Mixing prints: Volume one

Full disclosure here: I have terrible fashion sense. 

Since I was a little kid, I would wear the most ridiculous things together, such as a neon orange oversized shirt and hot pink bicycle pants, not because I was fashion forward or bold, but because I simply didn't care how I looked when I was running around.

And I just didn't understand the first things about proportion, colour or cut.  My friends laughed at me all the time and it was a normal for other kids to do a double take when I emerged, ready for the day.

It got so bad, my mother had to call me into the bedroom to give me a lesson on how to dress myself so she wouldn't look negligent and I wouldn't look like an orphan. 

But when I was thirteen I wore a beret and a mini skirt for a school-related outing and I was hooked on cute clothes.  It didn't necessarily mean I put them together well, but I still loved buying them and dressing up and the way they made me feel.

A part of me still has the most terrible dress sense, but I enjoy clothes so much that I don't care.

It's the reason why I started this blog, to look at how the way I dress is growing and changing and really having fun with it. 

So with my childhood fiascos in mind, I turned my attention to mixed prints. 

I would not, for the life of me, be able to tell you how to mix prints.  Magazines and shit say that you could start by putting similar themes with similar colour schemes together, like light blue florals and dark blue florals, so that you can ease into the craziness and get used to what is quite a bold look for some.

But someone who has worn neon orange with neon pink is past all that cautiousness now, so I dove straight in, simply by picking out random prints from my closet I thought would look cute together.

Owl blouse - Zara.  Floral skirt - My mother's.

Bag - Kathy Van Zeeland.  Earrings - Diva.  Cutout sandals - Dr Martens.

I loved the contrast of the little owls with the huge roses and I also loved how the neutral, earthy tone of one item set off the bold, almost screaming colours of the other.

Photos by Dhany

I threw my hair in a tousled bun with a wavy fringe and ran around like this all day.  It was practical, comfortable, and yet, I had so much fun with this outfit. 

Maybe this combination doesn't work for some people, but it felt great for me and I was having the best time.  And really, dressing up is more about feeling good in your own skin rather than what's trendy or what your friends think or what some fashion magazine tells you to do.

For someone like me who has horrible dress sense, that works just perfectly.