Print on Print

March 2015, By Nicole Langelier.

On my last trip to LA for my best friends wedding, I got a lot of compliments on the outfit I wore to the rehearsal dinner – “ I love your print on print!” the ladies said to me over and over. I was indeed wearing ‘print on print’, but I had not realised there was a term for my concoction. I had paired Zara pants – navy with a white and orange diamond print, with a top I bought in Milan that was orange with a little blue and white diamond print. They were not the same print, but there were enough similarities in the colours and patterns to match them. It was a little bit of an ‘outside of the box’ outfit, but it clearly worked. When I wear that combo in Australia I get the same reaction.

There is a fine line between clashing and complimenting, so if you are going to try some ‘print on print’, make sure not to just throw together whatever you grab off the floor. For the trend to work there needs to be something that ties the prints together like the tone of the print and/or the pattern itself. I like stripes with stripes for example, however when combining these prints I would focus on having just one bold stripe, and the other (or others if you are combining more than 2 prints) a subtle stripe. This way the strong stripe pops and the subtle stripe retreats, reading more as a solid than a competing print.

Print on print translates really well to interiors as well, especially when it comes to a bed or a sofa when you can layer different prints, textures and patterns. It also works nicely if you are bold enough to use wallpaper. The same rules apply to your home or your outfit. Give it a shot!