Wearing Accessories Well!

Many of us don’t really give accessories a second thought. Before I had style and image consulting training, I really didn’t think about it.  I seemed to like more delicate jewelry and pieces, and that was a good thing: My silhouette really dictates I wear more delicate and smaller pieces. So it wasn’t a leap to suddenly give accessories more emphasis.

Just for starters, you should wear jewelry, scarves and other accessories to scale. What does that mean exactly? All of us, including men, have a scale to our silhouette: Petite, shorter; medium, medium height to taller/grand. What you wear should align with this. Scale also refers to the type/size of prints you wear in your clothing and even the size of your bag.

For instance, a really petite person — say 5’2′ –can really look silly carrying a huge bag. It totally overwhelms the look. Same thing with really large hats or jewelry with smaller folks – it’s all you see.

On the other side of the coin, when an extremely tall or muscular person wears a very tiny, floral print it looks strange on them — as if they are dressing like a child would.

Medium sized people can wear prints/ accessories in the middle — not too large but not too small.

The best way to see this is to really look in the mirror when you are buying accessories — or if you order them online look in a full size mirror to really see the effect of the additional piece. If it blends in, that’s good; if it totally stands out and that is all you see – don’t wear it.

You can see here the different sizes of women’s purses:

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/372672937885302400/?autologin=true

Messenger bags…

https://www.pinterest.com/momessorik/messenger-bags/

You can see there are several different sizes and styles of Messenger bags. I always prefer these in leather; although some would rather use vegan, another good option.

Here is an example of a medium-sized piece of jewelry. It isn’t delicate or small, but it isn’t grand or large. Many women could wear this piece: https://www.nancynixrice.com/product/statement-chain-link-necklace-and-earring/

This is also a popular look seen at the spring fashion shows — several different types of chains. If you have a more warm coloring, choose the gold or rose-gold in a necklace like this one; if you are more cool, choose the silver. This will create more harmony in your wardrobe looks.

Rose gold is so popular now, so if it’s a good color for you, embrace it!

Here is another look from Pinterest that is more of a girly, romantic look:

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/415175659371333745/

As far as fabric prints, I am showing you some fabrics a colleague of mine sells: you see how some prints are louder, larger, and others are more small. It’s important to think of this when you shop and ultimately buy pieces for your wardrobe.

As you look at these photos, you can see the different sizes: https://www.nancynixrice.com/product/tropical-multi-color-ity-jersey

There are also some scarf prints, too, large and small, available from Nancy Nix Rice. https://www.nancynixrice.com/product-category/small-square-scarves/

 

 

Keep it sassy, Indy!

Beth Divine, MA, AICI Certified Image Consultant and Personal Stylist