Patterns Emerge

As I wrote back in December 2010, I started loving the idea of mixed messages... as in, mixing it up. It started with a pair of studded leopard print slippers I had acquired in July last year, and I realized it went with none of the things I already owned. But instead of relegating it to merely occasional wear, I decided to make it the pivotal piece in my wardrobe. This past Fall 2010, I abandoned most of my dark and moody pieces (which means just about all of my clothing!) and started putting together a new wardrobe based on prints and patterns: leopard, plaids, Navajo motifs, Fair Isle patterns and stripes, in saturated and deep jewel tones (no muted combinations at all), often mixed in the same outfit.


I remembered and pulled out old tear sheets of an editorial that I really loved and kept for future reference, and the looks felt right again. Well, those, and a few maverick editorials and images in less mainstream magazines and sites that just struck a chord with rich combinations of color, pattern and texture. Odd mixes like the aforementioned prints paired with rustic tweeds, athletic satins, maybe a metallic or two, and saturated and bright tones. Yeah, I was going there.

"Mixed Messages" editorial from Details magazine, Nov 2004
styling by Andrew Davis, photography by Eric Nehr

An editorial image from Asos.com's website, where the total combination
of all the outfits together were inspirational.

It was a bold move on my part, and truthfully one that I wasn't always that comfortable pursuing, because if I was going to do it, there was no doing it half-assed. But I was feeling the change and forged ahead. All the "goth ninja" wear I had championed for years - the draped Julius tops, the asymmetrical Rick Owens silhouettes, the muted and dark layering - felt passé, and lay languishing in my (overstuffed) closets. I remember telling a friend a couple of years ago that I wanted to go back to rich, luxe textures, and it was all about the enthusiastic combos of the late 80s/early 90s again for me. I hadn't seen anything in the 2010 fashion media other than the odd Fair Isle and Pendleton print here and there, and here I was planning on channeling an editorial to an insane degree. I was sure I was going to come across as a complete sartorial idiot. But it just seemed right to go into it full force.

Part of the change was the need to move on from the more monochrome and moody, goth and almost apocalyptic fashions, which had infiltrated mainstream fashion. It was disheartening enough when the look started appearing via fast fashion brands like All Saints and Topman, making the styles available to all and sundry. But when carbon-dated brand Emporio Armani trots off Rick Owens-esque asymmetric funnel neck outwear as it did in its recent FW 2011 show, you know you've heard the look's death knell. What was once a niche aesthetic had become part of the lexicon of global Men's Fashion.

The other part was, well, it had gotten all too somber for me. And not only did I want a change, but I wanted fashion to be fun again. Well, at least my fashion.

It was never anything conscious, but more of an aesthetic instinct that I've learned to trust. It was already seeping into my design life, with previous attempts at a comely clash evident in my gift wrap idea for Christmas in 2009. But this past fall, it just seemed wrong to go back to muted solids, and a pattern emerged. Or I say should, patterns. Because without my knowing it, other fashion sorts were on the trend too. To be continued...