Hellobee

We’re very excited to welcome Brandy from Baby Blackbird as our new contributing fashion blogger! She’ll be bringing us weekly posts on mom style, maternity style, and mini style!

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For my very first post on Hellobee (so excited to be here!) I thought I’d share a bit about my favorite trend of the season – this one is for mom. A fun pair of patterned bottoms is one of my favorite trends of this spring/summer season, and it’s a trend I honestly don’t see fading away anytime soon. It is also the one item of clothing I wear that gets the most questions or comments – usually people say “I could never pull those off!” or “how often do you wear something like that?”

Patterned bottoms are a trend for all shapes and sizes, and something that you can wear just as often as your favorite blue jeans. Here are 4 fantastic patterned bottoms (a pattern/style for everyone), and 4 reasons why I think this is a great trend for every lady.

• Most people think pattern will make you appear larger, but the right pattern can have the opposite effect and be visually slimming; all four of these prints are fun but not too crazy. They either visually slim the body or lengthen it (both pretty big pluses in my books).
• Pattern can be distracting. One of my favorite reasons for wearing my loud floral jeans is the pretty floral print distracts the eye and hides areas I’m not so proud of (we all have a few).
• Put on a pair of patterned bottoms and you have instantly created an awesome outfit, with no need for tons of accessorizing and styling – the pant is the star of the outfit.
• It’s playing the old switcheroo, switching the normal plain bottoms and the fun top – to fun bottoms and a plain top.

Stripes – a fun take on a classic pattern (super slimming effect).

Floral – these jeans are muted but still super fun, perfect for any body type (distracting effect on the eye).

Ikat – fun but too crazy, great for anyone who loves to wear shorts (slimming and distracting).

Polka Dot – subtle print and perfect for any body type (super slimming effect). The priciest bottom, but the print is also the most versatile.

Now I want to share a few easy styling options when it comes to tops. I find shoes are easy (brown, black or even match a color from the bottom), but tops can be difficult especially if you’re used to wearing a more plain pant and a fun top. These are my easy go-to tops when I’m wearing a pair of fun or funky patterned bottoms:

Since the pant is the star of the show, you want to keep the top rather simple and neutral, unless you’re adventurous — then jump on the pattern mixing train and pair those pants with a fun top!

white top – a plain white tee goes a long way, and will go great with any of these 4 patterned bottoms. If a white tee just too plain for you, wear a pretty white blouse like this or a lace top like this – it’s still just as simple, but the texture adds interest and doesn’t compete.

striped top – this is dipping in the patterning mixing well a little bit, but a classic striped top paired with these polka dot pants is perfection and visually distracting to the 10th degree!

grey tee– a simple grey v-neck tee is my go to for any outfit I’m stumped on. It’s a great neutral that matches with just about anything, and will surely match all 4 patterned bottoms I listed here.

chambray shirt – closet staple in my books, you cannot go wrong with this top. Basically you switched the jeans from being on the bottom to being on the top. We all know a great pair of blue jeans goes with everything – so think of this chambray shirt as your favorite pair of jeans.

shoes – Whistletop sandal from Madewell

Have I helped convince you of this super fun trend? Which is your favorite pair or pattern?