Midlife Fun: Pattern Mix

It is time for Midlife Fun link-up again! Please join Tina, Beate and me. You are welcome to link up your posts any time between now and October 25. Yes, we are open for the whole month!

All of the pieces are with me for a while, except for the chunky platform sandals which I bought recently, and was so happy that I did. I had a very similar pair of sandals about 20 years ago (only they were vanilla colored), and I wore them with just about everything. And almost as soon as I remembered those sandals and thought how wonderful it would be to find a similar pair, I found these brown platforms. Serendipity! They quickly became my favorite, as you can see from the last couple of posts. At first I was sad that I won't have a chance to wear them till next Summer, but then I realized that I can take them into Fall by simply wearing tights - it's nippy in the evenings.

My outfit was created around this 1960s inspired dress. I'm so glad to see the colorful, funky 60s inspired clothing in many brands these days (for plus sizes, check out ModCloth, eShakti, Eloquii) - it has been my most favorite era in fashion since I was a girl. I have had this dress for a couple of years, and it is very versatile. I can wear it either as is, sleeveless, or layering a blouse, thin sweater or turtleneck under it. Wearing a top under a dress is a very easy layering trick, by the way, which gives an outfit an instant romantic vintage appeal.This time, I added a thrifted blouse which has no label, so I can't say for sure whether it is a new item made from vintage fabric, or a real vintage blouse. I love it in any case and consider it "my vintage blouse". 

For easy pattern mixing, they recommend that there is at least one color in common. While it's true, it certainly isn't the only possibility. You can also build on either contrasting or analogous colors. I think my dress and blouse combo works because of a few key elements. First of all, the patterns themselves - stripes and florals go well together, it's classic. And as far as colors are concerned, I used similarly saturated colors, while blue and orange create a great contrast. I think the blouse+dress combo works on its own, but the carpet bag adds interest and binds it all together. It is a real 1960s vintage and has all the saturated colors (and more!) of my outfit. Here you have it - I think I spelled out the whole magic in these few sentences.

Please visit my beautiful blogging friends Beate of Bahnwaerterhaeuschen and Tina of Tina's Pink Friday. See what pattern mixing magic they have in store HERE and HERE. And don't forget to share some of your magic too!

Dress - Lands' End (old)

Blouse and purse - thrifted, vintage (old)

Sunnies - Christian Siriano for Lane Bryant

Platforms - MIA via Nordstrom Rack

Linking to Visible Monday

* * *

An InLinkz Link-up