How to Mix Prints: Polka Dots and Stripes

The Scene

First Twitter event in LA as part of the company. Biggie for me. And not just because our event happened to be held at the Petersen Museum, site of the shooting that killed Notorious B.I.G.!



Event went fantastically well and ends with roof-top cocktails. Life is good.





The Outfit 

H&M dress
J Crew belt
Zara heels
Marc by Marc Jacobs bag
Fashion District bracelets
Dior sunglasses




The Grade

A

The Commentary


The goal today: look professional without feeling boring – the perennial challenge of real women with real jobs everywhere. Prints and color are my go-to ways to create polished pop. Stand-out accessories help too. Enter my delicious new Zara heels. They were lust at first sight. Sold out in stores so got them online. 

They are dead-ringers for all those Prada Spring 2011 striped heels that I still haunt my dreams. 

The orange-magenta color combination is a personal favorite for summer – probably the mani/pedi I do most often during warm months. Love how the rafia makes them feel like vacation shoes but the shape and structure makes them pulled-together enough for the office.

Pulled out a go-to chiffon-y dress (worn before for another work event here.) Despite the polka dot print, I think of this dress as neutral in my wardrobe. The black and cream go with everything.



Added the neon orange belt to match my nails and the heels as well as a little neon bracelet I got in the Fashion District.  The final touch: the polka dot bag.

My trick to mixing polka dots – and really mixing any prints – is to find a color or colors that tie them together.  So, in this case, it's less about the dress and the bag both being polka dotted and more about the background of both being cream and the "print" being black.  

For example, the look wouldn't have worked as well if I'd worn the version of the bag that I got my mom for Mother's Day. The whole thing could have felt clownier because in that case it wouldn't have been about tying together colors, it would have been about the prints. Make sense?

Thankfully, I averted clowny and the outfit was a hit. The shoes got more compliments that you can imagine. A+ of a purchase. And best of all, I felt like I looked unique and memorable  – two keys to success in business today.  

The Inspiration