i need to go to accessory school. is trhere such a thing??

[Ratface]

i feel like the Heather who never could accessorise for shit (probably goes way over the head of the younger demographic, ho hum.)

for eg, this outfit here: looks fab but only coz of the way shes accessorised. otherwise it would look grannified and rubbish.

so HOW (other than hanging around my little sisters mates like a bad smell and copying everything they do, which, lets face it, is a touch strong on the Looooooser front) do i get the knack, at the grand old age of 32, of accessorising??

every time i try something new on the jewellery front, i look like a fake gypsy/xmas tree/twat, and every time i try 'different' looks with belts or whatever, i look like i am Trying Too Hard.

this is a stoopid thread, isnt it? how on earth is anyone going to be able to teach me how to accessorise? duh...

Hi

I think there is a place called the [www.houseofcolour.co.uk House of Colour]] that can help with colours and then how to dress, accessorise etc.

Hope this helps

house of colour try again

Someone (Coco Chanel?) said that just before you leave the house, remove one accessory.

So a necklace, brooch and dangly earrings eg. remove any one of the items, and voila!

That is one very simplified tip from the woman who manages to shove a kirby grip in her fringe in the morning these days.

You need to start by picking things you like, and developing a style.

Your body shape will help you determine what will suit you in terms of belts. The style of clothes you are wearing will help you for jewellery.

Copying from magazines, or clothing websites is a good idea.

Most importantly, wear what makes you feel comfortable and makes you feel like you look good. I personally don't think that anyone really looks like a twat unless they are blatantly wearing 'trends' that don't suit them.

And I do not like Heathers knowledge being a signifier of age!

Addition - It also depends if you want to look chic or quirky. Funky or high fashion.

If you want to be quirky and eclectic, you can never really have too much, and you shouldn't try to match.

If you prefer the classy high fashion look, then go with wastingmyeasternameopportunity 's advice.

I used to be scared of accessories, then I got a T&S book and it changed my life

Don't be scared. Go to Primark and buy shed loads of beads, bangles and belts cause they are sooooo cheap, then go home and experiement.

Most women do not need new outfits, they just need accessories

forget acessories they are naff,

don't ever match shoes with bangles/beads or a belt

Please don't ever forget accessories!

They make or break an outfit.

I am rubbish at this too Ratface though I wear different necklaces etc all the time. I wouldn't know what to do with a scarf (other than a winter woolly one) if it threw itself at me!

agree re: Primark for experimenting without blowing loads of cash.

Also charity shops/ jumble sales/ church fetes - old lady scarves and jewellery are fab. I have an eye-wateringly expensive Chloe LBD which is amazing but just 'needed' something - turns out that what it needed was a fabulously bejewelled old lady pendant that I found at a Northumberland jumble sale for £1.50.

Less is more, unless more is more in which case really go to town. Never accessorise by halves - either sleek and chic or OTT.

Oh, and don't feel obliged to wear things in the obvious way. Pin a brooch to a bag or to the front pocket of your jeans, use scarves as belts etc etc.

And don't stand like the model in that pic, you will look like a wally.

Me too Ratface. I've bought oodles of belts, necklaces, scarves etc and whenever I try to wear them they just don't look right so they end up back in the drawer.

I just don't know how to accessorise and I don't know how others manage to do it so easily.

I'll keep watching this thread and trying out the ideas....

if I could afford it, everytime I bought a new top/dress/whatever, i'd buy the necklace to go with it then and there

the lovely ladies in monsoon/accessorize are great at picking you the right things to go with an outfit

You shouldn't buy accessories to 'go' with outfits. You should, ideally, have a style that you know well enough so you can buy any top/skirt/trousers/shoes/bracelet/hairband/tights etc etc that you can then put together as an outfit later.

Mix and match

I have about a million necklaces that are all from Primark. Definitely don't 'match' them to anything, just throw a few on!

I am 33 and don't know of this Heather of whom you speak??????????

"every time i try something new on the jewellery front, i look like a fake gypsy/xmas tree/twat, and every time i try 'different' looks with belts or whatever, i look like i am Trying Too Hard."

I used to have this problem too - not just with accessorising but with dressing in general. I think it's all in the mind. Basically, you're not accustomed to seeing yourself looking a certain way, you know that you've thought about/ experimented/ tried whatever so YOU feel self-conscious. No one else is going to think that. You just have to do it over and over until you get used to it and then you won't give it a second thought.

I made a promise to myself last year that 2008 was going to be the year that I got my legs out - had not shown my knees in over 8 years. Was crippled by anxiety and mortification the first time I did it, now I don't even think about it.

Sermon over!! As you were!!

Heather!!! From Heathers!!!!!

Nope, still non the wiser.....

starring Winona Ryder and Christian Slater!!

dark, dark teen comedy

As DSM said, you need a style so that whatever you buy follows that style and everything goes together. Same thing applies with colours.

The trick is finding that style.

Some people seem to have an innate sense of what suits them and always look fab whatever they wear - but for the rest of us, as paranoidmother says, an image consultant will point you in the right direction.

(I know this seems totally naff to the naturally stylish among us, but it really is a short cut to finding what suits you.) I also went to Hpuse of Colour, but there are loads around, some of whom are independent, some work as a franchise for a chain like HoC or Colour me Beautiful.

Oh, I've heard of it but not seen it.

I always think it can a good idea to pick someone whose style you like, and feel good in. I have a friend who models herself on Jennifer Aniston.

She 'copies' her style when she sees it in magazines etc, which works for her as she is very slim and conservatively classy.

I would look like a fool in her clothes, but she would look like a fool in mine. However, we are both stylish in our own ways.

Is there someone you would like to style yourself like? (not necessarily a sleb, BTW, just that they are often easy to copy as there are countless photos of them to peruse!)