Natural Essence Prints

Natural prints are somehow relaxed and busy, calm and lively—all at once.

Is that really possible?

Let’s find out!

Key Natural Prints Qualities

Natural prints are often:

• Large-scale

• Blunt-edged

• Asymmetrical

• Nature-based

• Beachy

You’re looking for designs that feel carefree, relaxed, and down-to-earth.

Natural’s Best Prints

Here’s some of your best options:

1) Pinstripes

• Pinstripes with a slight blend (rather than being perfectly straight)

• Pinstripes with varied types of lines

• Pinstripes with varied thicknesses and spacings

2) Plaids

• Oversized plaids (especially the kind often found on flannel shirts)

3) Florals

• Sunflowers

• Wildflowers

• Flowers with large pointy petals

4) Nature Motifs

• Palm trees

• Other trees

• Leaves

• Graphic tees with nature scenes

5) Camo

• Traditional earth-toned camo

• Camo with various colors

6) Paisley

• Moderate- to large-scale paisley

7) And More!

• Other designs that feel carefree, blunt-edged, or evoke the beauty of nature

Lively yet Calm?

Looking at the above prints, you may get a sense of what I mean by saying that Natural prints are simultaneously lively and calm, busy and relaxed.

Natural prints often have a lot of detail, which reflects the intricate reality of the natural world.

These prints can be colorful, large, sprawling, and overlapping—they can feel busy and, like nature, very much alive.

And yet Natural designs seldom, if ever, feel aggressive or emotionally overpowering. There’s still a peacefulness to them, even when they’re lively.

Maybe this is because viewing images of nature tends to produce a calming effect on humans.

A dress covered in large, overlapping, vibrant yellow sunflowers can still feel relaxing, because it evokes nature’s serenity-inducing beauty.

Prints to Avoid

There can be exceptions, but Natural generally doesn’t prefer:

• Uniform stripes and pinstripes (the kind that are evenly spaced, straight, and have lines that are all the same thickness)

• Polka-dots

• Geometrics with very sharp, angular shapes

• Dainty, small-scale florals

• Florals that feel elaborate and extravagant (like roses or other flowers that would feature in a traditional Valentine’s Day bouquet)

• Animal prints (even though they evoke nature! Patterns like leopard, snakeskin, zebra, etc. feel too emotionally passionate and intense)

But you can likely still wear some of these if you have other essences in your blend.

Natural Blended Prints

Most people aren’t a pure type. But even if you only have a little Natural, you can still be flattered by fully Natural prints.

You can also choose designs that combine two or more of your essences, like:

Natural Ethereal

• Look for tie-dye that feels random or roughly linear—this can be the perfect print for the Natural Ethereal boho aesthetic.

Natural Classic

• Look for simple plaids that are close to being moderate in size (Classic) but lean oversized (Natural).

Natural Gamine

• Look for paisley that incorporates stripe-like detail, especially if also accompanied by polka-dots or small geometrics.

Natural Dramatic

• Look for pinstripes of varied sizes and spacings (Natural) arranged diagonally (Dramatic).

• Long, straight diagonal lines, especially convergent lines, feel intense—they mimic the kinds of shapes seen in Dramatic facial features and bone structure.

Natural Ingenue

• Look for florals that have leaf or vine-like shapes (Natural), along with small, delicate petal-like shapes (Ingenue).

Natural Romantic

• Look for prints that feature florals with moderate or large, very curvy shapes (Romantic) along with notable foliage or leaves (Natural).

Distinguishing Natural and Romantic Florals

Natural and Romantic flowers can be hard to tell apart—both can appear large and asymmetrically-spaced.

Here’s some tips for distinguishing them:

1) Consider shape

As a rough rule, Romantic florals tend to feel curvier, whereas Natural florals tend to feel pointier.

2) Consider formality

Romantic florals generally feel more dressed-up—they wouldn’t look out of place on a cocktail dress or other formal attire.

In contrast, Natural florals feel more casual—it would be more expected to see them on a beachy sundress than a cocktail dress.

3) Look at the leaf-to-flower ratio

Fully Romantic floral prints can have some leaves, but the leaves are usually less prevalent than the flowers—the flowers will take up more space.

In contrast, if the leaves on a print appear prominent and take up as much space (or more space) than the flowers, then that’s likely a Natural print, or a Natural Romantic one.

4) Consider size

If the individual flowers appear very oversized, they’ll often have some Natural, regardless of the type of flower.

Oversized florals can blend Natural and Romantic if they’re very curvy and elaborate.

5) When in doubt

If in doubt, you may be looking at a print that’s overall best for a Natural Romantic blend.

Print-Mixing

Print-mixing can be perfect for Natural’s relaxed, carefree beauty.

Mixing different patterns can help create the impression that you didn’t try super hard to be matchy-matchy. This flatters Natural’s cool, casual aesthetic.

Here’s some examples of making the technique work:

Phone It In

This may be a very loose interpretation of a print, but why not?

Natural uneven “pinstripes” plus a quilted phone case. Cool look for a Natural Gamine blend.

Edge It Up

Pairing a plaid jacket with a leopard print sweater and leather sharply-pleated skirt makes a neat look for a Romantic Dramatic Natural Gamine.

Handbag It

You can also find elaborate prints that already have a “mixed” quality.

