Geometric Fabness

From playful plaids to cheerful checkerboard and gorgeous gingham, we’re ending the year with how six of our outfit bloggers put their own spin on geometric patterns. 

Sabra

Sabra tempers the structured strictness of this button-down and midi skirt look with a boxy and fun gingham cardigan. Tucking the fitted white shirt into the high-waisted khaki skirt lengthens the leg line from the hips upward and showcases the brown belt with gold logo buckle. The olive gingham cardigan brings a third colour into the mix, and adds Sabra’s signature playfulness. So do her eye-catching checkerboard-patterned block-heeled loafers and floral lace socks. The gold shoe buckles echo the belt buckle, and our blogger’s bauble necklace and earrings. The forest green satchel and camo fedora, while not a perfect match for the green cardi and dandy footwear, tie everything together.

Jo-Lynne

Jo-Lynne mixes earth tones with shades of blue in this casual denim look. She’s tucked a tan crew-neck sweater into light blue skinnies with frayed hem. Tucking the sweater and adding a belt defines the waist. The cropped plaid jacket has a bomber-esque vibe and repeats the blue, brown and white colour palette. White sneaks add an easy and relaxed sporty touch. The light brown soles are a good match with the tan sweater. Jo-Lynne completes the look with a dark cognac bucket bag, hoop earrings, and mauve lipstick.

Tiffany

The one-of-a-kind skirt is the star of the show in this avant-garde outfit. The fitted top part consists of pale denim that flares out into a blue, red, and white asymmetrical plaid component. Tiffany has added decorative elements in grey and white plaid, and green and white plaid that draw the eye up and down. A simple white tee is tucked into the skirt. The cropped pinstripe blazer adds structure, and hits just above the waistband of the skirt to showcase it in its entirety. Black pointy-toe booties add a refined touch. Finally, Tiffany goes for more pattern mixing with a black and white geometric print satchel that matches the tee and footwear.

Alexandra

Alexandra joins the pattern-mixing party. She’s sporting a crew-neck sweater with romantic floral print and wide leg, dark green, texture-rich velvet trousers. The matching greens in the sweater and trousers provide visual harmony. At first sight, the single-breasted coat in a cool-toned brown plaid doesn’t match the rest of the outfit. The cream in the pattern however does match the cream in the sweater, and ties things together. The coat’s lapels and lining show a smaller houndstooth pattern, which adds extra visual interest. Alexandra completes the look with polished black booties with silver accents and a quilted bag. Her bright red beret and matching lippy are the punchy finishing touches.

Ola

Ola pairs a kicky mini skirt with an on-trend oversized leather jacket. Tucking the white tee into the flared skirt lengthens the leg line from the hips upward and adds structure to the oversized topper with dropped shoulders. The pink accents running through the plaid and diamond pattern adds extra pizzazz. The black pointy-toe knee-high boots bookend our blogger’s gorgeous curls, and fit neatly around the calves, which also adds structure. Silver jewellery matches the silver hardware on the jacket. The big floral pin matches the pink in the skirt and is the charming finishing touch.

Georgette

This is a gorgeous example of Angie’s Sour Greens Outfit Formula. Georgette is wearing wide leg statement neon trousers. The pants alone pack quite the punch, and our blogger doesn’t stop there. She makes the entire outfit an exuberant colour party. She’s paired the trousers with a fun checkerboard sweater in apple green, and tops this off with a classic wool coat in vivid kelly green. Fiery tomato red pumps are an unexpected footwear choice, and make the various shades of green pop even more. Big statement earrings and dark plum lipstick complete this delightful look.

We’d love to hear what you think of all this Geometric Fabness, and let us know if you’ve been sporting plaids or checks lately as well.

Easy Pattern Mixing

These outfits showcase three easy ways to mix patterns with classics like plaids, stripes and animal print. Tees, sweatshirts, sweaters, and hoodies with graphic slogans count as a kind of pattern too. 

Outfits 1 and 2 showcase a graphic tee and sweater with a plaid topper. One is a shacket and the other is a cropped tweed jacket. The colours of the graphic under layer are repeated in the plaids, which creates visual harmony.

Outfit 3 layers a graphic hoodie over a plaid shirt, which turns the formula above inside-out. The teddy bear on the hoodie is wearing a green plaid hat, which cleverly matches the green plaid of the shirt. This creates visual harmony. That said, the black in both patterns would have been enough to pull them together too.

Outfit 4 combines a red and white striped top with classic earth toned animal print loafers. Interestingly, the patterns don’t match in any way, nor do they share at least one colour. What pulls the look together is how well the model’s auburn hair matches the cinnamon loafers. That colour repetition creates the outfit’s visual harmony, thereby allowing the mismatched patterns to work together.

Who likes to pattern mix in similar ways to these?

Fashion News Roundup: November 2023

The Pantone colour for 2024, a Christmas sweater rental service, a new exhibition all about sleeves, and other fashion news that made headlines in November.

Fun Fashion Quote

I love what criminal defense attorney Hannah Proff is saying here:

“My feet are wide, so I’ll get shoes stretched. My cobbler is super grumpy, but you just hand him your shoes, he says, ‘Come back in two weeks,’ and they’re perfect. I’m 6 feet tall, and when I was younger, I’d avoid heels because I used to think, there’s already so much of me! But now that I’m older, I’m like, you know what, there should be more of me.”

