I'm tired of pattern-mixing. There's nothing inherently wrong with it, but visual busyness has come to grate on me. Therefore, I'm not into this outfit, although I was comfortable wearing it. I like the pieces separately, and the shape is one that I gravitate toward. However, something about combining ruffled stripes and a Victorian-esque fan print just feels wrong. I wish I could explain my reaction rationally, but a fascinating aspect of aesthetic experiences is that they can rarely be catalogued or quantified. I have to deal with the inexplicability of my emotions, and accept that people's tastes change periodically. I don't necessarily want to stay static... If only I understood why my preferences are shifting!
Any theories or thoughts? Please psychoanalyze me. Or talk about how it works for you.
I always do this.. change my mind about the outfit once i've done the outfit post! I really like your skirt :)
ReplyDeleteLove Emma xx
www.collagemepretty.blogspot.co.uk
Glad to know I'm not alone =P
DeleteI think it's perfectly normal for your preferences to change. Mine certainly do. I love bold patterns, but have recently been less about the actual pattern-mixing. I actually like combining florals with stripes, though, so I enjoy this outfit!
ReplyDeleteFor sure. Thank you, Marie!
DeleteI actually think this outfit works because the dark colors in the shirt match the fans on the skirt! I find my preferences seem to shift day by day. I'll pick out something to wear one night to wear the next day, but when I wake up hate it. But then I few days later I'll find myself wearing the outfit I hated so much the other day. I think for me, what I wear depends almost entirely on my mood. I may have a favorite outfit, but if I am not in a certain moos that way I can't stand to wear it.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny how that works, isn't it? The human brain is finicky.
DeleteI say embrace the shift! I never used to like the colour orange, but now I am all about the orange (in clothes at least). It was the same with navy a while back. I expect both will wax and wane again. I feel like you only need to explain preferences if you feel you need to justify them somehow. And so long as a preference isn't hurting anyone, I don't think you need to justify it...or explain it! Did that make sense?
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you have a few things that are always more or less constant (I have always and will always love purple, for example), so you can feel anchored with those while you explore your whims and fancies with everything else :-)
I guess I do feel like I have to justify my shifts in taste, but I don't have any sense-making reason why =P
DeleteI'm going to be real honest, the pattern mixing thing feels like an annoying hipster invention. Yup, you can totally mix patterns for a delightful outcome, but not every pattern mixing experiment is successful. With the greytones in the skirt that match the greytones in the shirt, I can see what you were going for, but I think you changed your mind.
ReplyDeleteThe definition of comfortable clothing shouldn't be limited to, 'it feels comfortable on my body.' If you're not comfortable wearing the patterns and clothing because they clash too much or they're too busy, or maybe you just aren't feeling it like you were earlier in the morning, or maybe this signals a broader shift about how you want to dress yourself - you should change. Point is, clothing should make you feel good, not stressed out.
I agree. And I think pattern-mixing is definitely tricky. I really prefer pattern + solid.
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