An Irrational Fear

I am human and I have fears. Snakes, spiders, glass elevators, and bumpy airplane landings to name a few. Fears. Most of the time my fears are at least a little bit justified (snakes can be poisonous and turbulence during a plane ride can only mean bad things.) Today, however, I realized that I am afraid of pattern mixing. 

I bought this blouse and sweater last year after I saw the always stylish author of Fashion for the Economically Challenged rocking the same combo. I usually try not to style steal, but I am a pattern mixing novice and since I'm still learning what works I decided to play it safe and try a mix of patterns that I knew I liked on someone else. Enter this gorgeous mustard sweater and vibrant pink striped blouse. I'm a sucker for all things yellow and I knew that I could break up these two pieces and wear them in different ways so I broke down and bought them both.

Even though I had seen the outfit work on someone else, wearing it myself still made me nervous. Now that I see myself in the pictures, though, I realize that the problem is not the pattern mixing (kudos to me for rocking 3 patterns in the same outfit). The problem is the pants. I didn't want to wear the same pair of pants two days in a row but I wasn't in the mood for a skirt so I pulled this pair of grey Anne Klein trousers out of my closet and threw them on. Even though they look fine in these pictures, I don't think that they are particularly flattering in person. It made me feel self-conscious and I felt like I spent a large part of the day fidgeting and trying to suck in my stomach. It wasn't a good feeling and it might make me think twice before I pull out these pants again.

Sweater: St. John's Bay

Button Down: St. John's Bay

Pants: Anne Klein

Shoes: Target