Tips to accessorize your outfits

Accessorizing with jewelry, belts, scarves and more can take an outfit from plain to extraordinary. Take a little black dress and add a spiky necklace and metallic heels, and voila — you've taken your look from nondescript to edgy urban chic. Switch out the necklace and heels for a string of pearls and a pair of tasteful flats, and you're ready for an important business lunch. Learning the basic rules for accessorizing will help you bring out the best features of your wardrobe.

Wear a few well-chosen accessories at a time. A lot of people make the mistake of piling on all the accessories they own at once. When it comes to accessories, less is usually more. If you're wearing jewelry, a watch, a scarf, a hat and sunglasses, no one piece will stand out, and your outfit will end up looking cluttered. Choose a few accessories that accent your outfit or highlight the feature you want to play up. Wearing a full jewelry getup, complete with earrings, necklaces, bracelets, and rings, can overwhelm your look. Try wearing either earrings or a necklace instead of both, and limiting how many rings you wear at once. If you do wear a lot of different accessories, make sure they aren't competing for attention. Match your metals and colors so that your accessories look like they were chosen with intention. For example, you could wear big gold hoops, a colorful warm-toned scarf, and a gold watch for a streamlined look.

Pair bold accessories with understated clothes. Neutral clothing can be completely transformed when you add a few bold accessories. If your wardrobe has a lot of neutrals like black, white, beige, olive or navy, accessorizing gives you a chance to play with fun colors and give your outfits a boost. The best thing about neutrals is that they look great with most other colors, so you don't have to worry too much about making sure your accessories match your clothes. Here are a few ways to use bold accessories to add some life to your neutral outfits: Pair a thin red or hot pink belt with a black or navy dress. Wear a splashy orange or yellow scarf or shoes with khaki or olive-colored clothing. Freshen up your white blouse with a multicolored statement necklace or big drop earrings.

Avoid being too matchy. It might be tempting to play off the blue polka dots in your dress with matching blue earrings, a blue necklace and blue shoes. However, matching to this extent can sometimes look a little old-fashioned or childish. Throwing some unexpected, yet surprisingly perfect accessories into the mix shows off your creativity and adds interest to the outfit.Use the color wheel to help you come up with interesting color combinations that accent each other beautifully. For example, if you're wearing a purple shirt, try adding something mustard or lemon-colored to your outfit instead of hunting down the same shade of purple. Since yellow is opposite purple on the color wheel, your outfit will be appealing to the eye.Wear colors with black and white. If you're wearing a black and white flowered top, then you could pop in an electric blue medium sized beaded necklace and some cute blue earrings. While going overboard with matching is usually ill-advised, it can also be a lot of fun when you do it deliberately. Wearing red pants and a top with red sunglasses and a red scarf could look vintage and chic. Your monochrome look will be sure to turn heads.

Wear items that play up a color in your outfit. If you're wearing a multicolored outfit, accessories can add interest by allowing you to bring out one of the understated colors. For example, if your dress is black with a small flower pattern, you might wear ceramic bangles that match the green of the flower's leaves. Playing up one color makes the outfit look pulled together and elegant.You can also use accessories to tie together two seemingly mismatched clothing items. Pick an accessory that shares colors with both of the clothing items, like a scarf that picks up the pink in your blouse and the beige in your pants. Now your outfit looks like it each piece was chosen with intention, rather than just thrown together.

Balance the size of your pieces.If you're wearing a pair of large, dangling earrings, don't pair them with an oversized statement accessory. Your look will be more balanced if you wear a smaller necklace (or no necklace at all) so that your face isn't overwhelmed by too much large jewelry. Keep the size of your various accessories in mind when you decide what to wear together. Accessories can also be used to balance details on your clothes. If you're wearing blouse with interesting embroidery near the collar, you wouldn't want to wear a big scarf to cover it up. Instead, choose a thin chain that will accent but not hide the details you want to show off. Let one item be the star of your look. If you're excited to wear an adorable new hat you just bought, don't wear your bold new belt at the same time.

Choose items that enhance your features. Accessories give you the opportunity to bring out the best in your face and body. Well-chosen accessories can make your eyes look bigger, your neck look slender, or your calves look more defined. For example,Wear large hoop earrings to accent the slant of your cheekbones.Wear shoes with a bit of height to elongate your legs.Wear a scarf that matches your eyes to make them look brighter.Wear a slender chain necklace to draw attention to your collarbones.

Use bold makeup as an accessory. If you're wearing a shade of knockout red lipstick, or you've lined your eyes for a vintage cat eye look, you probably don't need too many accessories to complete your look. Let your makeup itself be the accessory. Just make sure the colors you choose complement the colors in your outfit and help tie your look together. Here are a few other unexpected items that can count as accessories:

Nail polish and nail art

False eyelashes

Tattoos

Glasses and colored contacts

Hair extensions or weaves

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Source: wikihow and modchic.com