How to Style Bold Printed Leggings, part I

One thing that I promised myself I would do when I brought back Harlequin blog last year was to incorporate a sequence of styling series – essentially, to release a number of subsequent posts all related to the same topic or exploring the same theme. I’m excited to challenge myself for the month of March by releasing a series of three posts, starting this week, each based on styling advice for bold printed leggings!

In this series, I’ll be exploring how to wear the same bold printed leggings in two different looks: one for daytime, one for evening. I’ll show readers how they can dress up or down the leggings and all the nuances of accessorizing and styling the looks based on setting.

Who doesn’t love some funky pants? I mean, there’s no way you can wear these eye-catching designs and not feel an extra boost of confidence in your walk. I’ve always loved the convenience of leggings because they pretty much go with any top or dress. I started out like everyone else with my trusty old solid black leggings. I still love them, don’t get me wrong, but when I came across these Nasty Gal Milan leggings on clearance, I needed them in my life (they are no longer available to buy online sadly, but if you have a similar design, the advice remains the same!)

But the question remained: what on earth would I wear these with? The design, the most awesome part of the leggings, was also the most challenging as far as matching without going too overboard. When wearing these bold prints, it’s easy to want to keep your top as basic as possible. So I thought solid colors on top would allow the leggings to speak for themselves. But a solid v-neck would be so boring and would downplay the whole look. That’s when I considered the fabric type. These leggings are a stretchy nylon fabric; something silky would mesh very well. I chose this silky yellow top because although it was plain, which was just what I needed, the buttons had a slight embellishment that complemented the design of the leggings.

Look one

In the first “daytime” look (which is a little less bold than the second and perhaps a little more appropriate for most occasions), I buttoned up the top to the very first button and incorporated a thin belt which I found in a vintage shop. You might not be able to see in the pictures, but it has two lions on it which I thought connected with the Milan vibe of the leggings. I rolled up the sleeves to my elbows and wore a casual flat shoe. This is a very easygoing, comfortable vibe while still being bold and outgoing.

Look two

Photography by R. Kooy

For the “evening” look, I used the same top (note: in the coming blog posts I will actually use a different top altogether. I wanted to play with the versatility of using one top for this look to show how you can dress up or dress down the same items.) Having rolled up the sleeves even further, I left the first few top buttons undone and tied together the bottom pieces to turn it into a crop top (tie it just like a shoelace without making the bows!) I think the most challenging part of this second look was picking out the right shoes, which I settled on a pair of black wedges.

Also, I don't normally model my pictures with any handbags, but I absolutely had to feature my awesome handbag and wristlet from Fossil! I'm so in love with this eggshell blue color. It had such a nice cohesion with the leggings. When I thought about doing a series on how to wear bold printed leggings, I wanted to showcase how you could confidently wear each look out everyday and what better way to do that than by incorporating the everyday necessities of a wallet and handbag. 

Stay tuned for the next look featuring another pair of bold printed leggings!