4 ways to MATCH your Accessories with Style | Fresh Spring Outfit

How To Match Dresses With Accessories

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Choosing accessories can be a very tricky thing. It’s so easy to get hung up on our routine jewelry that we forget to change and choose pieces for an event. How to match dresses with accessories is an essential life skill for anyone. It’s the difference between looking great and looking like you threw on whatever was at hand.

Matching Thoughtfully

The first way to accessorize well with your dresses is, simply, to match. For a green dress, choose earthy accents, for instance.

A good way to ensure your accessories stand out is to choose pieces that are brighter or darker tones of the same color. Different finish surfaces help as well. Even a leaf necklace of a similar color to your green dress will stand out if it’s a shiny glass or metallic.

When To Add Texture

The texture is another detail that can make or break an outfit. The rule of thumb is don’t match texture for texture. Doing so will result in a mess of textures that clash or blandness that blurs together.

Your flowery dangling necklace would stand out and look stunning on a solid-colored dress. On a flower-patterned dress, though, it’d get lost in the details. For showy and colorful dress, choose simple pieces that will create a subtle line of solid detail across your attire.

When To Add Contrast

Matching can be great—but, simply put, not everyone has a dress or bracelet for every outfit! Furthermore, darker colors don’t leave a lot of room for contrast. There is also a risk of going overboard and wearing too much of one color. Wearing strictly all black, top to bottom, or all pink may not always give the right impression.

For these situations, choose different colors and materials carefully. Neutral metals are almost always a smart choice, regardless of the color. Generally, with lighter colors, choose something subtle such as a plain silver bracelet or subtle gold hoop earrings. For darker colors a sharp contrast can be effective, such as bright gold, copper, or silver.

Dressing Right for the Occasion

Even during COVID restrictions, we find nice ways to spend time together—just safety distanced, in smaller groups, or virtually. Regardless, there’s no reason to let your fashion sense slip. Much of how to match dresses with accessories comes down to the nature of the event. Choose subtle pieces for more reserved events and more dramatic ones for the informal face chat.

When it comes to colors consider the season of the event, too. You wouldn’t want to wear fall colors to a winter dinner, or spring colors in the fall! Evening events—including the ever-popular virtual dinner—require a special amount of consideration, especially when it comes to picking the color of an outfit. Once the color has been sorted out, picking accessories is easy as pie.

How to Accessorize: How to Pick Jewelry to Match Any Outfit

Any fashionable outfit needs accessories to make it complete, but how can you decide? Here are some tips to keep you stylish!

Jewelry is essential to a finished outfit. Properly picked, jewelry can bring an entire outfit together, complementing the color and style. But the wrong jewelry can ruin an otherwise beautiful look.

Bad jewelry can make a simple outfit look clumsy. It can turn your work attire unprofessional. And when you dress up for events, your stunning cocktail dress can look unpolished when paired with the wrong pieces.

That’s why it’s important to learn how to accessorize. You shouldn’t spend the time to put together an outfit that will turn heads only to have it ruined by the wrong jewelry. Not to worry, learning the right way to accessorize is a simple feat.

Here’s how to pick your jewelry for any outfit.

Think of the Occasion

Like any outfit you pick out, you’ll want to consider the occasion when you’re picking out your jewelry. There are some pieces that are too dressed down for formal events and some pieces that are far too extravagant for every day.

When matching your jewelry, the occasion will determine which pieces you pick out. If you’re dressing up for an event like a wedding, cocktail party, or date night, pieces that are elegant and formal are the go-to. Think lavish jewels in classic styles.

Everyday outfits call for jewelry that’s a little less fancy. This is where you can play with different trends and experiment with styles. A laid back outfit with jeans and a tee can handle much more playful jewelry types.

Start With Color Scheme

One of the easiest ways to pair your jewelry with your outfit is to do so in a color scheme. Use the color wheel to find interesting pairs that might make you step out of the box. Color theory will help you create harmonious outfits with visual interest.

There are six basic techniques to create a color scheme using the color wheel. Complementary, analogous, triadic, split-complementary, tetradic, and square are the color schemes you can build your look with.

