What is your pattern? - YouLookFab Forum

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Dressing

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What is your pattern?

deb

Veteran

I am not a pattern person. Never have been, So I thought. I think a good portion if my tops are now stripes. Several colors and patterns. Claiming a no pattern wardrobe is no longer possible let for me. Do you have a primary pattern in your wardrobe? Have you noticed a change in your primary pattern in your lifetime?

Dressing

46 replies

Latest reply was from The Cat

The Cat

Veteran

My all-time favourite: polkadots. I also like stripes and small/medium checks, in particular if they include white.

binkle

Veteran

stripes, sometimes plaid. Florals, paisley, etc, in a scarf.

Joy

Veteran

I have gone from mainly florals, my mother's favorite, to more abstract prints. My favorites are non repeating water color designs. Stripes, as long as they are even widths, and animal prints and houndstooth, which are more like textures, are also good.

Runcarla

Veteran

Stripes hands down. Horizontal and vertical. (I will buy a home decor magazine if there is a blue and white stripe of some sort on the cover! ) Followed by romantic florals and paisley. In my 30's it was polka dots and I had 3 dresses that I adored that were polka dots. I am off dots now-a-days.

DS#2 has 2 shirts with tiny bicycle motifs. If I could find something similar, I would grab it. A repeating favourite personal motif might be a hard thing to find - but I know some Folks have cats, scotties, skellies, and such.

The Cat

Veteran

By the way, it took me many, many years to like leopard prints. The reason is this: When I was a little girl in the early 1960's, we had some neighbours who we eventually learned were violent. The parents quite often beated up each other as well as their twin sons who were my age. I were in their apartment a few times and vividly remember their leopard print furniture and in particular an episode where the father, who (for some unknown reason) got furious, lifted up a heavy chair--with leopard print--and threatened to throw it against us children ... I was terrified, but managed to escape. A few weeks later, we luckily moved to a peaceful place. I later heard, however, that the twins from "the leopard print furniture family" got severe mental and physical damages and never became able to work or take care of themselves ... For decades, I associated leopard prints with violence and unhappy children. But I somehow have got over it by now. Since around 2010 I have owned and worn a few leopard print items.

Anonymous

With all my basics, neutrals and essentials being solids I pick up patterns in my scarves. Two exceptions-
I do have a couple of great plaid blazers that I notice are back on trend- yeah!
I also have a couple of stripe tops but I really am not wild about how I look in them. Moving them to my casual capsule until it’s time to move them out..
I plan on trying a patterned tee in future and see how I feel about it. Looking for the right one.

Bonnie

Veteran

I love stripes and plaids and they are easy to mix together for a maximal look.

Scoop Neck Pocket Top

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Cloth & Stone | Anthropologie Cloth & Stone Shoshone Plaid Buttondown

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krishnidoux

Veteran

That's a difficult question!
Stripes just because it's easy for this pattern to find its way into ones closet when one shops casual-preppy (most of North-America's larger brands).
But really, I went and checked: it's flowers. With polka dots coming close second.

Kari

Veteran

Yes. Abstract or watercolor florals and polka dots, preferably oversized, or a dark, small scale plaid n

Staysfit

Veteran

I prefer solids with texture, so maybe ribbed, or fuzzy fringes, lace, tweedy mixes of similar shades, or smooth and shiny, etc. For patterns I have mostly watercolor abstracts, abstract florals, and polka dots. Stripes are forever a mistake for me unless they are vertical or horizontal. I’m slowly eliminating them from my closet.

Leslie

Black and white houndstooth. Looks good with red buy pops with many other colors. Also glen plaid.

jussie

Veteran

Hmm. I do love pattern. I have a lot of florals, including a few liberty prints. I have 2 watercolour prints that I love. A couple of geometric. Lots of polka dots! Lots of stripes! I also would like to experiment with some plaid, which would be new to me. I have my eye on the j crew classic fit shirt in green and pink plaid. I don’t have any novelty prints as such but I really like the look of them.
The Cat: what a sad story! I can see why you would be completely put off leopard print. Growing up we had a similar neighbor, who we didn’t realize was voilent until years later. I vividly remember running into them with the daughters head bleeding on their way to the doctors. At the time they said she had fallen over but later we found they were being severely beaten by the father but we had NO IDEA

Classic-fit shirt in green-and-pink plaid

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Gretchen

Veteran

Stripes and polka dots are always my go tos (DD says I need an intervention)

Florals, esp when more abstract. are what i gravitate to when thinking about a new color palette

Plaid is always something I love, but I've learned I never wear after buying. So I'm trying hard to resist the siren call of the latest fall blazers.

deb

Veteran

The Cat - how scary for you to have an angry adult throw a chair at you.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Stripes for sure. Love them. Like Runcarla, I'm tempted to pick up anything that has a stripe pattern.

But I also love tartan (especially in winter) and/or check (like gingham, esp. blue and white gingham). And I adore adore adore a B/W houndstooth.

