By: Smriti Mamgain

When we look around, we see a lot of weird. It’s true that weird is everywhere but it all begins in our head. Weird is a perception, an individual outlook of people. Weird differs from mind to mind, from taste to taste and from style to style.

There are a lot of fashion trends out there, and each of us has our favorites. Some of these trends can be combined and some cannot. Why not? That is because it’s a mind block. Let us embrace the weird today and pair trends that are usually considered to be conflicting, because you never know, weird might actually work wonders!

So get ready to journey through a few fashion trends that I put together to create combinations that could be dangerous but thrilling!

 

1. Pairing Animal Print with Print

Animal print has existed for a long time and is one trend that has never disappointed. Everyone has a bit of animal print in their wardrobes in the form of jackets, dresses, pants, skirts, shoes, sunglasses and many other items. While animal print comes in different forms, it is one of the most dangerous prints to pair, so we mostly choose to stick to the basics. We pair it with maybe a white shirt or black pants, but nothing too fancy since it has immense potential to go wrong. So the thought of pairing animal print with another print might seem disastrous at first, but check this out.

The above image is not as weird as one would think with combining animal print and another print. One needs to be a bit careful, that’s all. I took a hot pink leopard print blouse (as dangerous as animal print can get) and paired it with a skirt with some random light printed strokes. Since the skirt is mildly printed, it allows the blouse to dominate without clashing with it. The whole outfit was balanced out by a thin blue belt and blue shoes.

 

2. Midi-Dresses with Long Skirts

We all love midi-dresses (especially in the summers) as much as we love to wear long, flowy skirts, because they are comfortable and look amazing. We usually end up pairing our long skirts with crop tops these days because that is a sure-shot winning combination. However, if we pair a midi-dress with a long skirt it seems weird. Or does it?

While the idea might be a bit weird at first, it actually works! I took a blue Indian inspired ‘kurta’ style midi-dress and paired it up with a navy blue and white striped long skirt. Since both of the items are loose fitted towards the bottom, they blend well. The best thing about this combination: it can work as an evening gown. It is a win-win, girls!

 

3. Print, Stripes and Lace

This combination is not just the merger of different trends but also of different eras. Stripes have always been the safe option for a
lot of us, yet some of us have gotten sick of wearing stripes. Stripes are nice, but boring, so let’s make it interesting:

I combined a basic black-and-grey-striped dress with a tropical printed black-and-white (with a hint of yellow) sweater. I went one step further for this combination and added some lace gloves that are very Victorian, and then topped it all off with a pair of brown fringe shoes. The idea behind this outfit was mixing eras with an edge. Though the outfit is a bit busy, it works because the stripes are mostly covered by the front-open printed sweater, while the gloves make the outfit stand out. This outfit is risky but packs a fabulous outcome!

Weird is just in the mind. When so-called ‘weird’ thoughts occur to us, we must stop, think a bit more, try it out and then decide to go ahead with it or shy away from it. As for me, I embrace the weird—No Apologies!