Roundups

Simpler Items

This week's list of top picks list is about basic pieces.

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Assorted Items

Items for Summer, both in and out of air conditioning.

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Casual Summer Vibes

This week's top picks are good for a casual Summer vibe.

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Summery Earth Tones

These items are for those who like to wear casual earth tones in warm and hot weather.

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Hints of Spring

Some tried-and-tested winning items to refresh your style for Spring.

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Dressier Items

An assortment of dressier top picks might be just what the doctor ordered.

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Trend: Big Brushed Fringe Scarf

I’ve done a lot of shopping with clients, and the big brushed fringe scarf is front and centre in almost every retail store in the US. It’s a big fuzzy textured blanket scarf with statement fringe. Available in solids, plaids, and some other patterns. The collection below shows a good assortment. 

Boden
Fluffy Scarf
View Info
Top Pick
2
J.Crew
Brushed woven scarf
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Top Pick
2

Fabrics run the gamut. There’s everything from mohair, wool, polyamide and alpaca, to acrylic and polyester. The big brushed fringe scarf is generally super soft, cosy and warm. It packs a playful punch, and looks gorgeous if you’re into the dramatic blanket-scarf vibe. Personally, I am. I love how it double duties as a wrap for indoors. Great at keeping you warm at your desk, in your home, in someone else’s home, and at a restaurant when you’ve taken off your coat. Looks elegant to my eye too.

The scarf has its drawbacks. It might be a bit much, overly bulky, and feel suffocating since it’s a lot of scarf. You need to tie it, or place it securely around the neck so that the ends don’t flop around as you stride, or get in the way when you bend over. The fashionable draping that you see in the stock photos does not always work in practice. The fabric can shed terribly leaving its fuzzy residue everywhere, and irritate your nasal passages, skin, and eyes too. Some versions are very long and only work for Team Tall.

I walked into J.Crew where big brushed fringe scarves were freshly unpacked. I saw the pink, red and orange plaid, gasped a loud happy gasp, and tried it on right away. The colours launched me into orbit, and I was smitten. I tried the gentle toffee colour too, which worked well with my new honey blonde hair. These fuzzy scarves did not shed, nor did they irritate me in any way. They weren’t too long and bulky, and worked perfectly as a wrap too.

I came home with both at a discounted price. They replaced two problematic scarves I’d just passed on, so the timing was excellent. The pink and orange plaid worked perfectly with the outfit I had on in the mall that day (the exact items are represented in the collection). I cut off the tags and wore it as a wrap out the store. This came in handy because I left my bubblegum pink coat in the car, and felt a little cold. I’ve worn the toffee scarf as a wrap at home many times too. Yorkie Sam enjoys snuggling into it, and mischievous Yorkie Jo enjoys chewing the fringe. She stopped after she was caught, and decided that snuggling with big brother Sam was a better idea.

Link Love: Holiday Medley 2023

It has become tradition to ring out the Link Love year with a medley of miscellaneous links. A collection of style-related stories that didn’t quite fit into the themed Link Love posts we published throughout the year, but are worth a look anyway. Happy reading!

Fab Links from Our Members

Indigoprint has enjoyed Emily Wheatley shorts lately on “Wear vs. Style”: “She is an edgy minimalist, but her thoughts on putting an outfit together are interesting.”

kkards didn’t know much about Tom Ford, and found this article very interesting, especially how he saw himself as a designer, and his business acumen. 

Angie says the whole “shoes-on or shoes-off-at-home” debate continues to be an interesting one, especially when it comes to asking what your guests should do: “As someone who needs to wear supportive shoes all the time because of foot issues — it can be a tricky conversation! This article covers both sides of the debate reasonably well.”

Helena hopes this article on the new CEO’s direction means that Gap is going to return to its strength of creating excellent basics.

Nuancedream shares this fascinating story on how the Tyrian purple pigment was seemingly lost for centuries and recently rediscovered. She adds: “Hopefully, Tyrian purple will not succumb to the ravages of pollution and climate change.”

MsMaven found “How Come My Jeans Don’t Fit Anymore” an interesting read. Be sure to read the comments too.

J. Crew is 40 and better than ever, according to Suz: “I’ve been appreciating their return to some higher quality fabrics and some updated classics this year.”

Carol’s local McDonald’s gave her warmth whenever she missed the bus. Therefore, she would highly consider supporting their latest venture, a sweater for the season.

Runcarla enjoyed reading “How Hallmark’s Costume Designer Creates Holiday Movie Magic.”

L’Abeille found this an interesting take on the items and inspirations that go into a classic style type: “The approach is very prescriptive (You must buy these brands…) which doesn’t appeal to me at all. But the information is useful.”

Mary Beth found YouTube Creator Victoria Jin, who researched Fortuny and Issey Miyake, and created her own pleated fabric at home, in her oven!

Related to this, Ginger wanted to share her friend Merja’s recreation of one of the Fortuny “Delphos” dresses. She baked the material in the oven to set the pleats, over a curved surface. Fortuny took the secret to making the pleated silk to his grave, so all recreations of these dresses are having to invent the technique themselves. It’s amazing in motion. Look at the Morticia puddling.