How to Wear a Bold Print: Timeless Style Tips for Wearing Prints With Confidence

Welcome back to The Velvet Runway and this feature about How to Wear a Bold Print. Wearing a bold print can transform your outfit instantly, express personality without saying a word, and bring a sense of playfulness to even the most classic wardrobe. But many women tell me they feel unsure about wearing prints — especially bold ones.

Over the years as a stylist, I’ve heard it all:

“Prints make me look bigger.”
“I love them on other people, but I can’t pull them off.”
“I don’t know which prints suit my shape.”

The truth is anyone can wear a bold print — it’s simply about choosing the right print for your proportions, colouring, and personal aesthetic. Prints are a powerful tool when you understand how they work, and they can be very flattering when chosen thoughtfully.

This guide walks you through the key principles for choosing and styling bold prints with elegance and confidence. From print scale and density to colour contrast and focal points, you’ll learn what actually matters — and how to make prints work for you.

How to Wear a Bold Print: Timeless Style Tips for Wearing Prints

Why Bold Prints Belong in a Timeless Wardrobe

There’s a common misconception that prints are “trendy” while neutrals are “timeless.” But in reality, many prints have endured for decades — stripes, florals, geometrics, herringbone, paisleys, polka dots and certain animal prints to name just a few.

When chosen well, a bold print can be just as timeless as a beautifully cut blazer or a silk blouse.

A well-selected print can:

• add dimension to classic silhouettes
• draw attention to your best features
• create visual balance
• introduce personality without overwhelming your look

And for those of us who aim to buy less but buy better, prints can breathe new life into a minimalist wardrobe, giving old favourites a new look.

How to Choose a Bold Print That Flatters

Bold prints aren’t about being loud — they’re about being expressive. The key is choosing a print that complements your body shape, colouring, and style personality.

In general, large prints and horizontal stripes make you look bigger, whereas small prints and vertical stripes are slimming. But, here are a few more detailed suggestions. 

Understand the Focal Point of the Print

Every print has a visual “centre of attention”, the focal point, which is where your eye is naturally drawn to, and you want to make sure that the focal point of the print is not at an area of your body that you’re not keen on! 

This focal point can be created by the largest element of the pattern, the darkest or lightest area, areas of high contrast or a motif that repeats in a noticeable way.

Wherever the focal point sits, the eye goes. That’s why prints can either highlight or camouflage.

How to use focal points to your advantage

• Place the focal area on a part of your body you want to highlight.
• Avoid prints where the strongest element sits on an area you prefer to minimise (midsection, upper arms, hips… depending on your shape and preference).

Pro Tip: Hold the garment up and take two steps back. Where your eye lands first is where everyone else’s eye will land too.

Choose the Right Scale of Print

This is one of the most transformative principles in styling prints. Prints come in small, medium, and large scale, and the right scale for you depends on both your features and your proportions.

Large-scale prints

• work beautifully on tall or fuller-figured women
• create impact and drama, but
• can overwhelm petite frames

Medium-scale prints are:

• universally flattering
• the best choice if you’re unsure, and the
• easiest to style with classic pieces

Small-scale prints are

• slimming and subtle
• ideal for petites, and
• great if you prefer understated elegance

The most common mistake I see and why so many women think that they can’t wear prints is choosing a print scale that isn’t in harmony with your body proportions.

In general, If you want to look smaller, wear smaller prints. Do NOT wear giant prints, especially on areas of your body you want to minimise. 

Pro Tip: Match the size of the print with the size of your facial features and your overall proportions — not your clothing size.

Use Print Density to Shape the Silhouette

Print density refers to how close together the motifs are. It’s one of the least discussed but most powerful tools in choosing flattering prints. The more densely packed (closer together) the print, even if it’s a larger scale print, the more slimming it is, because the eye moves more quickly from one element to another. 

Dense prints (motifs close together) are

• slimming
• allow the eye to “skim” without stopping
• soften curves ,and are
• perfect for camouflaging areas you want to downplay

Sparse or open prints

• draw more attention
• draw attention to the areas they cover, and
• create volume visually

Pro Tip: If you’re very slim, or you have an area of your body that you want to highlight/ draw attention to, then you can go for a more sparse ‘aerated’ print, but if you want to use your print to camouflage, then go for a more dense, “busy” print.

