Forget the bling, make your prints sing! Now that maybe a poor attempt at rhyming, but it sums up the spirit of Summer 2015. Each summer, prints are the best tool to be distinctive without adding embellishments but this time around, it’s a double whammy. Because to be zara hat ke, mixing prints is the key this sweaty summer, but it’s a dangerous trend to toy with and can be effortlessly disastrous! To get it right, here’s help from two design labels that certainly know how to wow us with prints.

Want to play safe? Then this trend is not for you. “Wearing a solid coloured top on printed pants is passé,” says Anupamaa’s Anupama Dayal and adds that mixing prints is not about making a quiet statement. If you’re wearing more than one kind of print on you, it’s gotta show! Designers Hemant & Nandita add, “Prints can be really experimental if you have the zest to put them on with confidence.”

Contrast

One way of combining a variety of prints is to use the tool of contrast. For instance if you are wearing a powder blue printed top, top it up with a bright yellow printed scarf. “The idea is to create a small area of contrast,” Anupama says. The contrast can also be created by combining opposing prints. Nandita Raipurani says that a busy print can be broken up by contrasting it with basic stripes.

Same Colours

Another way to work the trend is to stay in the same colour family. Use separate pieces in different prints but stick to a colour scheme. So a tangerine piece with a geometric print can very well be teamed up with a peach floral printed piece.

The Right Fabric

And now to the crucial question of wearing prints smartly to cut down on the ‘well-built’ parts of your body. Anupama encourages you to turn those standard rules on their heads. “Bigger prints don’t necessarily make you look bigger,” she says. It’s just important to chose the right fabrics. “Choose soft, luxurious and soft fabrics. Avoid stiff fabrics that add bulk to the body,” guides the designer. But if you do like to play safe, Hemant and Nandita suggest avoiding wearing prints on areas you don’t want attention on. Because as we’ve been saying, prints are an attention magnet!