Patterns and Polka Dots

I am starting to let myself explore a little bit more pattern in my clothing.  For some reason, I have always been a solids kind of girl--I don't stray much into the pattern department.  I think this stems from me feeling like most patterns look too big and flashy and I prefer more dainty, delicate looks.  Or it could be that most stores I have been looking in have so much pattern everywhere that I give up and walk out cross-eyed from the overload. ::shudders::


I have two shirts that I have been LOVING lately, and they are perfect for spring.  (Please ignore my roots in the pictures...I am very overdue for a touch-up!)

This first one is one of the Portofino shirts from Express that I just bought and talked about in my May Favorites.  This shirt is the best.  It's perfect to wear to work with my black skinnies or to dress it down for a night out with jeans.

I seriously can't get enough of it.  The only thing that would make this shirt better is if they had the same print in different colors.  Like I mentioned before, this one is see-through.  No muy bueno para los ojos.  Throw on a black cami underneath and it does the trick just fine.

I received this next shirt as a Christmas gift this past year, but since the weather has been the pits this spring, I am just now getting around to wearing this.  I have been dying to wear this for 6 months!  It's from Francesca's.  It's super cute with a navy background and cream polka-dots...and it's peplum!! I used to be very very skeptical about wearing peplum because I'm not super tall and I didn't want to look too chopped up.  But lately I have learned to love it.  (I'm still really picky about them though, I'm not a fan of all of them.)  And let me tell you, this shirt is SOFT.  I love it just for the feel.  

Normally I would accessorize these better with some cute earrings or a cuff bracelet or something but sometimes simplicity is the way to go.

What do you guys think?  Are the patterns subtle enough?  I usually don't gravitate toward anything busier than this but I really really want to buy some more stuff with these little patterns on them.  I'm getting kind of bored with my solid-colored wardrobe!