Curating an Accessories Wardrobe
Or, reasons to buy myself things that are not strictly clothes.
Because I worked predominately with apparel for the last ten years and because I find clothing intuitively easy to process and appreciate, my wardrobe primarily consists of apparel highlighted by a few variations on my staple accessories. Over the last year, however, I have found myself less inspired by clothing: for a variety of reasons, some of which I’ve already touched on, I have felt somewhat stifled by a sense of sameness when it comes to clothing and thus have looked more to accessories or “vintage” clothing in an attempt to cultivate a sense of whimsy or uniqueness in my outfits. I am typically not someone who likes a lot of superfluous styling additions (minus a strategically-placed layering knit of course), so for me, a small update or minor accessory can have an outsized impact on how I feel about an outfit. I have been gravitating toward old photos of TIna Chow, Elsa Peretti, Paloma Picasso and Donna Karan, and what struck me most about them was their jewelry and accessories as the clothes themselves tended to be relatively classic.
Along those same lines, something that appeals to me about adding accessories rather than buying new items of clothing is that it allows one to reframe items that one already owns and reposition them within one’s existing wardrobe: this is an opportunity it seems to further curate and refine one’s own sense of style. Also, and not unrelated, I find myself wrestling a bit with the sentiment of endless consumerism that has infiltrated fashion as well as the impact that this rising consumerism has on the planet and ourselves as we devalue both our existing environmental resources and those things we already own in favor of the newest, shiniest thing. I do, however, think there is value in crafting an edited wardrobe of accessories as one does with apparel, to cover various wearing occasions and inject a sense of novelty in outfits that might feel stale otherwise. Curating a collection of accessories is still a work in progress for me but there are a few key items that I have identified and/or have acquired over the past few months that I thought were worth investigating further.
I love this belt from The Row. The oversized and mildly asymmetrical buckle cultivates that vintage look that I’ve been coveting for the past year. This outfit above is essentially the inverse of one that I wore most of this Spring, but from my perspective the belt elevates and provides a new perspective on items I had already gotten a lot of wear out of. The Row is offering a new version of my belt for Resort which I also quite like: it’s symmetrical but still slightly exaggerated and the silver buckle here really speaks to me. In an example of ideas working their way through the ether, Khaite offered a similar, if more exaggerated, version of this look as well. I am gravitating toward the silver version of this one also as it feels a bit more toned down than the gold for the larger buckle.

In the same vein as the silver belt buckle, I’ve also felt myself gravitating toward oversized silver jewelry. I love the disc earrings that Phoebe Philo showed with almost all of the looks in her latest drop, but the earrings themselves have yet to appear for sale, so I am unsure as to whether they will actually be produced or were just used for styling. She does have this pair of cascade silver earrings, which I also like, although they have a slightly different feel than the others. I also saw these from Faris in an edition of Blackbird Spyplane and I feel like they serve the same purpose as the disc ones and don’t require that one sell any internal organs in order to buy them. Of course, since we are talking about Elsa Peretti as a source of inspiration, I would be remiss not to mention her classic bone cuff for Tiffany’s, which appeared to have been gifted to every influencer under the sun in coordination with the relaunch of the cuff to commemorate Peretti’s 80th birthday a few years ago. Despite its current ubiquity, I do still love the design, particularly how it looks paired with a simple watch and Peretti’s uniform of a vest and button down shirt in the image of her above. To cover the same look I also love this set from Agmes, especially as it gives one the option to stack the two cuffs or simply wear one on each wrist.
The other major void in my accessories wardrobe is within my footwear. As I have previously discussed, I have essentially worn two or three variations on the same boot style fairly continuously for quite some time. Despite my affinity for my uniform, I found myself unknowingly engaged by the mesh flat trend this spring and despite the seeming impracticality of them, ended up finding a lot of utility and many wearing occasions for the two colorways that I purchased. As I turned to my potential Fall and Winter purchases, I realized I was attempting to recreate that newness and sense of a missing puzzle piece in a Fall shoe but with little success. I considered ballet flats, slip ons and loafers but nothing seemed to click for me quite as the mesh shoes had. I was trying to force the feeling of a perfect fit (cheesy pun intended) and the best thing to do was to revisit what I already owned and allow any potential new acquisitions the opportunity to present themselves to me. The shoes in the first photo are actually old shoes from The Row that I brought back out after seeing these on their site as well as the Leandra from Emme Parsons, which fills that same dressier but still wearable shoe void in my wardrobe.
I wore those The Row shoes fairly consistently throughout the Fall and particularly appreciate the contrast with baggier denim or pant styles so that they appear less “lady.” Reincorporating those shoes into my rotation has allowed me to revisit how I style some of my other perennials: I typically wear those old Céline pants with a chunkier soled boot, which serves to make the whole look somewhat heavy. I like how by combining them with a daintier shoe, the pants feel lighter but still advanced. I had been so accustomed to adding new pieces to my clothing wardrobe that I had lost sight of the pleasures to be had in rediscovering and reworking something beautiful that I already owned. (In the interests of full transparency, that old Céline top in the image is not new to the world but was new to me this summer- I bogarted it directly from one of my dearest style influences- what can I say, I am still human!) Regardless, building out my accessories wardrobe has been a valuable exercise in testing the flexibility and consistency of my own taste level. And there are so many categories we have yet to explore! We haven’t even gotten to my dream gloves that I am dying for! Which isn’t to say, of course, that I don’t still have a list of a few items in the back of my mind that I am considering adding to my wardrobe- after all, I haven’t completely abandoned the joys of purchasing a perfectly considered item of clothing.