My First Foray into Pattern Mixing

As I'm sure all of you stylish ladies are already aware, stripes, brights, and pattern mixing are all huge trends for summer (and if the early fall look books are any indication, will transition into autumn as well).  I thought I might as well give them all a shot at once.

shirt: lilly pulitzer, thrifted; skirt:thrifted; bag: local boutique; belt:F21; shoes: limelight 

I've never had much of a problem incorporating saturated colors into my wardrobe and stripes have long been a summer staple (although I look forward to deploying them more in the cooler months), but pattern mixing simultaneously enthralled and scared the bejeezus out of me.  Like so many other trends, it looks so effortless on other women, but when I looked into my own closet, every pattern seemed to clash.   That is until I thrifted this skirt.  For some reason its black and white scheme seems to gives me permission to mix it with just about whatever I like, including hot pink stripes.  Hopefully this will open my eyes to more possible combinations in my closet.

If you've struggled with this trend as well (or if you're just looking for some inspiration) this post is one of the best I've read on the subject.  

OH, and how great is this bag?  I've had it for 3 years now, but it keeps popping into my rotation and I fall in love with it all over again.  Dark purple is by far the most underrated neutral - it really does go with almost everything.