Growing up, my mom forewarned me to stay away from mixing patterns.  She does not have issues with the trend and certainly believed that, if done right, it could open up an outfit to a number of creative, fun, and finished looks.  However, she understood me well - I was, and in many ways still am, a fashion novice.   Had I decided to mix up my patterned clothing, it is likely that I would have looked like I had dressed in the dark.

And that’s my first impression when I saw these Louis Vuitton Olivia pumps ($680 at Eluxury).  The effort was admirable, but mixing patterns is so difficult to do right. Most attempts, like this one, are pretty bad.    Colorwise, the concoction works for me - the leaves on the floral print are of a similar earthy hue to the brown cap toe.  However, the striped cap toe is incredibly distracting and does not gel with the flowery print.  The net effect is a floral pattern that looks like old wallpaper and a captoe that resembles cardboard paper.  It’s incredibly mismatched for me so this is one luxury item I feel like I can do without.