How I wear animal print year round

Hi everybody! Today I want to talk animal print. Meow.

I think animal print, particularly the classics (leopard, cheetah, snakeskin), can be really intimidating. We all know what animal print gone poorly looks like (yikes), and I think its far too easy to think “I can’t pull that off,” or “it looks great on you but it wouldn’t on me.” I get it, I do. I mean, why risk it, if you know what failure looks like? Well, I say, risk it because animal print – done right – is awesome.

So, for today, I want to share my thoughts on how to wear animal print, and to make the most of your pieces year round. My biggest tip, and the aesthetic I personally prefer, is to concentrate my animal print in my accessories. Occasionally I’ll get drooly over other pieces (example here), but in general, this is my golden rule. Choose scarves, bags, belts, and shoes for your animal print indulgences, and, especially if you’re timid, stay away from larger clothing items in these bold prints. I absolutely love the scarf I’m wearing here because it’s soft and light enough to wear in the summer, but not super flimsy as some summer scarves are, making it a viable option for the other seasons as well (especially in milder climates – my fellow new-englanders will understand that I’m probably swapping this out for a heavier blanket scarf in which to build myself a cocoon come winter).

I do think styling animal prints, particularly leopard and cheetah print, is a little more intuitive in fall. It goes so well with olive, burgundy, navy, leather, etc., that it can sometimes feel intimidating to try to style it for other seasons. My answer for this is to just treat it as another neutral. It goes beautifully with pink (I love a hot pink – cheetah combo), any shade of blue, red, green, really any of the bright colors that are natural for spring and summer, making it so much easier to incorporate year round that we initially think.

Ta-da! That’s it. To recap – choose animal print accessories and then don’t be shy to wear them :) That’s about it! Now tell me – how do you do animal print? Do you use the same tricks, or do you have another philosophy you follow? As always, thanks so much for stopping by!

Outfit:

Top: Express (old, similar here, love this side slit option here that shows a little less skin)
Bottoms: A Gold E (soo comfy!)
Shoes: Steve Madden (old, current season here, love this bowtie version so much!)
Bag: ASOS (similar here and here)
Accessories: Sole Society scarf, Ralph Lauren sunglasses (old), Sole Society earrings, NARS lipgloss in shade “orgasm”

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