How to Mix Prints Like a European Stylist
Mixing prints is one of those styling tricks that can look completely effortless when it's done well - and slightly chaotic when it isn't.
Perhaps that's why so many women admire print on somebody else but hesitate when it comes to wearing it themselves.
Where do you start? Do the colours need to match? Can you wear florals with stripes? Is there such a thing as too much print?
The good news is that successful print mixing is far less complicated than it appears.
European fashion has long embraced a more expressive approach to dressing, where colour, pattern and texture aren't necessarily reserved for a single statement piece. Prints can be layered, repeated and combined - sometimes subtly, sometimes with complete abandon.
The secret isn't making everything match.
It's giving different prints something in common.
And few brands demonstrate that philosophy quite as joyfully as Dutch label Oilily.
Founded in the Netherlands in 1963, Oilily has built its identity around colour, creativity and individuality. Its collections combine intricate florals, graphic motifs, stripes, embroidery and unexpected colour combinations in ways that feel playful rather than accidental.
So, if you've always loved print but weren't quite sure how to combine it, consider this your permission to have a little more fun getting dressed.
Start With One Print You Love
Forget about mixing prints for a moment.
Start with one.
Choose the piece that makes you want to build an outfit around it. It might be a beautiful printed trouser, a patterned blouse, a dress or even something as small as a scarf.
Then look at what's actually happening within the print.
Which colours appear?
Which one dominates?
Which colours are only used as accents?
Is the pattern large and expressive or small and detailed?
A great print effectively gives you its own colour palette to work from.
Or you could use one of those colours as the bridge into a second print.
That's when things get interesting.
The Easiest Rule: Find a Common Colour
If you're nervous about mixing prints, this is probably the single most useful trick to remember.
Look for a colour that appears in both patterns.
The prints themselves don't have to be remotely similar.
You could combine a floral with a stripe, a geometric pattern with something abstract or two completely different motifs. If they share a colour, your eye finds a relationship between them.
That common colour becomes the thread holding the outfit together.
And it doesn't necessarily need to be the dominant colour in both prints.
A tiny flash of cobalt in one pattern might connect beautifully to a predominantly blue second piece. Pink appearing as an accent in one print can suddenly make sense alongside another pattern where pink takes centre stage.
Once you start looking at prints as collections of colours rather than individual patterns, combining them becomes much easier.
Play With Scale
One reason two prints can sometimes fight with each other is that they're both demanding exactly the same amount of attention.
An easy way around this is to vary their scale.
Pair a larger, expressive pattern with something smaller or more repetitive.
Think:
bold floral + fine stripe
large abstract print + small geometric pattern
oversized motif + delicate repeat
The difference gives each print room to breathe.
Instead of competing, one becomes the hero while the other plays a supporting role.
Oilily often does this within its own collections. Large florals and illustrated motifs sit alongside borders, stripes and smaller decorative patterns, creating visual contrast while maintaining a connection through colour.
And if you're wondering whether there is a mathematical formula for exactly how large one print should be compared with the other?
Thankfully, no.
Fashion should still involve instinct.
Treat Stripes as a Neutral
Here's one of the easiest shortcuts in print mixing:
Stop thinking of stripes as a print.
A simple stripe can function almost like a neutral when it's worn alongside something more elaborate.
That's why stripes work so beautifully with florals, botanical prints, abstract patterns and illustrated motifs.
They provide structure.
Oilily's collections frequently use stripes alongside much more intricate artwork, and the contrast works because the stripe gives your eye somewhere to rest.
If you're experimenting with print mixing for the first time, this is an excellent place to begin.
Take your favourite printed skirt or trousers and instead of automatically reaching for a plain top, try a subtle striped one in a related colour palette.
You've mixed prints.
And nobody had to panic.
Let One Print Be the Star
Mixing prints doesn't mean every part of your outfit needs to shout at exactly the same volume.
In fact, it usually works better when it doesn't.
Choose your hero.
If you're wearing spectacular printed trousers, let those lead the outfit and introduce your second pattern more quietly - perhaps through a scarf, bag or blouse with a smaller motif.
