Interesting shift - YouLookFab Forum

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Interesting shift

Janet

(website)

Veteran

I'm noticing that most of my recent purchases and items I'm drawn to are solid colors. I still love a print, but I think I'm getting choosier about them. The printed items I've picked up recently are monochromatic rather than multicolored.

I suppose it's part of my style evolution -- there seems to be some simplifying going on. I am more likely these days to add a print to an outfit in the form of a scarf. I'm not wowed by many prints I see in the stores these days.

What's your impression of prints lately?

General

28 replies

Latest reply was from Jjsloane

gryffin

Veteran

Janet - I am so on board with this but then I am on team minimal. I think you increase versatility and you can always also add pattern with accessories as you mentioned. I am rarely enamored with prints but I do enjoy them on others!! Here's to team solids!!

citygirldc

(website)

Veteran

I don't even know what my style is anymore. I think I'm stuck in a rut.

I still love prints because I feel like they hide certain parts of my body that have grown larger this winter season :). I'm also very picky about my prints and am drawn to geometrics, some paisley and color blocking.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Wait till Summer. You'll be back into adding patterns, I bet.

Anonymous

I seem to be getting more and more picky about prints, too. I don't think that's a bad thing, though. It has to do with knowing what works best for me.

Janet

(website)

Veteran

Angie, I also thought this might be a seasonal thing. I suspect you're right. Cgdc, I also like patterns for their camouflaging abilities, particularly in dresses!

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Forgot to say that my purchasing pattern is the same - pun intended.

Emily

Veteran

Almost all my recent purchases have been prints!

TraceyLiz65

(website)

Veteran

Patterns are an important part to my style... during colder months adding in a scarf is a very easy way to do it. Angie's comment has me waiting in anticipation!

Diana

Veteran

I'm still loving patterns, but like I've mentioned elsewhere my style is definitely getting simpler and my color palette more restricted (for winter at least). For summer, I'm thinking I may still go more maximal in individual pieces because there are less pieces overall in a single summer outfit.

deb

Veteran

I am doing the same and have been since last fall, for some reason.

DonnaF

Veteran

I'm a moth drawn to the flame of black and white polka dots, but other colors of polka dots and other patterns not so much. I always have Angie's mantra of color-pattern-texture-shine in the back of my head, and I sometimes struggle amping up the other three if one aspect is missing.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

I am getting choosier and choosier about the scale and shape of my prints and the number of colours involved in them. I've always been a bit fussy about that, but I notice the tendency is becoming more and more obvious.

Gracie

Veteran

I've also not been drawn to pattern prints for awhile - I'm preferring abstract large watercolor-ish prints or stripes, but I'm really delving into textures and different hues for my neutrals.

cciele

Veteran

Interesting about it being a seasonal thing! But I also see a move toward simplicity and bold statements.

I'm pretty much a solids kind of girl. Of my printed pieces, most of them have a single image (an animal, a word, etc) instead of all-over print. The only all-over print I really do is camo.

Vicki

(website)

Veteran

Great post, Janet, and I feel the same "shift" of sorts. I had to return a tiny polkadot Equipment shirt that just didn't work (pattern?) and, YET, when I was walking out of the department, I noticed several Joie silk blouses and tops in patterns that made me stop and take a second look.

I want to be discriminating, but still open to what's out there. I also want it to work with my more casual lifestyle and still be able to dress up or down. The scale is important, too, and I'm moving away from big prints to smaller ones.

unfrumped

Veteran

Ditto here, but agreeing that prints in general skew more warm weather, for simple reason that they are more interpretable in lighter-weight fabrics.
But I'm also on a kind of polka-dot focus and smaller prints and wanting them to be very wardrobe-enhancing/mixable and not orphans.

Liz

Hm... my style is evolving where patterns are concerned. More choosy. Open to various prints, but far less likely to snap up a top or scarf than I used to be -- which is where my pattern dose historically came from. The mantra since I was a teen was this: dress solid on the bottom, minimize the rear. I don't want to minimize it anymore, but I haven't tried on patterned bottoms yet.

These days, I'm looking at handbags and shoes for pattern, too... and am curious about pattern mixing. As I edge closer to 40, pattern has become a playful thing again. Plaid, words and skulls are my current faves. I'm kicking myself for not buying a skull scarf on sale last year. It seemed too "out there," and now I realize it's well inside my comfort zone. Also -- pattern repetition: testing the waters of Team "MORE" after years of minimal living on multiple fronts.

Laura (rhubarbgirl)

(website)

Veteran

I've gravitated toward more solids and less prints myself as well in the last few months. I think Angie is right that prints are more common in the warmer months, though. It's always fun to notice these things, I think.

Susie

Veteran

Not really a shift for me, as I've favored solids for some time now. I do like tone-on-tone patterns and color blocking and when I do gravitate to a print, it's generally a graphic one. Instead of prints, I seem to prefer interesting and or varied textures.

I do find it interesting to think there is a seasonal factor at play. I agree with Diana that patterns may be more appealing when we are wearing less pieces in warmer weather.

Caro in Oz

Veteran

I'm like Susie & prefer to play with texture rather than prints. I have be making a concerted effort to add more prints.

carter

Veteran

Leopard, zebra, polka dots and stripes appeal to me more than ever these days, so I'm collecting. Probably 95% of my wardrobe is strictly solids though, so I can use the diversification.

Thistle

Veteran

Until I joined YLF, there was not a single patterned piece in my wardrobe. Even now I am very choosy, but as Angie noted, I do have more summer prints than winter. Far more, actually.

Gigi

Veteran

I've gone the opposite way--I had a great dislike for patterns until about midfall, when I suddenly wanted them. I think it was my reaction to the darker weather and wanting something to "brighten" it up. I now have a few patterned pieces in my closet, but not many. I'd like to add more. I know, I'm living dangerously!

Aquamarine

Veteran

I prefer patterns in the warmer months because they add interest when I need minimal layers. They also camouflage less than ideal body parts However, I don't actually have that many patterned pieces because I find I am pretty picky about what I like.

Anonymous

A year ago I was trying to refresh winter outfits with pattern mixing. This year it's more simple with stripes or an animal print that is more texture than print leading the way. I am attracted to plaids now but have not bought any recently.

Nicole D

Veteran

Janet, I opened this post expecting to see a photo of an interesting shift dress! Silly me!
I am noticing how my colour choices are changing - I am wearing more black than a fashion editor these days. Maybe due to weight gain? It is not the best choice when I am getting covered in feathers everyday from my down filed coat and battling salt laden sidewalks!

shiny

Veteran

I go through phases and I figure that it's my natural way of balancing out my wardrobe. If I've collected too many prints, I naturally crave and focus on solids for awhile. Then when solids start taking over, I naturally seek out patterns again.

Also, I bet there's a correlation between time of monthly cycle and solid/pattern preference. I bet if someone was feeling scientific about this, we could prove that I'm way more apt to buy and/or wear patterns during my more fertile times, and solids when less fertile. Patterns say "look at me" whereas solids say "I just want to blend in." I suspect my changing preferences may be largely unconscious choices.

Jjsloane

Veteran

I'm shifting the same. Although I do feel seasonally that's probably common. Winter wear is more substantial so you I want it to last longer and not be dated by a print. Plaid and animal print are what I go for in cooler weather, but anything goes in summer when you have less layering.