What Can Accessories Do For You?

When I got ready to go to church yesterday morning, I was tired and running late, so my outfit, well, it was very lacking in style:

There's nothing so terribly wrong with this outfit, but I could have done so much better, if I'd taken only an extra five minutes to think about the importance of accessories. Last year, I set a fashion goal for myself (yes, I do things like that) to improve my ability to accessorize my outfits. This was a three-step process:

1. Learn how to properly wear various categories and styles of accessories. (What's the best way to wear a long necklace? Bangles? Dangly earrings vs. post earrings? Etc.)
2. Build an accessory wardrobe. (This part is my favorite, because it's the SHOPPING part...)
3. Practice adding the new accessories to different outfits through the year.

I definitely saw a lot of improvement in my use of necklaces, bracelets, earrings, rings, belts, and even scarves as the year went on. Now that I'm much more aware of the ways that accessories can improve an outfit, I feel much worse when I don't put in the effort to add them when I'm getting ready, as I didn't this Sunday.

Upon thinking about it that afternoon, I decided to take the opportunity to point out this small "failing" of mine and talk about how I could have done it better. After all, I am a teacher - shouldn't I use this as a "teachable moment" and discuss the ways to use accessories to your benefit? (Hint: The answer is yes. Yes, I should use it to teach about accessories. So that's what I'm going to do.)

First, let's look at what the outfit was:

For those of you aware of my proclivity for varying my outfits all the time, you might be disappointed in the repetition of the same jeans from Friday's outfit; you're probably extra disappointed to notice they're even rolled the same way. If we're being honest, though, I think we all have some favorite pieces in our closets - those pieces we turn to again and again because they're just so comfortable and they go with everything - and that's what these jeans are for me. I paired them with an oatmeal colored v-neck sweater with 3/4 sleeves; in spite of the warm temperatures, I liked the sweater choice, and it was a relatively thin sweater anyway. For the shoes I went with my llama-print Keds skimmers, which are an all-time favorite of mine.

But let's look at what the outfit could have been:

This version is so much less... blah, you know? Adding the belt not only breaks up the flat coloration of the sweater with a richer brown tone, it also adds more shape to the outfit by defining the waist. The necklace adds some color at the neck, instead of allowing my fair skin to go directly into what is almost a flesh-colored sweater. A small charm bracelet adds a delicate touch of gold at the wrist, and a gold cocktail ring on the opposite hand balances it.

Hopefully this has shown that the few extra minutes it takes to add some accessories can have a pretty drastic effect on an outfit. Next time you're running late, consider taking that extra minute or two to toss on a necklace, bracelet, or belt, and see what it can do for you!


Get the look for yourself:
Sweater - Target; similar here.
Jeans - Target, available here.
Shoes - Keds, no longer available; other patterns of the same style here and here.
Belt - Target; similar here.
Necklace - Old Navy; similar here (on sale!).
Bracelet - gift; similar here.
Ring - shop in South Africa; similar here.