This week, I want to talk about something that pushes the envelope. Something that is daring. Something that is considered the anti-trend. Something most people wouldn’t do. Something forbidden…..

This week I’m talking pairing patterns on patterns *dramatic pause as you hear gasps around the room*

LOL that was fun, right? But really. Pairing patterns on top of patterns is almost always considered a fashion no-no or a faux-pas - but sometimes rules are meant to be broken. Sometimes, rules just come off more like a dare.

I took the challenge - a challenge presented to me by a reader, thank you for that by the way - to try and come up with a way to break this rule in order to make a total style statement. Honestly, once I started looking at patterns and to mix instead of how to keep them separate…. being in my closet felt like a lot more fun. Since elementary school, this was the cardinal rule: there can only be one patterned item in your outfit. I’ve lived by this. I’ve styled by this. And today I broke all of the rules. I mixed colors you wouldn’t & patterns you typically shouldn’t. But hey, are you mad at it? ‘Cause I wasn’t.

This is one heck of a weekend statement outfit and I’m loving it.

This outfit came together rather naturally, I’ll admit it. Both the top and the camo print jeans were hanging next to one another on my drying rack when it hit me how much fun they would be paired together. I never would have imagined mixing pink, maroon, and green together but here it works because the colors actually compliment each other. Now shoes - that can be the tricky part.

Lucky for me, these Steve Madden sock booties matched the details in the top almost perfectly and tied the whole outfit together; (I bought the top with the boots in mind, so more strategic than lucky… but you know what I mean). Make no mistake - I do believe this outfit makes sense because there is still the element of matching involved. Though the mixed patterns take the focus, the balance of matching a color on top with a similar or same color on bottom provides the balance the outfit needs to work.

After coming up with the outfit I figured I should test it out by wearing it out and about all day to how it made me feel. I thought I’d be super uncomfortable but to my surprise, I felt confident and totally sassy. I decided that mixing patterns is the kind of bold statement that leaves you feeling like a total boss. It was a risk, but risks can sometimes really pay off.