Lions, Tigers and Bears.......How Chic!!

......and zebras, and cheetahs, and pumas.....and all the animals of the fashion kingdom (faux of course).....OH MY!!!  Yes, that's what your audience will be saying when you step out in these styles (and oh how you WILL be seen)!  Many bombshells will shy away from animal print because they they think it's too daring, not "safe," or will be a victim to some fashion criticism.  Remember, with La Puma's rules, it DOES NOT have to match, it just has to feel right.  Ok, so now, how do we go about feeling right?  One word for you, my fellow fashionistas: COLOR!   We start with color; and just like makeup, just like decorating a house, we blend, blend, blend!!  When we learn how to blend color, we can even mix TWO animal prints.  I know what you are thinking:  "La Puma, are you crazy........MIX animal prints in the same outfit?"  But as Cher used to say, "Until you're ready to look foolish, you'll never have the possibility of being great."  How do you think fads are started?  Yes, today, I will show you how to wear animal print, whether you want to project attitude, regality, or subtlety......even if you work for Wall Street!  Enough chatter.......let's begin!

Rule 1:  pick 3 colors (three neutral, or two neutral and one loud).  Luckily, most animal prints are all neutral colors, right?  The problem becomes when we mix two prints that don't match because the colors don't blend, or there is one color in there that is too loud.  Here, we have red, white, and black.  

              

                                                                                                                         

Whoah.....4 colors, but they BLEND!

Rule 2:  Pick a solid color pant.  If you're sporting an animal color pant, then pick a solid shirt.  You don't want to overwhelm your audience with too much.  One conversation piece at a time, please!  Here, I would pick white or black pants.  If you happen to find a pair of red pants, ok fine, but the tone of the pants has to the exact red of the shoes or the bag, or it will throw off your entire look.                                                                                                                                                          

Rule 3:  Here comes my favorite:  Accessorize!!  Shoes, handbags, and jewelry.......ready?  This is where you can remain safe or go nuts.  Do you think you could wear pearls with this style?  Absolutely, you can!  How about a plain, black blazer and black pants with pearls, perfect for work, yes?  YES!!  When accessorizing, let's revert back to rule #1, and pick one of those 3 colors you chose for your daily wardrobe.  Here, we got lucky because in the handbag (forgive me for jumping too far ahead),  we were fortunate to find all three colors.  Now, you see how it's not really about the animal print, per se, but again, lovelies, COLOR.......n'est pas?   If you want to respect the traditional rule of matching your shoes with your handbag, in this case, you can choose any of our three primary colors and rock it.  Depending on your scene, you can just switch up your shoes.  If you're at work, pumps, like in the immediate photo above, are fine.  Just out and about?  The red wedges posted here are comfortable, yet statement-minded.  Cribbing with the girls at the club: add strappy heels.........voila!!  

Three neutral colors:  white, black, and brown:  leopard AND zebra!

As you learn to dress in your own animal skin, you can get more and more daring, one step at a time.  For example,  let me draw your attention to the necklace, back in the first picture above.  I added this here, to show you how, if the colors are adjacent, even if there is a slight deviation to the primary 3 that we originally chose, it will work, because they are touching.  For example, when you pick colors for the walls in your house, you stand in one room, and look to see which rooms you can see, from the one in which you are standing.  Those colors must BLEND!! Same rule here.  if the "rooms are adjacent," they must blend.  Here we have some goldish brown and black in the shirt and also the necklace.....again, more about color, less about print, even though we have both white cheetah and brown cheetah in this style!!  

Simple, yet dramatic!!

Blue, brown, and white.....white pants will look FABULOUS!

  

Now, its YOUR turn!!  You will be surprised, with these three rules, how you now look so differently at your wardrobe!  Doesn't this make you want to go run in your closet and see how you can design a new world of style?  Do it, and post your ideas here, with me!!  I encourage you to be as daring as you want!  Wear your new finds with the utmost confidence..........and soon, you will see everyone copying you!!

Happy Fashion Fixing,

~La Puma~!