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Feel the power of print

June 27, 2011 10:17

ByJan Shure, Jan Shure

3 min read

Prints and patterns of all kinds tend, metaphorically speaking, to bring me out in a bit of a rash. But since last year, when flower prints were having a moment -thanks largely to the genius of London-based Erdem - the florals have been joined by fruit, birds, animals, fish, butterflies and geometrics across every kind of garment at every price point.

Which means that even the most print averse fashionista is having to force herself to resist yet another plain top or dress and to opt, instead, for something with zig-zags, animal markings, flowers, fruit or exotic avians.

And once you come out from behind the sofa and take a deep breath, you realise that print can be good; it doesn't have to make you look like a sofa or a set of Designers Guild drapes as long as you choose a print that works for you.

Having been forced this season to re-evaluate print and pattern, it seems that part of the problem is that, unlike colour - which many of us are now quite savvy about, having had our colours analysed or simply intuited which colours lift us - there are several, not always complementary, aesthetics going on with print: first there are considerations of the type, colour and scale of a print which are all crucial to whether we look fabulous or, frankly, laughable in a print.