Breton Shirts: Do Clashing Prints Work with the Iconic Top?
It’s a question we’ve often found ourselves pondering – do Breton shirts work with bold patterns? Clashy-clashy style is big, and we enjoy the fun and vivacity of brash patterns and prints being thrown together without a care in the world. It’s freeing in a way. Fun fashion. That’s got a ring to it!
When we think about our classic stripes, we always tend to imagine muted macs and stylishly demure winged eyeliner, skinny jeans and ballet pumps. We’ve decided to brave clash fashion and delve into the world of brave bloggers. And you know what? We’ve come to the conclusion that, yes, clashing prints definitely work with the iconic Breton shirt.
Flashy Florals
Look at these trousers. Bright, summery and full of fun, you’d be hard-pressed to find a top that matched with them. So why not clash on purpose? The Breton stripe top here is styled with a denim jacket – classic – so the whole outfit is pulled together from the top down. This stops the dreaded over-clash, and steers the outfit away from jumble sale towards high fashion.
We’d see white Converse pumps or nude wedges working well here.
Dainty and Ditsy
We can’t tell you how much we love Ella Catliff “La Petite Anglaise”’s take on the pattern-mixing trend in these stylish outfits, as seen on her site.
Take a look at the pretty, preppy look with a busily-patterned pleated skirt. By adding white ankle socks and carrying a cute white bag, the patterns blend rather than overpower, leaving room for flashy accessories.
Ella also pairs a dog's tooth jacket with stripes - and we love the effect. Flick your eyes down to her feet and you’ll also see patterned wedges – very 60s! Of course the Breton has been turning heads since way before then, so we love this nod to Breton heritage. Simple skinny jeans bring everything together, and a statement fluffy bag because, well, why not?
Crazy Chic
We love, love, love DollsOfConfusion’s fabulous feed and her take on clashy-matchy fashion (in the pic over on the link above) ticks all our fun-time holiday boxes.
Here she’s thrown away the rulebook and wrapped a bold printed silk scarf around her boat-necked Breton for a splash of summertime fun. We also love her humour – that clutch bag is actually a pencil case! But how good does it look? One for those with a taste for street-style, but if you’re not feeling so brave, how about choosing a statement bag and necklace, or adding bright lipstick and chunky bangles in clashing colours?
Or, if you're not feeling so bold, just let your Breton do the talking (like our models below) and wear yours with a pair of jeans.
Cosy Clashing
MimisEdit really has pulled clashing up to another level here, with her take on the classic Parisienne Breton-and-leopard look.
Pairing a classic Breton with a mid-length leopard print skirt, she relies on a muted palette of browns and rusts in her highly-textured teddy coat and flatform trainers to bring everything together. Channel her confidence and give it a go – that red bag seems like it shouldn’t work but it really does!
All of these styles just goes to show, you never really know how your clashing patterns and colours will work unless you give it a try. So why not try it today? Let us see your ensembles too, by tagging us in your pics @bretonshirtco.