Wearing leopard in the summer is not much different than any other time of year. Yet if you look around, I feel like the print is underappreciated at this time of year.
Almost makes you feel sorry for it, right??
So I set out on a quest to see how the three of us could incorporate wearing leopard in the summer that might give you some inspiration.
Quote of the day: “The secret to change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old but building the new.” Socrates
It’s no secret that we gravitate towards certain colors and prints at certain times of the year. And who knows why I have this burning desire to make all colors and prints work all the time. But since I do have this desire, and this is my space on the internet, then I might as well put it to good use!
Besides the Socrates quote is powerful. If change isn’t a part of your life, then I think we become stagnant. And that’s not a word anyone wants to describe either their personality or their style!
Which brings me to the point of having fun with our style as well as finding ways to wear leopard in the summer.
Leopard in the Summer Ideas
1-With accessories or footwear
2-Lighter color combinations
3-Pair it with linen
4-Other ideas
This is exactly why you should definitely sign up for the emails below. Besides the fabulous free eBook (which will give you loads of ideas), my email family gets personal tidbits of what’s going on in my life along with other happenings, sales, information, giveaways, extra photos, and interesting articles.
Related post: 4 ways of how to wear animal prints
Lesley: Leopard with Accessories and/or Footwear
Lesley is a huge fan of leopard print with red clothing. And just so you know, leopard is something relatively new in her closet. She wasn’t a huge fan of the print before I twisted her arm.
Yet the brown and black print goes so well with this red dress. If you worry that red might be too bold a color, then this is a great way to tone it down with neutrals.
The other thing that leopard (or any animal print) does is give a solid color some print so that the eye can move around.
Swing Dress
This swing dress is the type of dress that is perfect for hotter days. It’s not as fitted and thus flows away from the body. Just think, then not everyone will be aware of the sweat dripping down your body, haha!
And just because this dress is sleeveless does not mean it can’t be worn well into the rest of the year. These dresses are easy to layer both under and over to make them versatile.
Accessories
Since we are talking about wearing leopard for the summer, Lesley found a leopard print bracelet, brown and black pendant necklace PLUS her leopard purse.
There are just so many options to incorporate this print with your solid color dresses.
BTW, I always love these longer necklaces with a solid-colored dress especially if there is no waistline or belt.
Related post: What color jewelry goes with a red dress?
Leopard Sandals
I also love that Lesley found some fabulous leopard sandals to go with the entire look. She told me that she got this pair of sandals while shopping online.
I know shoes can be a challenge to get online, but my best piece of advice is to check the return policy before you “add to cart.” Since shoes can’t be altered as easily as clothing, you want to know that you can send them back if they turn out to be ill-fitting.
Insider tip: Leopard comes in many different colorways. Some of the prints have more white in them while others have more brown or black. This makes it easy to find the option you like the best. Heck, there are even many leopard prints that are colorful instead of just the classic brown and black.
And if you ask me, you might need one in a couple of different colorways. Then the lighter ones might seem easier to wear for summer and the darker ones go with the darker colors most people wear in winter.
Charlotte: Wearing Lighter Colors with Leopard in Summer
Charlotte chose to showcase wearing her leopard in summer by pairing it with a lighter color. Even though her leopard top is a darker variety, the yellow pants are a wonderful contrast and lighten up the entire look.
Let’s talk about the advantages of a print top like this for summer. Just like Lesley’s swing dress, you won’t notice the sweat dripping down your back as much because the print acts as camouflage. In fact, this is the best way to hide any lumps/bumps and bulges that you aren’t happy about–keeping in mind that our bodies are fabulous as is.
The idea of hiding our imperfections is not one I like to promote, however, I know I’m swimming upstream.
Joggers
Are you surprised to see that my mom is wearing a pair of joggers? I’m calling these joggers because of the elastic cuff at the bottom. They are NOT sweatshirt material though. In fact, this pair of pants was a normal pair that my mom altered to add the cuff.
Insider tip: If you have a pair of pants that might seem old-ladyish, consider this elastic cuff at the bottom. It’s those details that can take frumpy to fabulous.
