Spring Pattern Mixing: Magnificent 8 Collaboration

Ah, Spring is in the air and the inspirations for mixing patterns abound. Think of the brightly colored flowers against the backdrop of camouflage hued foliage. Or the silhouettes of palm trees against a sunset sky. Or hand-dyed eggs nestled in a basket with jelly beans. Kind of like the colors in this outfit. LOL

In that latest collaboration installment of The Magnificent 8, the chosen theme for our outfits is Spring Pattern Mixing. True confession, it’s supposed to also be with pastel colors but I don’t have much of those in my wardrobe but I think the yellow and pink in my ensemble are pretty close.

With the theme in mind, I started building this outfit with the skirt. It’s a recent thrift store find that has a cool and unique feature. Equally spaced around and sewn onto the seams on the underside are 8 pairs of ties. Left undone, the skirt hangs straight but tied up, the hem of the skirt hitches up and looks as you see in these photos. I could tie only the front ones for a high/low effect or just the ones on the sides for another look.  My bad for not thinking to get photos of the skirt without it tied up.  I’ll be sure to share photos of the skirt both up and down next time it appears in a post.

Since we’re focused on the hem of the skirt, I’ll tell you about my shoes. A few years ago I developed a fondness for white fashion sneakers when I bought a pair of Keds to wear after foot surgery. Since then I’d also bought a pair of Reebok court shoes but I’ve found them to not be so comfortable. The soles are too stiff and the heels are too low. I’ve got very, very flat feet so I find shoes with less than 1/2″ heel to not be comfortable. Anyway, my Keds are now quite grungy looking so a couple of months ago I started to look for a new pair of white fashion sneakers.

You’d think that they’d be easy to find but I struck out everywhere I looked. It seems that all white is not in despite the current “dad sneakers” trend. I’d been to DSW, Off-Broadway, and other self-service stores. I’d looked online but was striking out there too. But never say never is my motto when it comes to shopping and I found these cuties on another trip to DSW when I’d been looking for white sandals. I’m sad to say that I struck out on the white sandals but I can be flexible and I found some other options. Anyway, back to my choice of footwear. There are several sandal wearing months to come and since sneakers worn with dresses and skirts is trending again, I figured I go with that for this outfit.

With the skirt decided on, the next piece I needed was the top. In my attempt to use pastels and to mix patterns, I’d originally thought that a stripe or floral would look good with the tye-dyed swirls. Having nothing in my closet that worked, I set out in search of a perfect find at several thrift stores and retail establishments with no luck. At some point, I’d hit on the idea to not match the colors in the skirt but to look for green or maybe yellow. I’ll be honest, yellow scares me a little for I fear that it’s not complementary to my skin tone. Nevertheless, when I spotted this yellow t-shirt with its paisley overprint at a big name outlet store I knew I’d found my winner.  Paisley and tye-dye, what do you think?

When in doubt, add a denim jacket. This beauty with the ruffely trim is another thrift store find but one that I’ve had a while. I originally bought it with the idea that I would list it on Poshmark but it’s so awesome that I’ve decided to keep it a while. And since we are three-dimensional creatures in a three-dimensional world so I’d be remiss if I didn’t share a view from the back.

Have you visited any of the other Magnificent 8 gals yet and seen their spins on the theme of Spring pattern mixing? In case you haven’t, let me show you the way.

The intent of the Magnificent 8 is to show that there are no age restrictions on style. So wear what you want, when you want, add a smile, and strut your style with confidence. And be sure to check out all 8 of these amazing gals! We are sharing these posts on a quarterly basis … be on the lookout in July for the next post in this series.

Grace of Graceful Rags is representing teenagers.
Michelle of Michelle’s Pa(i)ge is representing the 20-somethings.
Roxanne of Glass of Glam is representing the 30-somethings.
Shelbee of Shelbee on the Edge is representing the 40-somethings.
Rena of It’s All Fine. Whatever Tickles The Fancy is representing the 50-somethings.
Eugenia of The Age Of Grace is representing the 60-somethings.
Nancy of Jodie’s Touch of Style is representing the 70-somethings.
And Charlotte of Jodie’s Touch of Style is representing the 80-somethings.

Remember, you can’t put a number on style!

One way to bring the vibrancy of Spring into your look is to take clues on color and pattern mixing from nature. Not that I’ve ever seen paisley and tye-dye in nature, but you get my meaning. Be playful and have fun with your style.

Let’s connect! Subscribe, tweet, follow, friend, love, pin … all options are available and waiting for you. I look forward to hearing from you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~