Consider Value Contrast

Value contrast refers to how much light and dark difference exists within a print. Prints where the colours are of a similar value contrast (ie all light or all dark) will be more slimming as this makes the print look less obvious. A print where the contrast is higher (i.e. a difference between areas of the print in terms of light and dark) will in general make you appear larger. 

Low contrast prints are

• more slimming
• softer and more elegant; and
• ideal for understated timeless style

High contrast prints are

• bold and dramatic
• make the areas they cover look larger, and
• draw the eye more intensely

Pro Tip: To create a cohesive, elegant look, match the contrast level of the print to your natural colouring (high or low contrast). 

Choose the Right Type of Print

Certain types of prints are inherently more flattering because they blur contours and guide the eye softly.

The most slimming prints keep the eye moving fluidly and include:

• abstract patterns
• watercolour effects
• all-over scattered motifs, and
• brushstroke designs

Prints that add volume or structure emphasise shape and curves and include:

• large geometrics
• horizontal stripes, and
• bold florals with empty space

Pro Tip: If in doubt, choose an abstract print in a medium scale — the most universally flattering and timeless option.

How to Style Bold Prints the Timeless Way

Once you’ve chosen a print that flatters, styling it well is what turns it into a polished, elegant outfit.

Keep the Rest of Your Outfit Simple and Classic

A bold print should be the star of the look — which means the supporting pieces should be simple and chic.

So, you might want to pair a bold print with tailored trousers, monochromatic tops, dark wash denim, an elegant blazer and minimalist accessories (unless the print part of your outfit is the accessory itself!)

This balance creates modern elegance without overwhelming the silhouette.

Pro Tip: Pair one bold print with two solid classics for effortless French-inspired refinement.

2. Anchor Your Print With a Neutral

Whether you choose black, navy, camel, ivory, olive or chocolate brown, neutrals help ground a bold print and give the look sophistication.

Pro Tip: Pull a colour from the print and match your neutral to it — this creates harmony and looks intentional.

3. Add Prints Through Accessories (If You Prefer Subtlety)

If wearing a full printed garment feels too bold, start with accessories. For example, opt for printed scarves, belts, shoes, handbags, hats or headbands or even a printed coat lining

These introduce personality without committing to a full printed outfit.

Pro Tip: A printed shoe or scarf can elevate a minimalist outfit beautifully—and is a sustainable way to restyle what you already own.

4. Combine Prints Thoughtfully (Optional for Advanced Styling)

For the style-confident (or the print lovers), mixing prints can be stylish — when done intentionally.

You can mix prints successfully by keeping colours within the same palette, varying scale (a large print + a small print) and using one print as dominant and the other as an accent

Pro Tip: The easiest pairings include stripes + florals, polka dots + geometrics, or two prints that share one grounding colour.

5. Choose Sustainable, Long-Lasting Prints

To stay aligned with timeless and sustainable style avoid trend-led prints that you’ll tire of in a season. Instead, choose prints in earth tones, jewel tones, navy, black, and creams and opt for natural fibres for longevity.

Bold prints don’t have to feel fast-fashion — in fact, some of the most iconic, enduring pieces in fashion history are printed.

Pro Tip: If a print feels expressive, elegant, and “you,” it will never go out of style.

Final Thoughts: How to Wear a Bold Print

Bold prints are one of the most enjoyable ways to express personal style, and when chosen well, they instantly elevate your wardrobe. Whether you wear them as a statement piece, a subtle accessory, or a defining style signature, prints allow you to create outfits that feel artistic, personal, and beautifully unique.

The most important rule is to wear a bold print that makes you feel like the best version of yourself.

When you trust your instincts and choose prints that harmonise with your shape, colouring and personality, they become timeless — and you’ll reach for them again and again.

I hope you enjoyed these tips for how to wear a bold print and if so, I would really appreciate it if you would share it. You can do this by saving any of the images to your Pinterest board or clicking on one of the icons below the post to share to Twitter, Facebook or Linked’In, and you can also share it by email to just one person (or more) by clicking on the email icon below.

I will be back soon with more style, lifestyle and travel inspiration and don’t forget to subscribe to make sure you never miss a post,

With love,