Accessorizing Archives - Page 13 of 22

Choosing an Accent Color for Grey

December 1, 2015

I love grey, and it's rather easy to shop for, but you do want to be aware of the varying shades of grey (some very yellowish, and other quite blue). They don't always blend as well as one might prefer! The answer is generally to carry a key piece with you when shopping, to avoid any sort of "mis-remembering" of the color...Yes, I've included this really great turtleneck AGAIN. I'm smitten with it, I tell you, but I absolutely CAN'T justify buying another sweater. I will probably survive the lack, I suspect!

It is incredibly easy to pair the grey core outfit with black or navy, so I thought I would wander further afield, into some warmer neutrals. This might be an excellent way to easy yourself into a ... View the Post

Choosing an Accent Color for Olive Green

November 30, 2015 Oooh, olive is a difficult color to find, and when something turns up that's called olive, it could be anything from a nasty yellowish green pond-scum color, to this lovely deep and dusty green:

You will, I'm sure, note that these colors don't match absolutely exactly perfectly. I don't have too much trouble with that, so long as they're lighter and darker versions of the same shade of green. It's a difficult color to find and to match, but well worth the effort. By virtue of being so uncommon, you will never blend into a crowd when you wear it! And it can be madly flattering...

First up, what neutrals look good with olive? I'm quickly learning that marsala/wine/burgundy goes with ... View the Post

Choosing an Accent Color for Navy

November 28, 2015 Navy is always so elegant... These four pieces have so much potential!

The olive accent keeps re-appearing! I really like using it as a secondary neutral with navy - it warms it up and gives it a rich glow. And of course, grey and navy were born to go together...And I must share something sort of inexplicable that I keep running into: there are MEN'S scarves, and WOMEN'S scarves. Why, in all the worlds, would this be? But please be advised - if you're looking for a scarf in a plaid, paisley, or timeless menswear pattern, look in the men's department. They are usually less expensive too, which REALLY hacks me off.... sigh...

You knew there would, eventually, be a red vest in here ... View the Post

Choosing an Accent Color for Brown

As I mentioned yesterday, I want to look at the possibility of different accent colors for a few neutrals - today let's think about dark chocolate brown!

First up, the core four garments upon which we will build these outfits. Having these 4 pieces can make your life so much easier....

Ryder pants – J.Crew; cashmere turtleneck – J. Crew; jeans – Austin Reed; ribbed crewneck - Michael Kors Collection

I took the same approach, starting with two neutral colors that could serve as accents in a mainly brown wardrobe. If you were building a wardrobe with more than 1 neutral, you would have lots of options like this:

Olive vest – L.L.Bean; green earrings – GFG Jewellery; scarf – L.L.Bean; ... View the Post

Choosing an Accent Color for Black

Something that I struggle with a lot, personally, is my accent color, or colors. I'm always thinking that something other than red should be my "color", but who am I kidding? I keep coming back, over and over, to red...So I was playing around with a variety of accent colors, using simple black garments as a core, and building around quilted vests, just for the heck of it...

When you're looking for these vests, make sure you look for "quilted," rather than "down," unless you specifically want down. Some of the vests with synthetic insulation are just as warm, and quite lovely; you'll miss them if you don't include everything quilted...

Yes, these would make nifty little templates for buying gifts, too. But if you go shopping on ... View the Post

Preparing for the “Festive Season”

November 16, 2015

Guess where I'm going to be next Thursday night! Okay, don't guess - I'm going to this:

Woo hoo! A little Beaujolais Nouveau, some tasty morsels, and TISH, from "A Femme d'un Certain Age." Sounds like a great evening to me...

But, of course, what to wear? The dress code is "Elegant Business Attire", which for me means no gym clothes, and in Belovedest's office might mean that you wear socks. Or maybe that you showered within the past 2 weeks. Elegant is NOT something that's much associated with business attire, in my limited experience!