If your jacket is the statement, everything else can work around it.
This creates a visual hierarchy.
Your eye understands where to look first, while the secondary patterns make the outfit feel considered and interesting.
Print mixing works best when the pieces are having a conversation, not an argument.
Use Solid Colour as Breathing Space
You don't need to go from one print directly into another.
Sometimes the thing that makes two bold patterns work is a block of solid colour between them.
Looking at the current Oilily collection is a perfect example.
Alongside the elaborate florals and illustrated prints are beautifully saturated solids: royal blue, beetroot pink, olive, white and softer blues.
These pieces act almost like punctuation.
Imagine printed trousers with a solid pink knit. Add a patterned scarf containing the same pink and suddenly you're mixing pattern without wearing print from head to toe.
Or take a blue-and-white printed jacket and pair it with simple white trousers. The trousers give the print room to shine, while another patterned accessory can introduce a second layer.
The quieter pieces in your wardrobe are often what allow the louder ones to work harder.
Try Tonal Print Mixing
Not all print mixing needs to involve an explosion of colour.
If your style is more restrained, try keeping your patterns within a tight tonal palette.
The blue-and-white pieces in Oilily's current collection demonstrate this beautifully.
The motifs themselves are intricate and full of personality, but limiting the palette to predominantly blue and white makes them remarkably easy to style.
Two patterns can contain plenty of detail and still feel cohesive when the colours remain controlled.
This is an excellent approach if you're someone who normally wears solids and wants to experiment without feeling overwhelmed.
Start with navy and white.
Black and cream.
Blue and white.
Or different shades of the same colour.
You can be adventurous with pattern while remaining conservative with colour.
Or Forget Restraint and Commit to Colour
Of course, there's another option.
Go for it.
Some prints aren't designed to quietly complement your wardrobe.
They're designed to make you smile.
Oilily's multicoloured florals and illustrated prints are full of pink, orange, cobalt, yellow, green and everything in between - and their charm comes precisely from that exuberance.
When you're working with a genuinely colourful print, don't assume the rest of your outfit needs to retreat into beige.
Pick out the hot pink.
Repeat the cobalt.
Introduce the orange.
Colour can actually make a bold outfit feel more intentional when it's repeated thoughtfully.
This is one of the reasons European styling can feel so confident: colour isn't always treated as something that needs toning down.
Sometimes the answer to a colourful piece is simply more colour.
Wear the Same Print Twice
Here's the print-mixing trick that requires surprisingly little work:
Wear the same print in two different pieces.A matching printed blouse and trouser, shirt and skirt, or jacket and bottom creates the impact of a head-to-toe print while still giving you the flexibility of separates.
Oilily's collections are particularly good at this.
The same artwork often travels through different garments and accessories, allowing you to build a complete look or choose individual pieces to wear separately.
The result feels confident and deliberate because there is nothing accidental about the repetition.
And later, each piece can be separated and worn with simpler items already in your wardrobe.
One coordinated look suddenly gives you several different outfits.
Let the Designer Do the Print Mixing for You
If putting two patterns together yourself still feels intimidating, there's an even easier solution:
Buy something where the designer has already done it.
Oilily is brilliant at this.
Look at some of its multicoloured dresses, skirts and tops and you'll see several visual ideas existing within a single garment - contrasting borders, illustrated motifs, florals, stripes and changes of scale.
The designer has already established the colour relationships and balanced the proportions.
All you need to do is put it on.
It's also a useful way to train your eye.
Look closely at a beautifully mixed-print garment and ask why the patterns work together.
You'll often discover exactly the principles we're talking about: repeated colours, contrasting scale and one visual element linking everything together.
Use Accessories as Your Training Wheels
You don't have to begin with a floral trouser and patterned jacket.
Start smaller.
Scarves, handbags and other accessories are one of the easiest ways to introduce a second print without committing your entire outfit to the idea.
Wear a printed dress and introduce a patterned scarf that picks up one of its colours.
Add an illustrated bag to a striped outfit.
