Is your wardrobe bursting with this season’s check and plaid? Well, now that grid prints have grabbed the shirt tails of grunge for autumn/winter 2014, you’re going to have to find some space for this plainer, yet more versatile, version.
After all, if it’s good enough for the late, great and much-lamented Oscar de la Renta, it’s certainly more than OK with us. When his pal Sarah Jessica Parker wore that sublime black-bodiced, white-skirted creation to the Met Ball (rocking long white gloves!), she had his signature embroidered in scarlet onto the grid pattern of its back train. With such illustrious endorsements, we suggest that you start working this trend right now.
The good news is that, unlike SJP, you don’t have to wait for a special occasion to wear it. Whether you plump for a small print, a window pane check, or diagonals, it’s an everyday look. Keep the monochrome, though, and stay chic in matching top and bottom, or in a dress with three-quarter length sleeves.
However, there are choices to make beyond black and white, even if you’re relishing that sixties vibe. Try colourways in pink, peach, pale blue, or navy, and red on black, or vice versa. Turn fabric into a trellis with climbing roses or winding ivy. Mix different-sized squares, and extend this to accessories, or experiment with patterns. Team a grid print skirt with a striped blouse, for instance, or cover a check top with an unbuttoned plaid shirt. Stand out in a cross-grid jumpsuit!
Team neutral shades with mid grey or warm brown. Throw a dark blazer over a white tee and black grid skirt, or slip a light-coloured coat over monochrome. Finish with cool sunshades. Wear the pattern on a warm sweater, and pair with a pencil. Reverse with a fuzzy jumper and grid trousers for chilly days. Opt for a wrap skirt, or a fitted knit with plain or contrasting sleeves.
Offset geometrics with leather, whether it’s leggings, trousers, skinnies, a bomber, or knee-high boots. A mini is best of all! Brighten up black with red accessories, or extend the theme to shoes, backpacks and scarves. For a change, pull on a slouchy coat to soften the effect.
Treat this trend as a blank canvas, and have some fun. We say that you don’t need a runway or a red carpet for this look, so get grids out on to the streets now!
The featured photo is of Camille Charriere is wearing a grid print shirt from Equipment
Adriana Gastélum is wearing a grid print jacket from SheInside
Tilden Brighton in her fitted asymmetrical grid print skirt from Madison Square
Jacey Duprie is wearing a black, grey and white grid print dress from Alice + Olivia
Audrey Leighton Rogers is wearing a blue check duster jacket from New Look
The grid print trend is coming up big. Courtney Trop is wearing a grid print Oxford shirt from Myne
Jacey Duprie is wearing a black and ivory W Sweater big grind print sweater from Theory
Annette Haga is wearing a big grid print skirt from Weekday
Annabelle Fleur is wearing a dark blue and white stripe big grid blazer from State
Mary Seng is wearing a monochrome grid top and bottom from MissGuided
Larisa Costea is wearing a blue and white grid print skirt from Vero Moda
