How to Accessorize a Busy Print Dress

Summer dresses often come in busy prints. Read how to accessorize a busy print dress to avoid being scanned by whom ever you meet.

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What Is Accessorizing?

Accessorizing is about finding pieces that compliment and complete your look. This post provides some guidelines to navigate the tricky territory. It’s not a math equation or a cooking recipe, but helps to reduce the time of trial and error to find what looks the best. Or it’s a shortcut of Isaac Mizrahi advice on having style:

Try everything with everything and look what looks the best wrong.

Why Is Accessorizing Busy Print Dresses Difficult?

To demonstrate the problem, let’s start with a print dress with only two colors like black and white. Accessorizing sounds easy, on first thought, right? However, the dress bears the challenge of a busy print. The print would also be busy when it were polka dots, small thin stripes (of different width makes it even worse), stars or florals. Thus, adding accessories becomes tricky and you can quickly look like trying too hard or not trying at all.

While on a solid black dress you can add a lot without going overboard, on a busy print, even when it is just black and white, accessories must be used sparsely. The goal is to adds style to your look, but not to overwhelm it overwhelm it. Consequently, adding black and white spectator pumps to this leaf print or to a polka dot print dress, for instance, is not an option. The shoes would compete with the print of the dress.

Always Consider the Situation You Dress for

To make it work accept the print as the statement. Think about what you have to add for the life situation and weather you dress for. Do you need a hat, tights, bag? Will you need outerwear and umbrella? What type of shoes will work with what your plans are and the outfit? It these needed pieces you own won’t work with each other and the dress, and can’t take the supporting role, go for a solid one. It’s not worth your time to try to get it work.

What Are Busy Prints?

As said before, there is not one-fits-all recipe or equation. The size of the print, the colors and even your size and shape may play a role. Here a list of prints that may be considered busy:

• Paisley
• Polka dots
• Floral prints
• Small geometric prints like diamonds
• Any print that seems not to repeat

The print and cut of the dress as well as your personal style also play a role which accessories work. This applies also for looking cool in crazy prints.

How to Accessorize a Busy Print Dress?

When pulling the look together, always ask yourself if it is you. If not, skip it! When you don’t like what you see in the mirror, the look doesn’t work for you even though it may work for the next woman. Here are some ideas on how to accessorize busy print dresses that may work for your personal style:

• Sure, you can always add a pop of color to a black and white dress like red or green or even yellow pumps and a matching clutch. Pearl studs in black or white or metal color look nice with this leaf print as well as with a floral dress. This would be a very classic look.
• Avoid the pop of color with a black and white polka dot dress. Too 50s! Instead go for simple studs and black pumps or ballerina flats. This would be a very Romantic Style.
• A gingham shirt dress also would with this footwear leading also to a romantic outfit. Adding a headband, especially with flowers may be too much for a woman in midlife whose primary personal style isn’t romantic.
• Another easy way to accessorize busy prints is to match the add-sons to one of the colors of your dress. It hasn’t to be a perfect match. In the case of a floral dress with pink roses on blue, for instance, red or coral shoes or beads as well as bag look nice.
• A subtle or neutral color accessory works well with a busy print dress.
• A wide brim slouchy hat, gladiator leather sandals and jewelry all in neutral colors works well with a Bohemian Style print dress.
• When you are Iris Apfel pile on. More is more, and less is a bore. - Iris Apfel #quote #fashionicon Click To Tweet
• When your primary or secondary style is Dramatic, Artsy or eclectic try to treat accessories like mixed prints.

Drama Queen, Eclectic or Artsy Style

When your primary or secondary style is Dramatic, eclectic or artsy, you may try to add further bold pieces to a busy print. Here to art is to keep the look grounded and have the confidence to pull the look off.

This means the result must be you wearing the look vs. the pieces using you as a hangar. In other words, you must have an attitude.

In the example outfit of this post, I grounded the look with black (the hat, clutch), added nude to ground the look on me (pumps, clutch). I added the gemstone belt for drama. The gold is repeated in the chain of the clutch. The round pearls on the clutch and studs.

Tricks to Remember (Your Shortcut)

Look at the cleavage to decide which type of jewelry this dress can take.

• V-neck dress: Pendant necklace
• Crew neck: Medium long earrings or long pendant necklace. More on which earrings work best with which clothes.
• Scoop neck: Pearl or beads necklace without pendant
• Dress nips in at the waist: Try a belt. More on accessorizing with belts in this guide.

Now that you identified the type of jewelry, search for a piece that matches the vibe and colors of the print as discussed above.

What are you wearing these days? Are you more Coco Chanel or Iris Apfel? Just curious.

Example Accessorizing a Busy Color Print

Pick one color or two of the print and repeat it in the accessories like the pink and orange in the look shown below.

Photos of me: G. Kramm

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