Someone told me to ditch fabric patterns and go solid. I should have listened.

My buddy Mark who does costuming for local theater warned me that busy floral prints would look like a mess on stage under lights. I thought I knew better and spent $80 on this bold patterned dress fabric anyway. Sewed up the whole thing for a show last month and from the third row it just looked like a blurry blob. Has anyone else had a specific fabric choice totally bomb on them in real use?

3 comments

3 Comments

matthew8641mo ago

Oh man, I totally used to be a "patterns are more interesting" person but after seeing how bad they look in photos I've completely flipped. Solid colors really do pop way better under harsh lights.

luna_clark381mo ago

Matthew's totally right, solid colors really do pop under harsh lights while patterns just melt into noise.

rosek441mo ago

I wore a floral patterned blouse to my cousin's wedding last summer and got tons of compliments on the photos because the pattern actually broke up the harsh light. The lights at that venue were absolutely brutal overhead fluorescent strips, but the small flowers and lines gave people's eyes something interesting to look at instead of just a flat shiny black or navy. My sister wore a solid teal dress and it just looked like a big sweaty blob in every picture because the light hit it so evenly.