Mix and Match

How fierce do these pattern-mixing ladies look? I am all over this trend. It can look so sophisticated when done right. Particularly skilled at the mix and match are:

Blair of Atlantic-Pacific:

Kristin of Suburban Faux-Pas:

Stephanie of Stephanie Sterjovski:

Rachel of Pink Peonies and Jessie of Fashion Salade:

Bethany of B-Soup (who is definitely the most fearless):

And of course, the master - J. Crew.

Feeling nervous about pulling it off yourself? Try balancing the scales of your patterns (e.g., large pattern with a small pattern, stripe with a floral, etc.) or keeping to a common colour palette (e.g., navy stripe with a navy polka-dot). Stripes can go with pretty much anything, although you want to be extra careful if you pair them with a plaid. As for leopard print, I may be biased, but I think it's the most versatile of the bunch!

(A few of my pattern-mixing attempts of late.)