Following a pattern: it’s back. Here’s how to wear it…

he biggest news for your evolving style in the coming seasons is that pattern has gone viral – or spiral, if you want to take the geometric and abstract options. Summer’s floral abundance has mutated into a panorama of different prints, some delightful, some more of a visual assault. Last winter’s checks are back. Stripes have blossomed from the Breton navy and blue classic into multi-coloured graphs. Polka dots are carrying on from summer, scarf prints are creeping in – and will gather momentum by next summer. As for animal prints…

This all might seem beside the point if your wardrobe is a pristine expanse of pattern-less navy and grey. Believe me, I wanted to resist this latest detour. But I know from experience, it’s pointless. Not just because there’s so much pattern around – I can push back against it if I have to – but because eventually, rigorous minimalism starts to seem a little underwhelming compared with all the exuberance around – and that’s just when you nip into Caffè Nero. Imagine how Jane Eyre-ish your pared-back monochrome will feel at the next party you go to.

Nothing wrong with Jane, obvs. But she could be a little serious, and the thing about print – even just a microdose – is that it does inject some cheeriness on a drab morning. Think of it as smelling salts for a uniform that may be settling into a rut. Also, patterns, used skilfully, can be extremely effective decoys and beacons when it comes to highlighting and lowlighting your favourite and less favourite features.

So while abjuring all print might seem disciplined, eventually it could be self-defeating – and there are ways to wear it that are modern and pared back. You could ease yourself in gently with a patterned bag – but that can be

Tan expensive way to go. A statement skirt’s another possibility and gives you the option of wearing a plain top near your face – in which case, be sure to match the latter with one of the dominant colours in the skirt to ensure that both pieces work together as a properly coordinated outfit.

The easiest gateway is a printed shirt or blouse. Silky or chiffon ones are the most versatile, since you can wear them to smart events with a glamorous skirt, but also use them to dress up denim for day. They won’t date the way a patterned bag will. If you’re concerned that patterns limit the number of times you can wear something, make sure you only buy one you consider beautiful. It sounds self-evident, but when a trend as insidiously ubiquitous as this hits, it’s easy to get swept up and buy any old prints. If you truly love it, if it makes you joyful when you wear it, then repetition is not hard work.

Equally obviously, smallscale prints work better on smaller physiques than large ones. If you’re instinctively inclined towards minimalism, small, neat geometrics and diamond shapes with only two to four colours will keep things clean looking and graphic, but also current.

But ultimately, it’s how you wear them. Splashy florals and lush toile de jouys might sound romantic, but mixed with retro shapes and colours, or juxtaposed with athleticlooking or digital constellations, they can look more interesting. There really is something for everyone.

Prints, patterns and textures are this season’s biggest trend

– the key is to enjoy them.

1 Clashy-clashy

As all successful maximalists know, there are no prizes for timidity. Putting two slightly incompatible prints side by side might not work, but if you shoehorn three, four or more warring patterns into an outfit, the whole things looks like a brilliant deliberate explosion. Apparently the same theory applies to interior décor. Start gently and think big. Introducing pattern could be the gateway to a whole new life.

Blouse, £530, and skirt, £490 (ladoublej.com)

2 Playing with scale

Sometimes, a single patterned piece doesn’t seem quite enough. If you’re still not keen on the idea of too much busyness, the same print in a different size can create a strong looking, but still pared-back, look.

Coat, £293 and trousers, £230 (baumundpferd garten.com)

3 If in doubt, mix in some denim

If patterns are the smelling salts, denim is Valium without the cloudy side effects: it endlessly soothes sartorial dilemmas and takes the edge off a combination that might otherwise look overpowering. A good quality printed blouse or shirt mixed with a high-waisted denim skirt, trousers or boiler suit could become a go-to, night or day.

Blouse, £29.50, and jeans, £29.50 (marksandspencer. com)

4 Use the shoes

If you’re edging cautiously into print, you could start with a scarf tied to or wrapped around the handle of your bag and then progress to shoes. Animal prints are the obvious choice right now as there are so many around, but they can seem a bit obvious. If you can’t resist, they look best when they colour match the rest of your outfit – team them with browns, camel and even orange. Or for a full-on statement, clash them with a multiple pile-up of other patterns. Alternatively, bypass them and look for snakeskin, which tends to be less loud and can be easier to coordinate. Printed dress, £295, and leopard heels, £295 (lkbennett.com)

5 Texture can count as pattern

A Fair Isle sweater and spotty dress might appear to flout everything you were taught about what goes together, but that’s just the way things are. These subtle heart-shaped dots are so dainty they almost count as a neutral: ditto the jumper, which doesn’t actually “go” with anything in the conventional sense. Best then, to forget convention and just enjoy being a mixologist.

Fair Isle knit, £185 and printed skirt, £175 (essentielantwerp.com)

6 Matchymatchy

When the checked trouser suit first came in 18 months ago or so, most of us assumed the jacket and trousers would be worn separately – and so it proved. But increasingly they’re being shrugged on together, as a smart but playful office-statement. Whistles sums up the current spirit with its caramel and taupe windowpane checks, while ME+EM’S burgundy and red suit comes with a much smaller, and probably easier to wear check, and poppered trousers that can be worn turned up or down. Either combination is a classic – and if you’re daring, can be worn this season with a clashing blouse or sweater.

Checked blazer, £220 and trousers, £155 (whistles.com)

7 Earning your stripes

Stripes are the pattern for those who like things to look as unfussy and sportiv as possible. In this maximalist season however, stripes are no longer monochrome, but scored through with spicy shots of paprika, ginger and saffron, and they’re being juxtaposed with other stripes of less or equal intensity.

Silk shirt, £139 and corduroy skirt, £139 (massimodutti.com)

8 Wear it with white

Wearing pattern with white simultaneously calms it while setting it within a clean, spare frame that makes it look bolder and modern – just as a white wall enhances a gallery hang of multiple pictures. Blouse, £145 and jeans, £135 (gerarddarel. com)