As promised on last Friday’s post, today I’ll be giving you My Ultimate Polka Dot Matching Guide. I love this pattern so very much that it’s only logical that I dedicate an article to share all my personal fashion knowledge about it.

I love to wear polka dots both on the top and bottom. You might think I’m out of my mind for wanting to combine tones and sizes – and it can happen if you overdo it – but I’ll show you what’s the secret when matching different polka dots. Here we go:

If you wanna wear polka dots on the top and bottom but they’re not identical (i.e. dresses, jumpsuits or even a set of blouse and trousers) the general guide is to keep larger scale dots on the top and smaller scale dots on the bottom.

Why?

Because the dots mustn‘t compete for attention; they should complement each other.

If you choose black & white – which is my favourite polka dot combination – my opinion is quite strong about wearing a white blouse with larger black dots; and the complete opposite as trousers. I wouldn’t trade the positions because to my eyes, it doesn’t look good. That being said, if you’re wearing polka dots only on the top or bottom, you can match whatever you prefer best. Got it?

• white blouse with larger black dots + black trousers with smaller white dots = ALWAYS;
• white blouse with larger/smaller black dots + solid white/black trousers or vice-versa;
• black blouse with larger/smaller white dots + solid black/white trousers or vice-versa.

For shoes and accessories, you can either keep the same two colours (i.e. white or black shoes, clear gemstone or pearl earrings) or pick one different colour – rose, red, green or yellow – and wear it as shoes, bag and minimal jewellery (i.e. gemstone earrings, wristwatch, delicate ring).

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Now, maybe you wanna include colours in this game. No problem! For instance, let’s see with 2 tones; I chose rose to illustrate.

Even though, the larger scale on top and smaller scale on the bottom still applies here, the darker and lighter colours don’t. As you can see in the image below, the vibrant rose with light rose dots looks better for a blouse than for trousers.

Some options would be:

• vibrant rose blouse with larger scale light rose dots + light rose trousers with smaller scale vibrant rose dots;
• vibrant rose blouse with larger/smaller light rose dots + solid vibrant/light rose trousers or vice-versa;
• light rose blouse with larger/smaller vibrant rose dots + solid light/vibrant rose trousers or vice-versa.

Keep your shoes and accessories on the same colours. For example: if you’re going light rose top and bottom, opt for vibrant rose moccasins or loafers; if you’re going vibrant rose on top and light rose on the bottom, opt for a light rose pair oxfords. I think you can see where I’m going with this…

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Ok, here things get a teeny-tiny crazy. If you want to be very stylish you can pull that off with even with 3 tones. Let’s see how that would work with blues:

Smaller and larger scale dots guide remains the same here. Lighter and darker colours are up to you in this case; both could work on top and bottom – YAY!

BUT it’s extremely important that you keep the colours all in blue (i.e. navy blue, light blue and turquoise blue).

Let’s go over some examples:

• light blue blouse with larger scale turquoise dots + navy blue trousers with smaller scale light blue dots or solid navy blue trousers + navy blue oxfords;
• solid turquoise blouse + navy blue trousers with smaller/larger scale light blue dots + turquoise or navy blue moccasins.

Keep the same colour you choose for your shoes and bag; don’t wear too many accessories – no hats or hair embellishments like tiaras or clamps.

My choice for accessories would be only my wedding ring and a pair of clear gemstone earrings with white gold or silver hooks – they’re more discrete than yellow or rose gold. For the hair, a high ponytail with my hair wrapped around the elastic or a simple bun.

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If all of those combinations are too much for you, or your style is more discrete and you wanna introduce one polka dot piece at a time, here’s what you can do:

• choose small scale dots over large ones;
• try styling polka dot accessories with your outfits, such as scarfs, bags or even shoes;
• wear full pieces, such as dresses and jumpsuits;
• wear polka dot only on the bottom (trousers, skirts, bermudas or skorts) or on top (blouses, shirts, t-shirts).

Many kisses and see you soon! 🙂