Along with the color scheme, consider hue and saturation as something you should match as well. If your outfit features muted tones, jewelry with the same saturation and hue would be a compliment rather than jewelry in vivid jewel tones.

Complement the Neckline

When it comes to necklaces, you’ll want to pay attention to the style of your neckline on tops and dresses. Ideally, these two will play off each other without one overshadowing the other.

The wrong necklace clashing with your neckline can create a dissonance that throws off the entire look. In general, it’s best to take cues from the shape of the neckline and let the jewelry follow that.

As a rule of thumb, your necklace should stop a few inches above where your neckline starts. Longer necklaces look best with necklines that aren’t complicated with a lot of details and features. The more skin you show, the more complex your necklace can be.

Define The Style

The way you define your clothing style can also be applied to your jewelry. If there’s a certain aesthetic you like to follow, that can make buying jewelry a whole lot easier. So how do you define the way you dress?

Are your clothes edgy with lots of black and leather? Or do you dress more sophisticated with simple lines and clean, polished pieces? Or maybe you like a laid back style with boho influences, wearing lots of jeans and flowing tops.

If you can define the way you dress into descriptive words, it’ll make finding jewelry that matches much easier. Someone with an edgier look may opt for layered necklaces, lots of metal, and bold earrings. While a sophisticated look may use classic pieces.

And if you’re someone who likes to dabble in a ton of different styles, categorizing your jewelry can still help. You’ll have go-to pieces you know work for a certain aesthetic. But when you want to a little wild and mix styles, you’ll still know what pieces to grab.

Keep Skin Tone In Mind

Your skin tone may not be a part of your outfit, but it still plays a part in making one look good. You probably already have colors you don’t like to wear or you don’t think compliment you. Maybe pink washes you out, or orange is too harsh for you.

Apply what you know to your jewelry as well. Just like the color of your clothes can make your skin tone look good, jewelry can compliment you as well.

Cooler skin tones pair well with white, gold, and silver. Jewel tones like red, purple, and blue also compliment cooler tones.

Gold does best with warmer tones and stands out from darker hair. Yellows, oranges, greens are optimal for warm tones.

Neutral skin tones pair well with both gold and silver and most gemstone colors. This doesn’t mean you can’t wear the other. It just means that gold and silver highlight and complement two different tones.

Choose a Focal Piece

To make your outfit look well-thought-out, it’s best to choose a single focal point. Pairing together many bold pieces can make your outfit look rushed and gaudy. And your jewelry can overwhelm your look instead of complement it.

Think of your main jewelry types of earrings, necklaces, bracelets, and rings. With each outfit, you should choose one or a maximum of two categories where the jewelry is considered statement pieces.

If you are choosing two statement pieces, it’s best to spread them out. This means you should avoid wearing a pair of statement earrings and a bold necklace. You’ll overwhelm the top portion of your outfit, leaving the bottom feeling unbalanced.

Instead, try a bold pair of earrings with a simple necklace. If you want two pieces, bold earrings are best worn with a larger bracelet and rings. There should be one piece that stands out and other jewelry that complements the focal point.

Balance is Everything

Similar to balancing your statement pieces, you want your jewelry to bring balance to your clothes. This has to do more with the print of your clothes than physically balancing your jewelry.

Think of the details of your outfit. Are there busy prints or a lot of added details? Or are mostly solids and simple patterns?

You’ll want your outfit and jewelry to feel harmonious. Busy prints and lots of details are better complemented by understated jewelry, while an outfit with fewer adornments can benefit from bolder pieces.

That doesn’t mean a bold outfit needs dainty jewelry. You can pair a bold look with bold jewelry if it fits the style and won’t overwhelm the look. Keep in mind colors, textures, and prints when going for bolder outfits.

Play With Weight

Weight doesn’t necessarily mean how much the jewelry weighs in pounds or grams. Rather, it’s the difference between dainty chains and thick metalwork. Playing with jewelry on this spectrum will create interest in your outfits.

The material of your clothing is a good starting point to play with weight. Heavy knitted sweaters and fabrics like wool, tweed, corduroy pair well with dainty jewelry. While lighter fabrics like cotton, chiffon, and nylon can benefit from heavier jewelry.