Or wear a colourful printed blouse with otherwise simple pieces and repeat one of its motifs or colours through an accessory.
Oilily's scarves and bags are particularly useful here because the artwork from the clothing collections often carries through into the accessories.
The relationship is already there.
You're simply deciding how much of it you want to wear.
Mix Prints Across Different Textures
Pattern doesn't exist in isolation.
Fabric changes how we perceive it too.
The same bold print can feel completely different rendered in silk, cotton, knitwear or denim.
Combining different textures can therefore make a print-heavy outfit feel more sophisticated.
A fluid printed blouse with structured trousers.
A patterned dress under a knitted cardigan.
A graphic cotton shirt with textured knitwear.
A printed scarf against denim.
The change in fabrication creates another layer of contrast, particularly when the colours connect.
This is where touching and trying clothing becomes so important. Styling isn't purely visual.
Texture changes the way an outfit feels as much as colour changes the way it looks.
Don't Forget Proportion
Sometimes an outfit feels wrong and we blame the prints when the real culprit is proportion.
If you're wearing a voluminous printed trouser, consider the shape of the top you're putting with it.
If your printed dress is long and flowing, think about the length and structure of the jacket or cardigan worn over it.
If the print itself is visually busy, a cleaner silhouette elsewhere can provide balance.
There's no requirement that bold print needs to mean complicated shapes.
In fact, some of the strongest printed pieces use relatively straightforward silhouettes and allow the artwork to provide the drama.
When the print is complicated, the shape doesn't always need to be.
Your Print Doesn't Have to Match Your Age
We'd quite happily retire the idea that certain prints or colours have an age limit.
There isn't a birthday when you're suddenly required to surrender bright pink.
Nor does enjoying colour mean you need to dress head-to-toe in it.
Personal style is about deciding which parts of fashion speak to you and leaving the rest behind.
For some women, that might mean an exuberant Oilily printed dress.
For another, it might simply be a fabulous scarf worn with navy trousers and a white shirt.
Both are valid.
The question isn't:
"Am I too old to wear this?"
A much more useful question is:
"Do I feel like myself in this?"
Mix Brands, Not Just Prints
You also don't need to wear one designer from head to toe.
One of the pleasures of a multi-brand wardrobe is finding connections that weren't necessarily designed together.
An Oilily printed blouse might work beautifully with trousers from Raffaello Rossi.
A colourful Oilily scarf could completely change a neutral Marc Cain outfit.
A statement print might sit perfectly alongside your favourite MOS MOSH denim.
This is something we do constantly at Red Pearl.
Our collections are bought as individual brand stories, but they're also selected with the wider store in mind. One collection might provide colour, another the perfect trouser and another the jacket that unexpectedly brings everything together.
Personal style often happens in the spaces between collections.
That's when you're no longer simply wearing the designer's outfit.
You're creating yours.
How to Mix Prints: The Red Pearl Cheat Sheet
If you're standing in front of the mirror wondering whether two prints work together, run through these five questions:
- Do they share at least one colour? A common colour is the easiest way to create cohesion.
- Are the prints different in scale? Give one pattern the opportunity to lead.
- Is there somewhere for the eye to rest? A solid colour can create valuable breathing space.
- Are the proportions working? Sometimes it's the silhouettes rather than the patterns causing the problem.
- Do you actually like it? The rules are there to help you — not police you.
That last question matters.
Because after learning all the rules of print mixing, there's one more worth remembering:
You're allowed to break them.
Confidence Is the Final Ingredient
There comes a point where successful print mixing stops being about colour theory, scale and proportion.
You put the outfit on.
You look in the mirror.
And you decide you love it.
That's enough.
Oilily has spent more than six decades celebrating precisely that kind of individuality. The Dutch label's fearless approach to colour and pattern is a reminder that beautifully made clothing doesn't always need to be serious.
Fashion can be expressive.
It can be unexpected.
It can be joyful.
And perhaps that's the most European styling lesson of all.
Don't wear print because you've mastered the rules. Wear it because it makes getting dressed more fun.