Top Looks For This Season: Animal Prints!

Today's fashion-forward woman is aware that animal prints are the hottest new development on the haute couture scene. Witnessed at the latest New York Fashion Week and on Paris runways, all kinds of new animal prints have been highlighted for the coming season, making the new styles fun and sassy. Bold panda and giraffe prints, as well as the better-known leopard prints that have been around since the 1950’s, have created playful fashion motifs.

While the prints never seem to go out of style, there are certain tricks to employ in order to keep them looking wild and trendy, but unified in a way that is simple and attractive. “Less is more,” is the primary rule when working with the animal print wardrobe. For example, if a dress is made of a leopard print fabric, the shoes and handbag should pick up one of the colors in the print, such as black or brown, rather than repeat the pattern. Because of the complexities of the prints, it is easy to go overboard by adding too much of a good thing.

If an animal print blouse is worn, solid pants work best, especially if wearing matching animal print shoes. This solid color between the blouse and shoe give the overall look a more unified feel. If a hat is worn, it should be a solid color, but a touch of animal print on the band is fine. On the other hand, animal print accessories look great with solid colors.

A simple black dress can become a luxury wardrobe item with the addition of a narrow, animal print belt, a matching handbag in an animal print, and, perhaps a wide brimmed hat with matching animal print band. The sky is the limit, actually, but one should not become overly zealous with all of the different choices there are to be made. Choose only one animal print per outfit and do not risk mixing animal prints. However, other prints can mix well with animal prints. A leopard print top with a skirt that has polka dots on it, for example, can work if the dots are approximately the same size as the circular shaped parts of the leopard print or smaller.

The matching boot and handbag should be oversized when worn with animal prints. Tall, over-the-knee boots and the large, tote-style handbag are the perfect accompaniments to calm down the wild print.