Accessories
My mom has a collection of accessories and her rationale is that she’s been collecting them for over 80 years. Don’t laugh because some of her pieces are older than I am.
I like how the purse isn’t a leopard print but still fits into the overall scheme of the look because it’s a dark print. This purse is one that my mom picked up on her travels to Japan many years ago. It’s always nice to pick up souvenirs that you will remember this way.
For Charlotte’s shoes, she is wearing her Walking Cradles “Cruz” sandals that we reviewed earlier this spring. While my mom has worn them both times with brown, I would like to point out that they are a light neutral that will go with many more colors in your closet.
Jodie: Wearing Leopard with Linen
Another way to make leopard work in the summer easily is to pair it with the materials that scream summer. And linen is one of those materials.
This linen top has a fabulous cutout in the back plus its low cut enough in the front that I needed to wear my Gatherall strapless/backless bra. Luckily it’s one of my most comfortable bras, especially in the 100+ degree heat.
Since there is no material wrapping around my body, it’s just plain cooler.
This is one of the outfits I shared showing examples of different proportions. In that post, I also had the top hang untucked to see which one your eye preferred.
Leopard on your Bottom Half
Just as I described about how the leopard print can be wonderful in a top, it’s the same concept for pants or a skirt. The print creates a wonderful camouflage of anything you don’t want to see.
This pair of joggers I picked up recently at my local boutique called Just Be Youtiful.
Insider tip: I’ve been given a discount code to share for Just Be Youtiful. Use code Jtouch15 to get 15% off (either online or in-store). The items online are different from what is in the store, so you have 2 chances to find great things.
While I don’t think of joggers as something to wear in the summer, they can be a great option if they are lightweight. It’s nice because they aren’t tight and constricting, yet my legs are covered if I’m trying to stay out of the sun.
Accessories
I pulled in all kinds of colors with my accessories. The biggest one that you notice is the orange straw purse. But then I also wore a red/white bracelet and my turquoise glasses.
If you ask me to rate my look, I might say that I would lose the belt. Maybe my ivory woven belt would be more cohesive? But it’s all very temporary, so I refuse to get upset over details in an outfit that doesn’t strike my fancy anymore.
I also wanted to wear shoes that seemed sexy as opposed to the joggers that seem casual.
Other Ideas for Wearing Leopard in Summer
This isn’t the first time we have been wearing leopard print in summer, so make sure to see what else we’ve come up with in the past.
Although I must admit that we haven’t done this as many times as I thought we would have. It goes to show that old habits die hard.
1-With shorts
2-As a band on a hat
3-Leopard skirt with denim vest
4-Another example of leopard accessories
5-As a lightweight topper over a t-shirt dress
Other ideas that would be wonderful are to incorporate a short sleeve leopard t-shirt with white linen pants or shorts.
And leopard sandals would snazz up those summer black outfits.
So don’t stow your leopard away for the colder months. Let’s see how we can incorporate wearing the leopard print in summer too.
Thank you
If you’ve enjoyed this, I hope you will look around the site and…
- find out more about the blog here. Including behind the scenes of our relationship here.
- you can see all the categories of past posts here
- feel free to use any discounts or deals that I share here.
- make sure to sign up for emails to enjoy fun features in every email PLUS get my recent eBook here.
- follow me on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Pinterest.
- and if you ever want to reach out or have any requests, feel free to email me at JTouchofStyle@gmail.com
If you enjoyed any of this information, I would appreciate it if you would share, share and share wherever you can!! You can do this by saving an image to your Pinterest board or sharing this post on Facebook. Or send this post to your friend, and make sure they sign up for the emails.
Welcome to Jodie’s Touch of Style. I’m here to prove that it’s never too late to look great. Clothing and style are meant to showcase your inner personality. So let’s have fun and try new things.
It’s not just about me on this blog, but also my mother and friend. We get to showcase not only different decades of life but also different body shapes and unique personal styles.
Find out more about all of us here. And make sure to join the email list where I include so much more.