The Maximalism trend is in full swing, which means that wearing lots of accessories at once is very fashionable. By all means combine all sorts of accessories together in one outfit because the only limit is your own tolerance for the combination. This includes earrings, necklaces, rings, bracelets, eyewear, brooches, handbags, watches, belts, ties, scarves, fascinators, wraps, hats, socks, hosiery, bag charms, earmuffs, wallets, and hair fastenings. Umbrellas, activity trackers, headphones, nail polish, fragrances and phone covers can also be thought of as accessories.
There is no one accessory formula to suit us all. The accessories that you enjoy wearing, and how you wear them, are as personal as your style. Some like to make a bold accessory statement, whereas others prefer a more subtle aesthetic. Either way, your accessories should be comfortable, work with your outfit, add visual interest to your style, reflect your personality, style preferences and mood in some way, and make you feel fabulous.
If you enjoy wearing accessories and do so frequently, then this fashion era is for you. Try grouping together new accessory combinations, and sporting new-to-you accessories to change things up. Wear a metal or stone that is atypical for your style. Wear a new toe or finger nail polish. Wear dainty jewellery if you’re used to wearing chunky styles and vice versa. Or keep your accessory style the same if it feels dead right.
For the accessory averse, I’m challenging you to find a few that you enjoy wearing this year. There’s no need to pile them on “maximal style”, or swap them out daily if that’s not your thing. But you’ll probably enjoy the addition of some well chosen pieces to finish off your outfit, especially if you’re feeling like your style is in a bit of a rut. Updating your accessory style is a cost-effective way to change up your look, with few fit challenges to boot.
The Maximalism trend was well timed for my own style journey. I’ve been rediscovering accessories over the last year and enjoying every minute of it. For many years, I used to sport my specs, watch, wedding ring and a bag daily, and threw on a belt and a scarf occasionally. Last year I started wearing my chunky pearl necklaces again, updated my watch collection, added a pearl bracelet and pearl ring, embellished my scarf, gloves and hat collection, and continued having fun with my large handbag capsule. I’m now at the point where I wear my specs, wedding ring, watch, pearl bracelet and bag daily. I often wear a pearl necklace, scarf and belt. I wear a hat to brave the elements both in the Summer and Winter. Since I made these fairly big accessory changes to my style quite recently, I’m going to continue along the same path for a while.
Now it’s your turn to think about your current accessory style. Do you like it? Do you want to shake things up? What are your accessory challenges, and how can I help?