When it comes to donning prints this year you heard it from us the bolder the better. Bold prints can get a bad rap from sceptics who consider these patterns as flashy and over the top. Yes, we won’t lie, some bold prints should remain out of plain sight, but others may be worn out stylishly; why should not you brave a little more color? We have spoken to Melbourne’s iconic menswear fashion designers Dom Bagnato and Nunzio Bagnato who discuss their pro tips on the best way to wear bold prints to your advantage.
Stripe Prints
Be it nautical, skinny or thicker versions, stripes would be the trendy print which works for most dress codes. Who does not love a striped tee, corporate striped tie or preppy striped blouse? Stripes are surely the prints that keep on giving , and investment in striped bits need to be more than welcome. The trick to finding great striped pieces that you may wear countlessly would be to decide on classic colours. This will allow you more flexibility, and make sporting a bold print something you will not regret.
For casual wear, locate striped t-shirts, sweaters and even socks which incorporate colours like crisp whites, deep navies, powder blues, scarlet reds, warm burgundies and emerald greens to get a mature take on a traditionally favoured print. Diagonal and horizontal stripes are all perfect in lace ties for corporate outfits: simply guarantee that they complement your organization shirts and the color of your suits.
Dom and Nunzio advise your look cannot be complete without the necessary finishing touches. Let this spring racing season enhance your overall appearance, with a strong colour palette while being daring using a mixture of accessories and pattern to stand out.
Plant and Floral Prints
Keeping consistent with our latest road style trends, plant and floral prints are big news at the moment and are a fun take on bold prints. Get earthy using a tree, flower and plant shaped prints that will bring the wonderful outdoors to your sartorial choices. Keep a pure motif consistent with the colors you select to your prints with rusty taupe, earthy khaki and treacle brown. This will guarantee your take on natural prints is more mature, lending a earthy aesthetic to a print typically performed in much more bright colours. If you’re looking for small incorporations of this trend, keep an eye out for novel pocket squares bearing flowery insignias.
Polka Dot Prints
Get spotty with a few interesting polka dot print attire. While we advocated crazy bright prints for the majority of our other picks, polka dot prints should be done in more subtle colors for a refined aesthetic. Clean, simplistic toned tops in lavender blues, whites, beiges and other all-natural tones are a sudden take on this traditionalist print and will ensure your outfits enroll mature compared to clownish. Pair your subdued polka dots along with different prints and simplistic suits for a cushioned decorative. Maintain things dimensional with round sunglasses and subtle pocket squares.
Kaleidoscope Prints
For some significant psychedelic storms, look no farther than the bright, undisputable geometrics of kaleidoscope prints. Playful, complicated and enjoyable, kaleidoscope prints are all shining representations of cherished childhood toys. When it comes to kaleidoscope prints, the brighter they are, the greater. Kaleidoscope prints will be best done when they pack a punch with vivid tones. The trick to pulling off mad trendy Kaleidoscope looks? Unlike stripes, it is all about exploiting this print in smaller accessories. A kaleidoscope print pocket square is a fantastic way to liven up a suit.
Dom and Nunzio remind us that bold prints and patterned shirts embellish lots of the lightweight spring inspired pieces such as unstructured jackets, sports pants and linen shirts.
Gingham Prints
Gingham is the nation inspired print that has been adopted into street wear most profoundly. Forever a fashion in our eyes, gingham, is the print which will allow you a lot of flexibility when you have a wardrobe full of classic, traditionalist hues and patterns. For weekend tops, this print is best done in pastels, bear in mind when you’re looking for them to choose powder blues, dusty pinks, barely-there lemons and avocado greens. This can help you attain a layered appearance with your favourite slim chinos and suede loafers.
For dinners, gingham prints work excellently in all shades of blue, and more contemporary takes integrating brighter colors like tangerine oranges and vivid greens. While gingham works marvellously when done right; done wrong and it reads obsolete and messy. The key to pulling off it is to elect for fitted shirts which will cut a more youthful silhouette. If you’re after ties, then you can manage to go a bit bolder with your color options, but still, preserve an essentially timeless look.