Given it’s summer in Australia I’m going to use dresses as my garment type to teach from but the guidelines can be applied to almost any garment.
THE MOST VERSATILE DRESS
The first thing to know are the qualities that make up a dress that can be accessorized to give the greatest number of different looks and occasions it can be used for.
- Clean lines: a dress with lines that flow freely over your body from neck to hemline uninterrupted by too many seams, ruching, draping etc.
The biggest challenge to accessories is clutter, complexity. The simpler your dress, more versatile it will be and the easier it will be to accessorize to change its look and mood.
- Tailored: a dress that has some shape/fitting. A semi-fitted style will deliver you a form-flattering shape while being appropriate to most occasions and lifestyles.
- Sleeveless: certainly not obligatory but a sleeveless or cap sleeve dress does allow for the widest selection of accessories to be added.
- Minimal to Unembellished: The more details on the dress such as collar, pockets, ruffles etc the fewer options you will have to dress it up and down with accessories.
- Solid Colour (or close to it): as you’ll learn you can successfully accessorize a patterned dress but it take a little more strategy. Solid coloured dresses allow you unlimited scope to play and experiment with accessories.
- Medium Depth Colour: a medium-light to medium-dark colour is the easiest value range to wear as it suits everyone and can easily be transformed from day to evening wear.
- Classic Neckline: scoop, V and square necklines allow for many styles and lengths of necklaces. Unusual necklines and collars are more limiting.
- Above Cleavage Neckline: an appropriate, take you anywhere, flattering depth.
- Midi Length: just above the knee to mid calf like a medium colour will be flattering and versatile.
Accessorize to:
- Create different moods: Polished professional to cafe charisma, all it takes is the right accessories.
- Dress up or down: From a lazy weekend lunch with the girls to dinner and a show with your man.
- Add your personality: Like dress styles, some accessories will speak directly to your style personality and the more you express the authentic you through your clothes the more relaxed and happy you’ll be with your image.
- Play-up your assets: Great boobs, tiny waist or shapely arms – whatever you assets accessories can highlight them.
- Direct attention: OK, we all have areas that are not what we’d consider our best features; accessories can be used to draw attention to other areas. If you don’t like an area, don’t accessorize it.
- Make Fashionable: As long as the dress is free of any distinct fashion date adding this seasons trend accessories will instantly update the dress.
- Have fun: Dressing should always be fun – if not we may have well wear a bag! Don’t be afraid to express a touch of fun, just be mindful of appropriateness.
Next week in Part 2 we’ll discover how to select the right accessories for the time of day, season and your colouring, how to accessorize necklines and how to pull a suite of accessories together in one outfit.
Part 3 we’ll graduate to accessorizing patterned dresses and colour coordination.
This article is brought to you by Ann Reinten (AICI CIP) and the My PrivateStylist: Changing Lives One Wardrobe At A Time www.myprivatestylist.com 2014© Image Innovators Pty Ltd. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission.
