I love a good neutral outfit as much as the next girl, but I like to switch it up sometimes with an outfit that is all about playfully mixing prints and color. Part of my goal for 2018 is to wear more color, since I tend to gravitate towards grays, blacks and whites. It’s the New Yorker in me.

When I do mix prints and colors in an outfit, I stick to some rules I learned when I worked for an interior decor company. Because, really, decorating a great room is just like putting together a great outfit. Ultimately, you could break all of these rules because fashion is about expressing yourself, but these are my tried and true ways to mix print and color in an outfit.

Pick one print as the hero || The piece of clothing that covers a large amount of my body or has the busiest pattern is what I use as my hero print. Every other pattern I choose bows down to this hero print and complements it. In this outfit, the hero print is the chinoiserie kimono duster.

Pull colors from the hero print || Since my hero print usually has a lot of different colors, every other print I mix with my outfit has colors that are in the hero print.

Vary print size || If all of the prints are the same size, I find that the eye doesn’t know where to go first. I use a range of larger scale prints and smaller ones to balance everything.

Play with different shades in the same color family || Mixing different shades of the same color family is such an easy way to step into mixing color/print. For example, I used several shades of green in this outfit, from the bag to the shoes.

When in doubt, add a solid or neutral || I always throw in a solid color and/or neutral print into my outfit to ground it (yes, I consider jeans a neutral).

Play with texture. || Texture plays a major role in my outfits that mix color & print. It creates dimension. In this outfit, I’ve mixed sheer lightweight fabric with tattered jeans, sparkling shoes, a cotton tee and a silk purse.

If you want to shop some of this look, scroll through below!

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