Let’s talk about patterns and Esther Quek. Two things inexorably linked in my mind.
Esther Quek is a fashion editor in the Middle East. She’s known for her fantastic menswear looks and as a color/pattern guru. Seriously, I’ve never seen anyone wear prints as well as her.
Patterns are hard. Wearing multiple patterns/prints at the same time is almost impossible to pull off, unless you know what you’re doing. I do not know what I am doing. But here we are.
Real quick, I’ll be using pattern/print interchangeably in this post. They are different, but for my purposes I don’t need to distinguish between them. (Pattern = any repeated design that is either printed on or woven into a fabric; Print = a pattern applied to fabric with dye, but not woven into fabric)
I call upon Esther’s skill to guide me through this week of pattern-on-pattern work fashion.
After this, I’ll try for the 2nd half of Esther’s signature looks. Look out for menswear next week!
Also a note. I tried something different with my pictures this week. The whole point of patterns are the details, so I used the app Pic Stitch to highlight them.
Monday
Love this damn kitty shirt. I thought the two pattern sizes balanced each other pretty well in Monday’s look. It didn’t feel to over the top
Top: Anthropologie, Pants: Gap, Shoes: Kelsi Dagger
Tuesday
I thought this was was really fun. I thought the large lightning print actually went pretty well with the semi-floral Jackson Pollacky nature of the skirt.
Top: Topshop, Skirt: Gibson Latimer, Shoes: Calvin Klein, Earrings: vintage, from grandma
Wednesday
Ugh. I wish the pattern showed up better in the full outfit photo. I LOVED this stripes on stripes look. The color schemes of the top and pants fit so well together, and I loved the cheetah pattern on the shoe.
Top: Max Studio, Pants: Anthropologie, Shoes: Calvin Klein
Thursday
This felt like the most “tame” outfit of the week. From a distance, you can’t tell the trousers are plaid at all, so it mostly just looks like a cute gingham look with a pop of color at the neck.
Top: J.Crew Factory, Pants: J.Crew, Shoes: G.H. Bass and Co, Belt: J.Crew Factory, Necklace: My friend Emma made this for me in high school!
Friday
This one was pretty cute. I was a fan of the contrast between the polka dots and the houndstooth.
Top: J.Crew, Pants: Frank and Oak, Shoes: 1.State
Overall, super fun week. These outfits felt pretty me, even if some were a little more pattern combo than I would normally pick. I had to really think about pattern combos that would work together, so I really enjoyed planning this theme.
Next week’s theme will likely lean even more into my standard style choices. Menswear is something I gravitate towards, so I hope I can continue doing justice to Esther next week!
Themes on fashion 