Don’t be afraid to try different looks or to mix materials and weight. Try a button-down blouse with heavy gemstone-studded jewelry. A simple t-shirt dress pairs well with long, dainty necklaces.

Try to Layer

Layering jewelry is currently on-trend. Mixing necklaces of three different lengths is a great way to play with style while adding texture and weight to your jewelry. A large gemstone along with two dainty chains is great for any everyday look.

Stacking bracelets and rings are also trendy. With bracelets, try adding beading, textures, and colors. And with rings, try different shapes and placements.

Ear stacking and constellation earrings are another way people are layering their jewelry. Earring studs in different shapes and sizes can show off your personality and add a unique flair to your outfit.

Mix and Match

No one wants an outfit that’s one-note. Combat this by mixing the sizes and shapes in your jewelry. Gems, beads, and metal charms can pair together when you keep style and color in mind.

Mix and match the length of your necklaces and the thickness of your bracelets. The key to mixing pieces is to have a common thread. Whether that’s metal, color, or style is up to you.

You can have a look of controlled chaos when you mix your jewelry pieces together. Remember not to overdo it with a ton of jewelry. It’s important to strike the right amount of jewelry for mixing and matching to look best.

How to Accessorize Any Look

Mastering jewelry is something everyone can and should do. The right jewelry can elevate your look, accent your features, and show off your unique style. That’s why it’s worth it to learn how to accessorize your clothes.

With these tips, you can put together outfits that will turn heads every time you wear them. No matter what occasion you’re dressy for, no matter the colors and styles, there’s the perfect piece of jewelry to pair with it. You just have to style it.

Ready to transform your jewelry wardrobe? Check out some of our amazing styles you’re going to love.

4 ways to MATCH your Accessories with Style | Fresh Spring Outfit

4 Ways to Avoid Looking Twee when Matching your Accessories

"Don't match your accessories... it's BORING!!"

"Mix, match and clash... it's much more fun."

1. Stick to the Magic Number and Don't pile them on!

Previous outfits you might like to have a look at...

In THIS OUTFIT:

2. Mix up your Textures

3. Go BOLD

"I know what I'm doing!"

4. Throw away the rule book!

Please tell me about YOUR favourite ways to accessorise...

Do you pile on clashing pieces?

Do you like to match?

Do you go bold or delicate?

I'd love to know!

Much as I love a CLASH of colour I also like to do a little matching from time to time!However, being too "matchy-matchy" with accessorieseasily look dated and frumpy.Being overly match-obsessed can come across as safe and lacking in imagination.We've all seen (and probably worn!... I know I have) outfits that arethoughtfully accessorised they look boring.Think of a classic black and white dress worn with a red shoe, red nails, a red clutch, a red lip and a red skinny belt.Too much.Too 'done'.{TWEE-NESS ALERT! Here is a classic "Matching belt and shoes" look that I wore... If I was wearing this top and jeans tomorrow my accessories would look VERY different!}Even a casual outfit like this one can benefit from some colourful accessories.In fact, it doesn't matter how formal or casual your outfit is, accessories ALWAYS make a difference to how you look and feel.Today I'm wearing my new (and now favourite) jeans... you can read more about them HERE ... and some light-coloured layers.It's pretty chilly here today so my thermal baselayers are still firmly in place.However, with the addition of these thermals, it means I can expose my wrists and ankles to the spring air!Bare ankles and light colours give the illusion of warm-weather dressing without having to compromise on staying warm.{My thermal shoe liners are still firmly in place and I'm not yet ready for bare toes... we have a while to go, here in Scotland, unless we get an unseasonal heatwave?! *crosses fingers*}This is such an easy, comfortable and practical outfit.Perfect for a busy day.Normally I would find myself saying...However, sometimes it just feelsto do a little of the samey-samey.A little matchy-matchy.Especially if the rest of your outfit is quite busy or colourful.So let's get matching!The magic number is 3.(It usually is though, isn't it? ...Or 5... Or, is that to do with arranging plant pots?