How to get the look: Paisley prints

 

Rhiannon Harries
Thursday 08 August 2013 18:20 EDT
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This cocktail dress from McQ Alexander McQueen takes elements of 1970s wallpaper to new heights of chic with its flocked pattern
This cocktail dress from McQ Alexander McQueen takes elements of 1970s wallpaper to new heights of chic with its flocked pattern

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OK, I've got florals, hyperreal digital mash-ups and surreal trompe-l'oeil in my wardrobe. Where do I go now with prints?

Straight back to the Summer of Love. Paisley, yes paisley, is the pattern of the moment.

Yikes, how did that happen?

Blame Parisian designer Isabel Marant; her togs are a perennial fave with the hipper end of the celeb continuum, but her billowy paisley dresses and shirts have had broad-spectrum appeal, snapped on everyone from Maggie Gyllenhaal to Rosie H-W and Demi Lovato.

Accessorise with a massive whiff of sandalwood?

Mais non! Even if you're not wearing Marant, you need to channel her Left-Bank-chic-meets-global-traveller vibe. So keep it contemporary – either in terms of the style and shape of your paisley item. Go for simple, modern shapes and accessories, or clash up your prints.

But I hate that nicotine-y 1970s palette…

Look around: there's more than one type of paisley. Intermix's pretty navy-on-white floral paisley silk track-pants look more like lace (£129.86, intermixonline.com). And this cocktail dress from McQ Alexander McQueen (pictured above) takes elements of 1970s wallpaper to new heights of chic with its flocked pattern (£435, my-wardrobe.com).

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