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How To Pick Prints Over 40

April 21, 2022 By: Nada Manleycomment

Sometimes I feel like my job as your personal stylist and fashion friend is kind of like the role of that mom who breaks up the teen parties. She means well, but she’s not a lot of fun.

How many times have you seen a printed item shared in the Facebook group only to hear me comment (kindly, I hope) something along these lines:

“You are cuter than that print.”

“That print is too mature.”

“I’d love to see you in a more contemporary print.”

And trust me, it hurts me more than it hurts you. 🙂

The thing is not only are prints tricky, but they are controversial. If you really want to see people take sides of an argument, don’t discuss politics. Discuss florals.

And that’s exactly what I’m going to do in today’s video.

These are just my opinions, of course, and other fashion experts might disagree. They would be wrong, of course, but they might disagree. (Kidding! I”m only kidding! Sort of.)

To further add to the controversy, you can’t just take a print as a stand-alone item. You have to combine the print with the item of clothing and make your call that way. A modern print can update a potentially frumpy silhouette, and vice versa.

So here, my take on the categories of prints, with both good and not-so examples for each.

You can find everything mentioned in this video right here.

The Splashy Floral

Splashy florals are big, bold, and a little loud, which is their strength and also their weakness. These florals look best when they are modern (and I’ll show you what that looks like below) and when they are used to decorate cool and contemporary clothing styles.

A chic splashy print on a sleek suit from The Hermoza
Bad print ruins a potentially good suit
Bad print. Bad suit, Period.
Great print, great dress
A contemporary print on a chic dress.
Great print and great silhouette.
Bad print on a pretty bad silhouette.
Bad print and tricky silhouette.

The Tropical Floral

Tropical prints are not just for Hawaiian shirts, anymore. A cool and modern tropical print on a great silhouette is a fun look for warm weather. But beware of the dodgy prints, usually adorning bathing suits and boxy shorts.

Nice print, simple dress
Great print and dress
Bad print on a frumpy suit

The Ditsy Floral

This sweet floral features a random pattern of small scale flowers, often in soft colors. Paired with youthful pieces, it can border on impossible to wear, but in small or sophisticated doses it’s feminine and fun.

A sample of a ditsy print
Adorable, but both the print and the dress are too young
With this print, the classic dress becomes matronly
Borderline print makes this borderline dress too matronly
Chic print on a clean silhouette makes this more wearable
Pretty print on a sassy silhouette makes this work
Simple peasant style dress works with a simple ditsy print
Sweet print on a modern shape makes this work
The Gracie print looks much more modern on this sleek pump
Than on this more classically mature style

The Rich Print

This sophisticated print, often done in dark colors and luxurious fabrics, is a work of art and often unique to the label, The quality of the print is evident in its uniqueness and intricacy, and it elevates everything it touches.

Johnny Was adds on of their signature prints to thee relaxed pants
Print master Etro makes these gorgeous printed pants
Fuzzi’s black based floral is sophisticated and chic
Beautiful print and dress from Zimmermann

Prints Charming or Alarming

Following are examples of prints gone right and those that miss the mark a little.

A charming boho dress
An alarming boho dress
No to this stuffy blue floral on a matronly style
Yes to this crisp blue and white floral
No to this busy and dated floral
Yes to this over the top and modern floral
Yes to this Lilly print, which is iconic and never goes out of style
No to lesser quality Lilly inspired pieces
No to the patchwork print combined with the boring dress
This patchwork print dress is ubertrendy but too youthful for most. Skip patchwork prints as a rule.
This bold floral features a so-so pattern and ho-hum design
This chic botanical floral is elegant and timeless

What did you think of my prints hits and misses? And would you like to see more videos about prints? Let me know in the comments!

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