A Madcap Guide to Power Clashing

When working with prints, all too often it’s easier to go busy on one element and solid with the rest of your look. But there’s a certain fashion-forward magnificence to ensembles that embrace the “more is more” perspective and go wild with clashing prints that somehow find harmony.

Boldly pair print with print and stand out from the crowd. This can be a tricky look to pull off, but with our guide to power clashing, you’ll look eccentric and fabulous, not crazy.

Keep One Color In Common

The cardinal rule of print mixing is to keep one color in common with each print you wear to ensure that your look is cohesive. For example, a blue and black batik print dress looks fetching with a blue herringbone cocoon coat. The color harmony keeps the look from appearing too busy while allowing you to go wild with your print choices.

Vary Size

To give a power-clashing look dimension and proportionality, make sure that the prints you wear are different sizes. Itsy-bitsy prints all over looks distracting and unflattering, not to mention impossible to distinguish the difference between the prints. Meanwhile, all-over giant prints clamor for attention and obscure your silhouette. Instead, mix it up: an oversized star print skirt paired with a tiny star print top looks polished, sweet and dynamic.

Mix Shapes

Whoever said to never mix stripes and polka dots clearly never saw them together. When rendered in a harmonious two-color scheme, mixed prints give you a super-cool optical illusion look that’s beautifully set off by solid accessories. Try a striped skirt, dotted crop top, black tights and boots together for a 60s mod look. You can take the look even further by topping it with a chevron jacket.

Be Playful

If you find yourself hesitating when putting a power-clashing look together, just remember that it’s all about having fun. Don’t sweat the rules too much—if you look in the mirror and your outfit makes you smile, you’ve done something right. A cacophony of color and print might seem intimidating at first, but the charm of your style and personality could win anyone over.

Print mixing is a brave move for the adventurous among us. Learn how to do it the right way and never look back.

Clash powerfully in a mixed-print ensemble.

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