Style Guide to Great Snake Print Outfit Ideas

Snake print is a classic and often overlooked animal print. Read this guide on how to come up with great snake print outfit ideas whether it’s a scarf, a skirt, pair of pants, bag, boots, … , you name it.

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Snake Print Is an Overlooked Classic

A reader asked me “Why is snake print so underused?” Well, it’s complicated. A major reason may be its strong competitor: Leopard. When in the natural colors of this feline, it acts as a neutral, no matter whether its colors are from the ordinary or snow-leopard. On the contrary, the natural colors of snake skin can be pretty bold. Consequently, the print is less easy to style. Many women are hesitant because the question “what colors go with snakeskin” hasn’t a one or three words answer. Nevertheless, snake print can look ageless like all animal prints when styled in a sophisticated way. This guide shows you how.

Tip: Wear snake print like a neutral.

Snake-Inspired Patterns Offer Great Variety

A probable reason why this design is so underrated may be that many people are afraid of this long limbless reptile. Then there is also the color styling challenge. Many women prefer to wear all neutral looks.

When your snake print is in bold colors, style the piece like you would style an ageless look in floral prints. This means you can mix a colorful snakeskin with stripes or even plaid. The most important things when mixing prints are definite different sizes of the print, colors of the same family, and grounding them. When pairing a colorful skin with solids, make the snakeskin piece the statement.

The above print is the easiest to wear, because the pattern is in all neutrals. Therefore, you can repeat the neutral colors. Any solid bright color looks great with this color combination because you can style the neutral color print like a neutral.

Evergreen Snake Print Outfit Ideas to Try

It’s important to know when to splurge or bargain. Go cheap with a Must-have item that will be so yesteryear after one or two seasons. When you are a regular reader, you may have noticed that I added two skirts with a serpent design. One in burgundy, gray, winter white ,and one (shown above) in neutrals. Why? Skirts in a straight pencil cut with serpent print are evergreens. More on what to wear with a snakeskin skirt.

The leather pants have a classic trousers cut. However, because they are leather, they are trendy. Therefore, I didn’t spend much on them. More on how to wear snake print pants.

Tip: Invest in a clutch, a pair of pumps or boots with this reptiles imprint. These items will have a longer tenure in your wardrobe than a skirt, pair of trousers, dress, blouse or leggings.

What to Wear with Snake Print Shoes and Bags

What to wear with snake-print boots depends on their color. Skins in neutrals look great with a matching skirt, and bold color top or a solid color dress. When the boots have a solid color and just the skin’s texture style them like how to wear tall boots.

Pumps or booties in snake are best paired with pieces that pick up their colors. In case of neutral skin, you can wear them as such (see first example in this post).

How to wear a snake print bag works with the same concept as described for pairing footwear.

How to Look Office Appropriate with Snake Print

Snake print reads risky for an office outfit because snake print is often associated with overly sexy or culturally burdened as evil. There use these simple rules to keep snake print office appropriate.

1. Avoid the sexy route by keeping your cleavage covered and your hem at least knee length if it is a skirt, not too tight when the item are pants
2. Choose a classic cut for your snake print piece (read: no ruffles, embroidery, fringes added, bell bottoms, etc.)
3. Make the snake print the statement item in a neutral sense, i.e. add other neutrals. They can be even a (classic) pattern themselves as is shown here. Avoid adding a statement color (like burnt orange, fuchsia, neon anything) that would compete with the snake print for the attention.
4. Choose a high quality fabric for your snake print piece. You will not wear it often, but for several years to come. Cotton or Lycra knits like in $9.99 leggings (read cheap) make you a fashion victim.
5. Pick a snake print in a color that looks as natural as a snake in nature. Fantasy snake prints are for kids and Walt Disney movies.
6. Snake print dress pumps are the easiest way to wear this classic.
7. Bangles with snake print are an Euro Chic Must-have and always work appropriate.

Great Snake Print Outfit Ideas in a Nutshell

Snake patterns in neutral colors are as easy to style as leopard in its natural colors. Thus, the same style recipes work. When the reptile pattern comes in bold colors, style the piece like you would wear a floral garment of that type. Footwear and bags with the print are evergreens worth the investment.

Photos: G. Kramm

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