patterns can speak volumes…they can be bold or demure, sublime or ridiculous…
they can even convey different interpretation of the law…
narrow stipes? banker…
broader pinstripes? gangster…
broad stripes? convict…
they can camouflage (the soldier’s fatigues) or announce (the tourist’s hawaiian shirt)…there are “no-pattern” patterns, like the subtle striping on a shirt or the small arrows of a herringbone tweed, which add texture to a garment…bold patterns, often found on bathing suits, can diminish or accentuate lines of the body…larger patterns will tend to make you look larger; smaller ones do the opposite…vertical lines elongate; horizontal bars widen and shorten…
they can be used to distract – a patterned scarf around the neck draws the eye to the face…
but they can also call attention to flaws we might rather hide…so use patterns as you use color: as an accessory…your mistakes will be less expensive…and your triumphs? fabulous…of course…
“some people were born to push the envelope of fashion and some to lick it…” ~ duff, mtv vj
pattern types:
floral – subtle in a scarf, or wildly feminine when done up big on spring and summer dresses…
animal prints – they’re wild by their nature…but we’ve seen so many stylish people wearing them (particularly leopard) over the decades – that they have become classics…
plaid – because distinct plaids were associated with various scottish clans, wearing them became a dangerous political statement and was once prohibited by british law…now they deorate everything from umbrellas to dog collars…
stripes – horizontal, they seem nautical…vertical, they are more businesslike…while they can look fresh or refined…be careful not to cover yourself in them…stripes are tiring to the eye…
polka dots – comical when large, demure when tiny…they are best used sparingly – on silk scarves for example…as they can attract a lot of attention…
really glad to have found this blog – esp since i’m a former san matean myself, but I must respectfully ask that you research the term “plaid” vs. “tartan” when speaking of scottish clans. 🙂
can’t wait to read and learn from your blog.
hi karina – thank you for your comments…are you scottish?
when i had researched plaid vs tartan…i got a lot of conflicting reports…all with the conclusion that they were one and the same…
i found this little snipet that was interesting off of wikipedia…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Tartan
I just watched a segment on CBS News Sunday Morning (originally aired 11/25/2007; re-ran 9/7/2008) entitled “Going Mad Over Plaid”. In the article, Doria De La Chapelle, co-author of a book “Tartan: Romancing the Plaid” by Jeffrey Banks, Doria De La Chapelle, and Rose Marie Bravo] states, “A tartan plaid, first of all, is Scottish, as opposed to American or English. It’s Scottish.” The article concluded “In other words: all tartan is plaid, but not all plaid is tartan.” I was never aware of such a distinction. It further explained that a tartan pattern has to be made of “perfect squares”, whereas a “plaid” can have “stripes”.