I do enjoy florals and abstract florals also, especially if they are strongly graphic. Too washed out and soft = not my thing.

I adore polka dots in theory. But can't wear them unless very tiny, in practice.

shiny

Veteran

If we're not talking about accessories...because I love patterns in accessories especially...

There was a time when I had a lot of paisley in my closet, but that hasn't been in style for awhile as all my paisley is now gone for one reason or another, not trend-related. I really LOVE paisley. It's my favorite pattern. Inexplicably. When it comes back in style, I am all over that.

I'm not a huge floral fan but I do like floral with a black background, or an abstract floral. One of my favorite cardigans, long decluttered because it wore out, was a Jcrew sepia tone floral. Right now I have a couple of floral tops but all have black backgrounds. I don't like florals that are too... colorful. Don't ask me why.

Yes I have a lot of stripes too but I like to mix them with patterned accessories like floral or geometric scarf or animal print shoes and don't even think of them as patterns. I think of them as neutrals.

Polka dots: cannot do. At all. Ever. They are either too big or too twee for me. I've tried. My least worn tops and dresses are polka dots. I just have to say no. I don't know why this is. It just is. (That said I do have a polka dot clutch-- I can do any and every pattern in small doses!)

Plaid: I love it in a scarf, or pj's. I feel weird with it in a shirt. I don't know why. I do remember wearing plaid flannel shirts a lot in HS. Sometimes I crave a plaid flannel shirt or shirt dress. I don't say never. Especially because my hubby likes to wear his kilt. I have accessories in his family plaid, but we aren't talking about accessories here.

Recently I received in the mail a B&W herringbone check blouse with big fluted sleeves. I want to do a try on and post a pic here for review, as I'm not sure whether to keep it or not. In theory it is "me" but the check may be too oversized for my frame. Not sure!

Gigi

Veteran

I'm not a huge pattern person either, but I do like a smattering of pattern every now and then. My absolute fave is leopard print. I have leopard shoes, scarves, and belts. I don't have any leopard print clothes yet, I think because I'm very picky about the look of the leopard print (some of it looks really fake or gaudy) and haven't found anything suitable in clothing as of yet.

The rest of the patterns in my closet are divided up relatively equally among nonleopard animal prints, florals, polka dots, and stripes.

Anonymous

Tight race with paisley, floral & plaid but I love polka dots & stripes too.

Jane

Veteran

I have very few patterns, I tend to grow weary of them ahead of the pieces wearing out. I wear patterns in accessories (scarfs mainly) which I love. I do like animal prints but need to sure I don’t fall in love with the idea buy something and then not wear.

Kathie

Veteran

I don’t have many patterned items, if I exclude scarves- one geometric print, two stripes, one polka dot, one leopard print, and that’s it. For scarves, I tend toward larger, more dramatic designs- geomtrics and botanical florals, but nothing small. Texture, on the other hand, is something I love.

rachylou

Veteran

Red/blue plaid. Hands down.

Cardiff girl

Veteran

I’m generally plain but with a few stripes,checks and animal prints thrown in to liven it up a bit.

lyn67

Veteran

Yess, I've trully evolved on this one.

I don't know if it is mmy 10 yrs long experience here, my age (over 50 now) or my the actual stage on my own style path, the curent maximal fashion trend or the availability in retail-but I always considered a no pattern person. I started withcolor blocks, then came the stripes and aztec, now is the moody floral EVEN some pattern mixing!!!!....Who knew it?? I never guessed it for sure!:-)

Oh, forgot about dots. I have had a few when younger but all moody backgrounds and rather 2-3 toned (not single one). BUT like Shiny, I cannot do them now (anymore:-()...

Plaid/gingham is neither mine. Especially not on flanel and top of my body except maybe a burberry scarf(which I don't own yet:-)).That been said I just adore nowadays available plaid and florals(in the same print)for a blouse and tweed for some bottoms.

Inge

(website)

Stripes forever!!-) But I also love plaid/gingham, polka dots, (abstract) florals, argyle etcetera, etcetera....

Style Fan

Veteran

The Cat, that must have been very scary for you! And how terrible for the children to grow up in a family like that. Very sad.

I only have one piece of clothing with a pattern and that is a stripe. I generally avoid patterns except when it is an accessory. I love paisley and abstracts for scarves. I avoid florals at all costs. I love leopard print and might add some to my wardrobe if I find the right piece.

Anonymous

BIG fan of florals. But unfortunately for me, they have to be the right floral for me to wear it. I consider floral size, placement, and color. I seem to like a "medium" sized floral in tops, usually in pinks and fuchsias. I have even purchased some in black with success.

kkards

Veteran

stripes...and camo....

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

I LOVE patterns and I love pattern mixing. I stick to the classics so I don't get bored with them:

Stripes
Dots
Checks
SOME florals

Very occasionally animal print.

Sara L.

Veteran

I like stripes, plaids, and dark florals. I have a few other patterns in my closet, like houndstooth, but I'm mostly drawn to those three.

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