This print would suit a Natural with Romantic and Ethereal, since the florals have notably curvy shapes and a dreamy, watercolor feel.

The basic minimalist square bag silhouette adds Classic.

Be Graphic

Pinstripes of varied thicknesses plus a cropped slouchy jacket and graphic tee—great Natural Gamine look.

The tee itself also appears to add a Romantic feel, since it features characters in glam outfits from the iconic film Clueless.

And More!

These are just a few examples of the infinite kinds of outfits you can create.

The great thing about having a lot of Natural is that pieces that don’t look “matchy-matchy” can paradoxically appear coordinated on you.

They fit your chill, carefree vibes.

Colors and Color Season

Any season can create an earthy or beachy feel by combining colors like green, blue, orange, brown, and/or beige, etc.

So Natural works well with any seasonal palette.

And as we saw above, the neat thing about wearing prints is that they can sometimes strongly express your style type, even if the colors aren’t stereotypical for your essences.

Specifically, we saw several fully Natural prints that combined large amounts of black with white.

Often black and white together reads as intense and Dramatic, or conventionally formal and Classic.

But in a Natural print like uneven pinstripes or a nature scene, the high-contrast color scheme still has a relaxed Natural feel.

So especially if you have a season that lacks stereotypically “earthy” colors (some of the Winters, and arguably Springs and Summers, too), wearing prints can be a great way to express your essence.

General Print-Mixing Tips

Here’s a summary of general print-mixing strategies (we also covered all these previously when discussing the other essences’ best prints!)

These are absolutely guidelines, not rules—all can sometimes be broken with success:

• Pair a subtler print with a louder one

• Mix a simpler print with a more complex one

• Mix a more well-known and recognizable print (like plaids) with a more unusual one

• Pair larger scale with smaller scale

• Pair a printed garment with printed shoes, accessories, or jewelry

• Have one or more of your prints be mostly neutral

• Mix prints in the same or similar color schemes

• Keep color season mostly consistent—if the print mostly suits your season while also incorporating some colors that are outside your season, it may still work for you. But in general, if you like to dress by your color season, then you’ll want the majority of the print’s colors to match that

Natural or Classic?

Like Natural fashion in general, Natural prints exude a cool, casual, somewhat spontaneous feel.

In this way, they’re basically the opposite of Classic prints (like basic uniform pinstripes), which often have symmetry and evenly-spaced lines.

Interestingly, these two essences are easy to confuse in faces, since both sometimes read as being defined by moderate-length, blunt-edged features.

So if you’ve been unsure about whether you have Natural or Classic, you might consider which essence’s prints most flatter you.

Natural Beauty: Lively yet Calm

One amazing aspect of Natural prints is that they tend to have a calm, relaxing aura—yet there can still be a lot going on.

Certain Natural designs, like florals or paisley, can actually feel quite “busy” and detailed. Yet thanks to blunt-edged shapes, nature motifs, and other Natural qualities, these prints still feel peaceful, rather than intense or aggressive.

And I think that’s something to love about Natural in both fashion and faces.

Natural beauty embodies the complexity, character, and variety of the natural world. People with the Natural essence often have gorgeously standout features, whether that’s very chiseled bone structure or notably thick brows.

But even with their strong features, Naturals tend to look friendly and open, rather than extremely intense or intimidating.

Natural beauty feels peaceful, and yet Naturals are also harmonious with big smiles that are full of emotion and life. They’re able to embody both: tranquility and lively happiness.

That’s a special combination of qualities.

Next Time

Next time we’ll look at Ethereal’s dreamy prints! : )

P.S. Style Analysis Updates and Everyday Outfit Guides

I also wanted to give a few quick updates—I may cover some of this in a separate post, too, but wanted to briefly note:

• Regarding Style Analysis, I’m happy to say that a payment plan is now available, which should make the service more practical and flexible.

  • Specifically, Style Analysis costs a total of $105. But instead of paying for it all at once, you can now opt to purchase it with an initial payment of $35. Then, one month later, your payment method would be charged another $35. And then a month after that, your payment method would be charged a final $35.

  • There is no catch—no interest, no additional fees, and no increased waiting time for your analysis results. Regardless of the payment plan you choose, you’ll receive your Style Analysis report within two weeks after purchasing your analysis and sending your photos.

  • Payment plans are also now available for the Color Analysis and Style and In-depth Makeup Analysis.

• Regarding Everyday Outfit Guides, if you’ve been wanting to make your essence blend more practical for everyday life, this is the guide for you!

  • The mission of these guides is to show how each essence blend can wear their essences in the activities that make up the majority of most of our lives. Even while wearing loungewear. Even while wearing activewear. Even while running errands and embarking on other casual outings. The guides also include examples of professional attire that should be formal and modest enough for many workplaces.

  • One thing to note about the guides is that they only cover the single-, double-, and triple-essence blends. However, most people with a four essence blend only have about 15% of less of their fourth essence. And that’s the perfect amount for adding your fourth essence as just an accessory or two. So, every single Everyday Outfit Guide includes a list of key accessories that flatter ALL seven essences. So if you have a four essence blend, you may find it works well to get the guide for your top three essences.

  • Questions? Please don’t hesitate to reach out by emailing whatsmystyletype@gmail.com or by filling out this contact form! : )