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Purging a pattern

Penny

Veteran

Have you ever purged a pattern as inconsistent with your style preferences? In considering that my overall style goal is sophisticated elegance, I realized that polka dots didn't advance that goal for me (although perhaps they do for others!)

Even for loungewear or beachwear, I found that I wanted to feel like those items aligned with my overarching style goals. Today, I donated my last polka-dotted piece - a nightie - that I had replaced with a navy-and-lace confection that is soft, lovely, and for me, the picture of sophisticated elegance for loungewear.

Now, most of my wardrobe consists of solids (e.g., black, navy, burgundy, eggplant, deep teal) with a smattering of prints in watercolor motifs, abstract florals, and nautical stripes.

Over to you - have you had that experience, and if so, what did you find better aligned with your style preferences and goals?

Dressing

23 replies

Latest reply was from Aziraphale

Helena

Veteran

What a great question, and good for you on your focus and discipline. I am constantly purging, to the point that I am trying to stop! But grayed colors and blended patterns tend to have a shorter shelf life with me and don't really have the crispness that I like - unless I pair them with white, which is my new trick for such cases!

Aida

Veteran

Yep, same for me: polka dots. I don't think of them as inelegant though; the right dots are very elegant on the right wearer! It was more a matter of not being the right type of retro, soft whimsy for me. I wear a LOT of pattern, and tend primarily to go for checks/plaids, watercolors, geometrics, florals, and the odd stripe here and there. But I'm certainly open to all kinds of patterns as long as they have a strong emotional draw.

El Cee

Veteran

I have eliminated ditsy florals. I find them a bit too "sweet" for my personal style.

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Penny

Veteran

Agreed, Aida - certainly, they are elegant on many wearers, they just weren't resonating for me emotionally with my current style vision. It's interesting how certain patterns - or even variations of the same type of pattern - can vary in their emotional impact, and it sounds like you have a nice variety in what appeals to you!

Laura (rhubarbgirl)

(website)

Veteran

I don't wear a lot of florals, mostly because I don't think they fit my personality. I am a complete sucker for black and white prints, to the point of absurdity sometimes. I tend to prefer a two-color print that's geometric or repeating on a medium scale. I'm not the biggest fan of really tiny or huge scale prints; the former is too twee and the latter is too attention-grabbing. I like plaids; I like small-scale polka dots in neutrals but not in brights. Oh yeah, and ombre fade gets on my nerves for some reason I can't explain.

I think this can be such a primal thing sometimes - I can intellectually appreciate some prints and patterns and even use them in home decorating or sewing something for someone else, but there is no way I would ever wear them.

Aida

Veteran

I definitely wear a good variety. I'm also a sucker for the right kitty and fish prints It's fascinating how people react to different kinds of patterns!

Anonymous

I used to wear polka dot once in a while, but I'm now decidedly anti polka dot; don't know why, I just am. I have, however, purchased a dotted blouse from Talbots that's tone on tone. I like it a lot better. I strongly dislike ditsy florals and big splashy florals. I went without stripes for a long time, but some have made their way into my closet this year. I have always loved paisley prints and tone-on-tone jacquard. For a touch of whimsy, I bought a sweater that has a sea turtle on the front. I also have one that has bumble bees on it.

Penny

Veteran

Interesting to hear about everyone's preferences! Thanks for sharing, ladies.

LaPed

Veteran

Hmm, I've never had to consciously purge a pattern -- I think my tastes are pretty consistent and I just don't buy printed garments unless I absolutely love them. I'm mostly a stripes and plaid girl (I do find that pinstripes don't stick around long in my wardrobe, because I can't wear them paired with horizontal stripes).

I like polka dots a lot, but hardly have any because they don't show up often in the type of garments I'd like. And when they do, they're never quite right in terms of color, scale, distribution, etc. It's a tricky pattern to get right.

I've never been much for florals, except for certain big bold Marimekko-style ones, and grunge-flavored ditsy florals in the right context.

I thought I was okay with geometrics like chevrons, greek keys, and ikat prints, but they're so oversaturated now that I'm glad I don't own any.

I'm always on the lookout for good fruit, vegetable, and critter prints. Those can be hard to find!

rachylou

Veteran

Well, I got rid of all those tiny florals on rayon from the 90s, and now apparently they're back! I also have only souvenir calico florals, and am off graphic patterns. I have tho returned to polka dots - bit Spanish style. My old polka dots were Shirley Temple.

Oh and yes - have gone off of hipster tie dye and ikat too.

