
• Mix prints of different scales like tiny dots with larger scale stripes.
• Always treat stripes as a neutral. If hesitant, start with a stripe top, skirt or pant and pair with a polka dot in the same color tone.

So. . . there you have it. A few tips to get into mixing and matching your wardrobe. If an entire company can make a sock fortune by mixing and matching, certainly we can find two or three pieces in our closet to put together in new and creative ways.

I’ll leave you today with a poem that tickled my fancy! I love children’s literature.