How to Accessorize Your Outfits When You Feel Like Something Is Missing
I have a bad habit of buying accessories and then forgetting to wear them.
I’ll put on jeans and a sweater, look in the mirror, decide the outfit is boring, and somehow never think to add the earrings sitting three feet away from me. Then I see someone wearing the simplest outfit imaginable, but she has great sunglasses, a good bag, and the perfect pair of earrings, and suddenly I understand why her outfit looks so much better.
The clothes weren’t necessarily better. She just knew how to finish the outfit.
After paying much more attention to the women whose outfits always seem to have that little something extra, I’ve realized that accessorizing is less about owning amazing things and more about knowing when to add something, what to add, and when to leave well enough alone.
If you’re in the same boat, these are the styling tricks worth stealing.
How to Accessorize Your Outfits
1. Start With the Accessory You Actually Want to Wear
I used to think accessorizing meant putting on the outfit and then asking, Okay, what accessories go with this?
Now I think that’s backwards.
If you have a pair of earrings you love, a bag you’ve been waiting to use, or a scarf with a print that makes you happy, start there. Let that piece influence the rest of the outfit instead of trying to force an accessory into whatever you’ve already put on.
This also gives you an easy answer when you’re getting dressed and everything feels a little blah. Pick one thing you genuinely like and build from it.
2. Your Basic T-Shirt Is Begging for Good Earrings
There is nothing wrong with a T-shirt and jeans. In fact, I probably wear some variation of this outfit more than anything else.
But this is exactly where accessories can earn their keep.
Put on small hoops and the outfit stays easy. Swap them for chunky earrings and suddenly it has more personality. Add a watch and a couple of rings, and you’ve created another version entirely.
You don’t have to make the clothes more interesting. Sometimes you just need to give the simple clothes something interesting to sit next to.
3. When an Outfit Feels Boring, Try a Bag Before You Try Shopping
This is your reminder not to open your favorite clothing website the second your wardrobe starts feeling repetitive.
Take the outfit you’re already wearing and change the handbag.
A black outfit with a tan bag feels different from the same outfit with a burgundy one. Jeans and a cream sweater take on a different personality with a structured bag than they do with a canvas tote.
Your bag can introduce color, shape, texture, or even just a little bit of attitude.
And if you’re someone who wears mostly neutral clothes, this is one of the easiest ways to have fun without suddenly deciding you need an entirely new wardrobe.
4. Put a Belt on the Outfit You Keep Complaining About
You know that pair of jeans you like but somehow never feel great in? Try a belt.
A belt gives the waist some definition and creates another visual detail between your top and jeans. Tuck in just the front of your shirt, add a leather belt, and see what happens before you decide the jeans are the problem.
I especially like this trick when an outfit feels a little too loose or shapeless. You haven’t changed the clothes, you’ve just given them a bit more direction.
5. Let Your Shoes Decide What Kind of Outfit You’re Having
Shoes are not the boring final step.
They can completely change where an outfit is going.
Take jeans and a sweater. Sneakers say, I’m running errands, and I would like to remain comfortable. Loafers say, I had a plan when I got dressed. Ballet flats take it somewhere softer. Boots make the whole thing feel more substantial.
So instead of asking, “Which shoes match?” ask, “Which version of this outfit do I want?”
That question is much more useful.
6. If You Always Forget Sunglasses, Give Them a Home
This is less of a fashion tip and more of a life-management tip.
If your sunglasses are buried in a drawer, you’re probably going to forget them. Keep your everyday pair somewhere visible—by your keys, in your handbag, or wherever you tend to get ready.
They’re especially useful when you’re wearing a very simple outfit and don’t feel like adding much else.
A white shirt, jeans, a simple bag, and sunglasses can be enough. Sometimes the finishing detail really is that small.
7. A Scarf Is Your Excuse to Wear More Color
If you love colorful clothes on other people but rarely buy them yourself, start with a scarf.
You can tie a small one around your neck with a plain shirt, wrap it around your ponytail, use it as a headband, or knot it onto your handbag.
It’s a low-commitment way to experiment. You get the color or print you wanted without suddenly finding yourself the owner of a bright green blazer you aren’t sure you’ll ever wear again.
And if you end up loving the color? Well, now you have somewhere to go next
8. Stop Trying So Hard to Match Your Metals
Gold earrings with a silver watch are not a fashion emergency.
Wear them.
I actually think mixed metals can make an outfit feel more personal because your jewelry doesn’t look like it came as a matching set. The trick is simply to repeat the metals somewhere else.
Try gold hoops with a silver watch and a mixed-metal ring. Or wear a gold necklace with a silver bracelet and let the combination be the combination.
Your jewelry box does not need to be organized according to one metal.
9. Roll Your Sleeves Before You Decide the Outfit Isn’t Working
This sounds almost too simple, but try it.
Roll the sleeves of your button-down. Push up your sweater. Fold the cuff of your blazer.
Suddenly your watch and bracelets are visible. Your wrists are showing. The proportions change slightly. The whole outfit can feel less stiff.
And if it still isn’t working? Fine. Change something else.
But give the sleeves a chance first.
10. Wear the Statement Earrings You’ve Been Saving for No Reason
I know you have them.
The earrings that looked incredible in the store but have somehow never made it out of the jewelry box.
Wear them with your simplest outfit.
A plain black top is enough. So is a white button-down or a basic sweater. You don’t need a complicated outfit to justify a dramatic pair of earrings. In fact, simple clothes are often where they work best.
Pull your hair back, put them on, and let them be the interesting part.
11. Repeat a Color Somewhere Else
This is one of those little tricks that makes you look like you know exactly what you’re doing.
Let’s say you’re wearing a burgundy handbag with jeans and a cream sweater. Add another little touch of burgundy somewhere else—a shoe, hair accessory, lipstick, scarf, or even a tiny detail in your jewelry.
It doesn’t need to be an exact match.
You’re simply giving the eye another place to find that color, which makes the outfit feel connected instead of random.
12. Let Your Funky Accessories Do the Talking
Not every accessory needs to be practical or classic.
Sometimes the best part of an outfit is the slightly ridiculous thing you almost talked yourself out of wearing. A pair of colorful earrings, a novelty brooch, a quirky handbag, a charm-covered bracelet, a funky hair clip, or sunglasses in a shape that definitely isn’t the most sensible option.
These pieces work especially well with simple outfits. A plain tank and jeans give a playful accessory plenty of room to stand out, while an outfit already covered in prints might leave it fighting for attention.
And honestly, I think these are the accessories worth keeping. Your basics can handle being sensible. Let one little thing have a personality.
13. Your Hair Is Part of the Outfit
I think we sometimes get so focused on clothes that we forget the thing sitting directly above them.
A claw clip, headband, ribbon, bow, or barrette can change the whole feeling of a look. Even putting your hair into a sleek bun instead of wearing it loose can make the same outfit feel completely different.
Think about your hair when you’re getting dressed rather than treating it as a completely separate decision.
Sometimes the missing accessory is already on your head.
14. Don’t Forget Your Phone Case
Your phone is probably in your hand or on the table next to you half the time, so why shouldn’t it be part of your personal style?
A phone case can be another tiny way to bring color, pattern, texture, or a bit of humor into your everyday look. If you tend to wear neutral clothes, a bright or patterned case can become one of those small details that makes the outfit feel more like you.
You don’t have to match your case to your handbag every day, either. Think of it more like another little accessory in the rotation, something you can switch when you feel like changing things up.
