So, riding the el every day, I see many people dressed in various ways, and nearly every day, I see someone that Eve would be tempted to push under the train. Floral skirts with camo camisoles, striped trousers and paisley shirts, and of course mixed animal prints, sometimes mixed with florals. I have seen a few outfits that manage to look fine with mixed prints. One shirt I saw was a patchwork of black white and grey that looked fetching despite having 3 different patterns and 5 different textures. Then there was a skirt made with three paisleys obviously designed together, mainly differing in the density of the pattern. I’ve seen multiple garments made of fabric printed with animal prints with roses superimposed over the animal print. One pair of blue jeans I saw were made of denim, printed with patches of landscapes, paisley, snakeskin, oversized denim texture print, and leopard spots all in a combination of beige, brown, burnt orange, off white, white, and denim blue. In toddler clothing some clothes sets are made with pants with stripes, and tops with florals in the same colors. And others are made with the same pattern in various colors. Is the mixing of patterns always abuse, or do the mixing of patterns sometimes have a place?
All fashion comes down to one question: Does it look good, or does it look “Good God!”?
sigh I need to doublecheck before I hit the button.
Meaning, anything that actually works, regardless of whether it breaks a “rule” or not, is not abuse. If, on the other hand, it makes your rods and cones trample each other like fans at the 1979 Cincinnati Who concert in an effort to get OUT of the focus of sight, it is abuse of the highest order.
Your metaphor did to my mind what a Holly Hobbie skirt does to my rods and cones.
I am torn, as I found cute shoes in the same pink and offwhite as the houndstooth suits, but they are kind of a tweedy plaid, almost like a very tiny hound tooth with thicker and thinner bits to make it look plaid. I think that maybe the shoes are designed to go with the suit, but I am not sure.