Friday, April 23, 2010

Style Tips: How to wear animal print

Which fashion statement echoes right on you?

Don’t wear animal print if you don’t wanna look like an old mama desperately seeking a papa.

If you are to make a serious fashion statement, wear animal print. Don’t be afraid. Wear it with confidence. It’s all about attitude anyway.

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I would not be surprised if this question divides the house of fashion. Many believe that young women should not consider wearing animal print because they are likely to end up as fashion disasters. The other side of the house, however, claims that no matter what print you’d wear, if you’re not confident and skilled enough, you are certainly going to end up a fashion disaster. It's all a matter of how you carry the print.

Animal print in itself is a fashion statement. However, unless you are making an editorial shoot, certain things should be carefully considered in wearing these prints to avoid hitting the front page of "what were they thinking?". Believe me, it's very easy to make mistakes.

Don’t match if it’s large

Matching colors and prints is very common in styling. However, not only does going too matchy projects a trying hard obsolete way of styling, it is as well considered a big NAY when it comes to animal prints. Choose only one large part of your outfit as wild. For instance, if your top is a leopard/tiger/zebra print, let the tights/skirt/pants be non-animal. If it's your dress that has the print, then let your shoes be plain black. A touch of the same print on your footwear would only work as long as the black or white? is dominant.

Christian-Dior-Leopard-Dress
Christian Dior Cruise Сollection 2010
Tone it down

If your outfit is too wild, tone it down a bit. If you wear an animal print mini dress, you can tone it down by wearing a single-colored-cardigan over the dress which color blends well with your wild print. If you wear a leopard print tights, for example, you can tone it down by wearing a knee length boots with color that blends but suppresses the strongest shade of your animal print. You can decide too for the color of your boots by taking a non-dominant shade from your other accesories. Take a look at Whitney Port’s outfit. If she just toned it down with this Willow casual leather knee boots, she could have saved her fashionista image and avoided some OMG writers from asking, "Is it just us or is it these skinny leopard-print pants?"

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Another way of toning down a large wild is by carrying/wearing accessories that steals attention such as fur purse or fancy scarf. But then, their color should always be complementary.

Go matchy if it's accessory

If you feel the urge to go matchy, you can do so on your accessories provided that they don’t clash. For example, if you wear leopard printed boots, you can take a tiny purse in leopard print. If your tiger bag is with considerable size, you can take a pair of tiger print stilettos. But hopefully, your long scarf is no longer a leopard/tiger and your head gear does not scream jungle. The key here is getting minimal.

Christian-Dior-Cruise-Collection
Christian Dior Cruise Сollection 2010

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Stay single

I don't mean that you girls should stop searching for the man of your life [yes, he is being searched for not unless you already found him] and just stay single. What I do mean is that you would never go wrong if you take only a single item of animal print, either for your top, bag, shoes or scarf, while the rest of your outfit is entirely a shade of black or white. I'm not certain though, if this would also work if everything in your outfit is brown - if that won't make you look like a walking dead trunk? Do advise me.

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Try D&G style

If you want to be effectively daring, you can try Dolce and Gabbana style. A fitting sleeveless with low cleavage top paired with black and white polka dots, tucked in with black booties is a fabulous look to steal. A pair of fitting long sleeves top and below the knee pencil cut is otherwise an alternative.

Notice that the top and skirt are matched [bottom photo] but the prints are of big patterns with light brown as the main shade. Complete the look with a pair of plain black stilettos.

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What are your style secrets when it comes to animal print, girls? Should a young woman not wear animal prints?
Shop this Look

Merona® Women's Faux Wrap Animal Printe Dress - Brown/Cream MRed Large Vicky Giraffe Print Faux Leather Satchel Bag Handbag PurseElegant Zebra Animal Print Fringe Scarf - Different Colors Available, Brown511-Safari Ellie Shoes Leopard Microfiber Size: 10