So I'm starting with a black dress - easy peasy. I have the dress on the right. I debated between the two - I admit that I adore the idea of a dress with ... View the Post

My Favorite Posts: Accessory Families

I love accessory families - I think that a really productive way to analyze a potential purchase (of accessories OR clothing) is to think of your possessions as a family, and try to envision the candidate for inclusion playing nicely with what you currently have...There were a bunch of these posts at the beginning of 2015 which remain favorites of mine!

White Outfits with Grey, Turquoise or Celadon Green Accessories

Brown Outfits with Accessories in Light Blue, Brights, and Brown

Denim Blue Outfits with Floral, Bright and Silver/White Accessories

Beige Outfits with Accessories in Celadon Green, Brown and Light Blue love, Janice

... View the Post

Accent Colors for Fall 2015

August 10, 2015

You remember these guys, right? They're the colors that Pantone assured us would be the BIG colors for this fall and winter.Well, I've seen a lot of Marsala in the windows at Ferragamo. Other than that, I can't say that, in my hours and hours spent each day looking at clothing and accessories, I have seen any of these in large quantities. And for what it's worth, I had to do some serious hard-core digging to find some of the goodies shown below.

I think we can conclude that Pantone's either not as accurate as they would like to be, or that the market is much less dependent upon their advice than they once were. This is a real annoyance if you fell madly in love with one of the colors that was supposed to be ... View the Post

Choosing Accessory Colors; More Accessory Clusters

June 6, 2015

I was thinking a lot about yesterday's winning color scheme, and so I thought it might be productive to put all of that thinking into action! The first thing I did was start browsing around looking at scarves that might be harmonious with the color scheme in question; it's important to bear in mind that things don't always have to be dye-lot matched. If someone gets a big thrill out of noticing that something you're wearing isn't EXACTLY PRECISELY the same color as something else... well, they're easily amused, and you've done the good deed of keeping them entertained. Some people will complain that their ice cream is cold...

So I found this beautiful Hermes scarf:

And I thought I'd monkey around with the ... View the Post

A Dusty Pink Jacket: Integrating an Accent Color

May 20, 2015 Ahh, sometimes you receive a gift that's lovely, but... A dusty, soft pink jacket is a wonderful gift - there are few of us who can't wear this color successfully, but what if you've never before owned ANYTHING else in this color? Happily, a coat's a great thing to integrate into the rest of your wardrobe, because you can wear whatever you want under the jacket, add one well-chosen accessory, and everything will look pulled-together and thought out. Here's an example of the coat:

From here, your options are wide open! A beautiful scarf?

A beautiful bag is a great idea!

Lots of other possibilities...

And don't ... View the Post

A Turquoise Handbag: Integrating a New Accent Color

May 5, 2015

Today, I'm going to try to answer two questions with one blog post. (something about birds and stones comes to mind, but I don't kill birds...)

Many of you are reluctant to buy shoes that aren't in neutral colors - maybe it's a question of having to buy very expensive shoes because of foot conditions, or a reluctance to draw attention to lower body and/or legs, or perhaps you have Audrey Hepburn feet (aka disproportionately large)... But for whatever reason, it's perfectly justifiable, as if you have to explain or defend your preferences!

And of course, we wanted to marry navy and turquoise, because it's one of the great color combinations!

So let's grab this lovely bag first:

And go back to our navy travel or ... View the Post

A Yellow Handbag: Integrating a New Accent Color

May 4, 2015

I know I said I was going to take Mondays off. Some Mondays, I will. But today I had this whole yellow handbag question lurking in my mind, so I thought I'd share what I've found and learned. First up, there are lots of nice yellow handbags in the world! I personally would carry this one with the shiny plaque against my body (I'm not paid to advertise for any brand; I don't do it for free!). But this is a nice size, and I have every reason to believe it's well made, and it is available in seven colors...

And of course I'm sticking with these five navy garments, because I delight in showing the inherent versatility of timeless classics.

My initial adventure into yellow ... View the Post