From jewelry, hats, and bags toscarves, belts, and shoes, the ways toadd oomph toyour outfit appear tobeendless, and, yes, sometimes overwhelming. Tosome ofus, accessorizing can seem like askill that takes alifetime tomaster, but infact, itdoesn’t have tobeall that difficult. Having acouple ofexpert tips upyour sleeve can turn you into your own personal stylist and take your outfits tothe next level.
1. Choose the right belt for your outfit for amore polished look.
Adding the right belt can elevate your look. For example, petite ladies should gofor amonochrome skinny belt, while awide belt looks great ontall and athletic women. Wide belts can also beused toharmonize different prints.
Super skinny belts gowell with solid color tops orbottoms but will get lost inbusy patterns. Wide belts gogreat with jumpsuits and dresses, but they can also beused tocinch asweater orajacket and accentuate your figure. Toplay itsafe, gofor amedium-thickness belt since they work with pretty much anything.
2. Choose the footwear according tothe skirt hemline.
The shorter the skirt, the lower the heel isagolden rule that can keep you away from looking tacky inaminiskirt. But when the same miniskirt ispaired with ballet flats, loafers, oreven anice pair ofsneakers, itcan look polished and cool. Onthe other hand, don’t beafraid ofwearing sky-high heels with midi and maxi skirts. Ifyou cannot resist combining high heels and aminiskirt, wearing apair oftights can make the whole look much more sophisticated.
3. Accessorize with jewelry orascarf todivert attention from problem areas.
Ifyou like wearing figure-hugging skirts but have abit ofatummy, you can wear acolorful scarf oroversized jewelry todivert attention from your midriff toyour face. Also, you can invest insome shape wear tomake your figure even slimmer. Avoid tight skirts with embellishments and details onthe waist ifyou are conscious about your midsection.
4. Balancing your accessories isthe key.
It’s easy toget carried away with gorgeous accessories and gooverboard with details. When adding ascarf toyour look, avoid overcomplicating itbyincorporating too much jewelry. Toavoid this mistake, you can follow asimple 1:1 ration rule: ascarf + necklace orascarf + statement earrings.
5. Experiment with colorful scarves bychanging their purpose.
You don’t have tolimit yourself tojust wearing ascarf around your neck. The ways touse ascarf tostyle your outfit are almost endless. You can use ittofreshen upanold handbag, asaheadband, ahat decoration, oreven wear itinstead ofabelt.
6. Don’t pick anoversized bag ifyou want tolook taller.
Most ofus often get distracted bygorgeous patterns and shapes when shopping for abag, forgetting that the scale isactually the most important part.
- Petite women should pick asmall tomedium size bag with mid-length orshort straps. Wider oroversized bags won’t work inyour favor asthey may make you look shorter.
- Plus-size, curvy gals should opt for medium-sized structured bags instead ofvery small orbig slouchy bags. Anoversized unstructured bag can add bulk toyour problem areas, while extra small bags can make you look bigger. Ifyou are afan ofsmall purses, going for aclutch can beafabulous option.
7. Avoid matching the color ofthe shoes with the bag.
Ifyou’re aiming for amore modern look, try toavoid matchy-matchy combinations. Although there isnothing wrong with wearing ablack handbag with black shoes, ifyou are trying tospice upabasic outfit with some color, it’s better tomatch the color ofyour handbag with other pieces, like your earrings orjacket. However, when itcomes toprints and patterns it’s alittle different. Ifyou love apatterned bag orshoes, try toidentify the base color and harmonize accordingly. For example, ifthe base color ofthe patterned bag isgrey, then wear apair ofplain grey shoes— orthe other way around.
8. The necklace and neckline should not collide.
Adding aspark toyour look byincorporating jewelry isaneasy way tomake your outfit more sophisticated, but when choosing anecklace you should consider the neckline first.
Short necklaces generally work better when they rest above the neckline, but they can also look great ifthe neckline ishigh enough that itcan serve asabackground for the jewelry (inother words, the pendant isnot resting half onthe clothes and half onyour skin). Onthe other hand, long necklaces work with low and high necklines, and even turtlenecks, but they may look abit awkward with square orasymmetrical necklines.
9. Stack your bracelets like apro.
For those ofyou who are more into bracelets, knowing how tolayer your arm candy goes along way. There’s plenty ofroom tomix and match your bracelets but remember that balance iskey. Wearing bulky items onboth wrists can detract attention from your overall outfit and even look abit tacky. Also, keep track ofthe color scheme tomake your jewelry and clothes look harmonized.
10. Pick the right hat for your outfit.
It’s often tempting tojust pop onany kind ofhat tomake the outfit more interesting, but that can actually work against you. Think offacial and bodily proportions before adding ahat toyour look. The golden rule isthat the hat’s brim shouldn’t bewider than your shoulders.
- Ifyou have around face, wearing ahat with ashallow crown further back onyour head will add more sharp lines tobalance your look. You should choose afedora, along sock hat, oranangular hat.
- Women with square-shaped faces should pick larger hats without harsh lines tosoften their face. Instead offedoras and angular hats, gofor around-brimmed hat, acloche hat, aslouchy beret, orabeanie.
- Ifyour face islong, skip soft-brimmed hats and beanies and avoid wearing your hat further back onyour head. Instead, choose hats that cut across the forehead, hats with fitted crowns, and wide-brimmed hats.
- Lucky ladies with anoval face shape can get away with any ofthe above and still look gorgeous.
11. Spice upyour look with apair ofcolorful tights orstockings.
This isasimple, yet effective way toelevate your outfit and add apop ofcolor toyour look. You can either pick anoverall color theme and harmonize the tights with other pieces you’re wearing, oropt for apair oftights inacontrasting color, which can make other clothing pieces stand out.
Bonus:
Invision/Invision/East News
More than just anembellishment, accessories can even become apart ofthe dress itself, acting asanessential component that holds the gown together. Anexample ofthis issinger Megan Thee Stallion’s Grecian goddess-inspired dress that she wore atthe BET awards in2021, where 2pieces offabric covering only her private parts were attached byway ofsparkly beaded adornments which fell toher hips.
How doyou usually accessorize your outfit? Which one ofthese suggestions are you planning totry out?
Please note: This article was updated in November 2022 to correct source material and factual inaccuracies.
Preview photo credit
Invision/Invision/East News