Anonymous

Yes. I've purged ditsy florals and very large high contrast prints on dresses that overwhelm. They seem ok on a skirt or top, but a whole dress is too much.

Janet

(website)

Veteran

Polka dots are all but gone from my wardrobe too -- I have one dress left, and I last wore it two years ago.

Small-scale florals are also almost gone. Again, one lone dress remains with a small floral print, and it's been a year and a half since I wore it. Hmmm, I see a pattern there.

I still embrace stripes, plaids, abstracts, larger scale florals in certain color schemes, paisley (although I currently own only a couple of scarves in it), and some geometrics.

shiny

Veteran

I like patterns and nearly any pattern may or may not appeal to me and find its way into my closet in some form or another.

I have polka dots in small doses on two different clutches. In general I steer clear of ditsy florals but recently have found myself inexplicably drawn to them, maybe in the form of a flowing shirt dress for spring/summer.

I love plaid scarves but plaid shirts somehow turn me off, I think because I wore them all the time when I was in junior high (in the form of flannel). Large scale graphic florals make their way into my closet in the form of sweaters, but for some reason, not dresses. Stripes work as long as it's B&W or W&B. Geometrics - yes. Paisley... is my favorite. But, I haven't been able to find much paisley lately.

No chevrons or ikats, but I can be a sucker sometimes for tie-dye. And I love ombre!

Is color blocking a pattern? How about animal prints?

Penny

Veteran

Lots of interesting pattern preferences! I feel the same way about ditsy florals as most have remarked - although I do love florals, they have to be just the right scale, color, and arrangement to strike my fancy (e.g., two floral dresses from WHBM with an artsy floral arrangement on a black background).

Shiny, not sure if color-blocking is considered a pattern, but animal print definitively is (although I know some treat it as a neutral!). While I tend to favor burgundy or metallic accents and have relinquished most of my animal prints as a result, I enjoy them on others.

catseye

Veteran

I don't wear much patterns other than stripes and plaids. No floral in general.

My one true love is animals. Not animal prints. But recognizable animals like cat, owl, etc. I also like smaller patterns of things. I guess they are called whimsical prints or something. For example, J crew had a clock shirt last year. Loft had a acorn shirt this year. I wonder at what point wearing a big cat in the front of my shirt is no longer age appropriate. If I am honest with myself, maybe it already is. But I still wear them.

anchie

Veteran

I prefer solids and have only few patterned items. I have bigger turnover with patterns because I get tired of them more easily.

Laura (rhubarbgirl)

(website)

Veteran

Rachylou, I had so many small scale florals on a black background in the 90s - I think the first thing I actually sewed on my own was from that kind of pattern, a skirt. Worn with a tshirt, black tights and my combat boots, of course!

catgirl

Veteran

Polka dots and animal prints really no longer speak to me, and I've never been big on stripes. Plaids and abstract patterns are more to my liking.

Pase

I seem to ditch the more high contrast patterns. I don't feel "put together" in them somehow. Although I do love them on the rack and gravitate towards them.

Summer

Veteran

My tastes for patterns have remained fairly constant over the years: I've always liked stripes, abstracts and subtle plaids. I'm now open to animal print in very small quantities, and also to prints of birds and butterflies.
One pattern that never features is floral - despite my love of flowers! I have dabbled in the past, but, somehow, it never seems right for my style.

Ginger

Veteran

There's not one pattern that I'm getting rid of. There are several I've never really adopted: animal print (I have a handful of items, the first being a gift), stripes (I just don't care for most items out there), and polka dots (ditto). I've always liked florals and all kinds of plaids, checks, and windowpanes. Opposite of Pase, I dislike low contrast patterns, because of how the colors muddy and go brown and blah from even a short distance away. By default, a lot of ditsy florals fall into that category; they're too small to show up as distinct colors.

Janet

(website)

Veteran

Animal print has all but disappeared from my wardrobe. Interesting. Maybe because it trended so hard a couple of years ago that I tired of it without even realizing it. I still have two pairs of animal print shoes (both too dressy for my typical wear) and those spotted Matisse booties that are somehow not seeing much wear anymore. I have one leopard print shirt from J Crew that I keep hanging onto even though I can't remember when I last wore it. Hmm.

Aziraphale

Veteran

I've never purged a pattern so much as repeatedly failed to buy it. Small dots is a good example, actually. I've picked up lots of items with a small polka dot pattern, and they make it to the dressing room, but somehow never to the checkout counter. Much as I think they're cute, I guess they just don't work with my style.