matchy-matchy

comparative more matchy-matchy · superlative most matchy-matchy

1. fashionOf clothes or upholstery: excessively color-coordinated.

   "Shall we do it matchy-matchy?" Laura asks, holding up a teal top with teal flowered Bermuda shorts. / "Sooner or later, matching is going to be the new non-matching," Rodney states proudly.

   2006 February 6, Joanna Douglas, “Pronounced Ah-bye-ah-tay: Abaeté Designer Laura Poretzky Let Us Tag Along as She Prepared for Her First Fashion Show at New York’s Bryant Park”, in Christina Kelly, editor, Elle Girl, New York, N.Y.: Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 89

   3 more examples

   We are dressing for a dinner party, I in a black skirt with a porthole over which I have dropped an empire-waisted blue schmatte. Schmatte, along with "merch" for merchandise and "matchy-matchy," as in "That sweater and skirt are too matchy-matchy," is among the words I have picked up at Mlle [Madamoiselle].

   [1995, Mary Cantwell, chapter 4, in Manhattan, When I was Young, New York, N.Y.: Houghton Mifflin Company, →ISBN, page 139

   Matchy-Matchy is no longer considered the height of chic. This was a throwback from the 1950's when women seemed to enjoy matching everything, shoes, bags, belts, lipstick, toilet paper, tissues, etc. Now it simply looks time consuming and complicated. Part of looking effortlessly chic is having the ability to look good but not matchy-matchy perfect. Matchy-matchy has been out for ages in the style world.

   2008, Nancy Marie, “Chic and Stylish”, in Style, Beauty, Trimness, [s.l.]: Fabuleux Paris, →ISBN, page 25

   I used to really like matchy-matchy everything. If I liked he chair, then I wanted the sofa, end table, coffee table, and settee to match it. I remember hearing that matchy-matchy was bad because then your house would look like a catalog photo for a furniture store. […] Then as I got older, I finally agreed with that sentiment. Catalog rooms look nice, but they don't look like someone lives there. They don't have a soul.

   2015, Anita Joyce, “Decorating Guidelines”, in French Accents: Farmhouse French Style for Today’s Home, Springville, Utah: Plain Sight Publishing, Cedar Fort, Inc., →ISBN

   Synonyms: matchy