Ever had that one accessory that you absolutely adore but have no idea what to wear it with? This little guide was written to help you take that item and extrapolate out a formula that will allow you to wear it in an every day office type work situation.
1. Get your accessory out and take a good look at it. For our example I chose this gold tone dragon bracelet with amethyst and diamond colored swarovski crystals. Unfortunately this particular one is currently out of stock, but they have the same design in emerald, ruby, and even pink.
Ignoring the design, what is the first thing that jumps out at you about this little guy? For me it was the amethyst color. I love that particular color and have always wanted to put together an outfit that highlighted that. So for this reason, Amethyst became my primary color.
The diamond colored crystals and the gold tone of the metal become the secondary colors. While they won't be the focus of the outfit, they are just as important, if not more so and must not be ignored.
Would our little bracelet be the same if the gold and the diamonds were gone? What if they were all the same color? Doubtless the interest of the bracelet would drop drastically. The same goes for our outfit. The secondary colors are incredibly important.
2. Now we need to choose a neutral color to act as the backdrop for everything else. Neutral colors give us a canvas to paint on and, much like the secondary colors, they must support our primary color.
There are several choices available to us for neutral. The earth tones are always a popular choice and so is white, but I chose black because I felt it offered me the most bang here. The diamond crystals are white in appearance and so they contrast well with black. The same goes with the amethyst and the gold. Black is a very easy neutral to start with and doesn't require as much thought.
I selected this Dragon Tattoo Graphic Tee for several reasons. The first is that it fit with the neutral I desired. The second is that the graphic fit with the theme of our bracelet which, in this case, is a Chinese dragon. The design contains a few splashes of color that don't fit into our color palate so far, but that's okay.
They are not a large part of the design and, it could be argued, that the orange and red belong to the same color family as our secondary gold color.
The thing to keep in mind when selecting a top is that we will be adding a blazer to this outfit. So a shirt that fits you well is a must for this look to succeed.
The second neutral piece for this outfit is the pencil skirt. This particular one from J.TOMSON comes in several different styles so feel free to pick whichever suits you best, so long as it conforms to our choice of neutral it should work well with your outfit. The primary concern here is that it is a black skirt that will look flattering when you wear it.
Now that we've gotten our neutrals picked, the canvas is set and we're ready to start adding in our colors.
3. Our primary color is amethyst and since we're using a blazer for this outfit it only makes sense that it be in that sort of amethyst-y color family. It can't be too deep or too light of a purple or the effect won't be the same.
The other requirement I had when I was choosing this particular blazer was that it had to look good when it wasn't buttoned closed. A lot of blazers are made to be fastened shut, at least partially, but since I chose a graphic tee I don't want it to be completely hidden beneath the jacket all day.
This tailored, open front, blazer from J.TOMSON fits the bill nicely. Not only does it match the color and style we wanted, but it is nicely tailored to flatter the female form.
It should nicely compliment the purple in the bracelet as well the color of our second primary color item.
The shoes.
Shoes are so often overlooked when we're putting together an outfit. Most people either think that no one will notice or that the shoes are so awesome they'll carry their own weight.
The perfect shoe is essential to the perfect outfit. You cannot wear one without the other, so you must plan your shoes along with your outfit.
These purple pumps with a faux snake-skin texture should do nicely. They happen to fill two rolls in one go.
The first is that they're a great pump that matches our primary color.
The second is that the fake crystals, most likely glass, on the strap match one of our secondary colors. This is by no means required, but it is a nice bonus.
These shoes come from china and all fashion related items from Asian companies tend to run a bit small so make sure to keep that in mind when ordering. I'd probably go a minimum of at least half a size up.
Oh, and even though I didn't list them on the big image at the top of the article I should probably take a moment to talk about nylons. You'll probably want to avoid wearing black ones with this ensemble, simple because both the skirt and tee are already black. Go for a dark brown or nude pair instead. Those should keep the black from completely overwhelming you.
4. Additional accessories are the final stage of this outfit. Since the dragon bracelet is the star of the show, we want to be sure to chose things that compliment him best.
Our first goal is to break up the continuous chunk of black we've created with our tee and our skirt. For that we'll need a belt, preferably a gold one, that will keep with our work friendly theme. We don't want anything too flashy because we don't want people staring at our midsection all day, but we do want it to be interesting enough that it creates a division between our upper and lower halves.
This simple gold tone circle link chain belt will do the job nicely.
It matches one of our secondary colors, it has a simple design, and yet it is interesting enough to break things up.
No outfit is complete without earrings and since we already have a touch of each of our accent colors we're going to want an earring that includes both of them. So what better than a gold stud diamond, or crystal, earring?
These 10k yellow gold, diamond earrings are absolutely gorgeous and would make the perfect accessory to this outfit.
However, any similar style earring would do the trick. We don't want anything too big or too elaborate because the bracelet is the focus. The earrings are just meant to compliment him.
Use these as an example of both size and complexity when picking out earrings of your own.
5. Now for the finishing touch. Just a dash of contrast to make everything pop. I happened upon this by accident, but when I saw it I knew it was just the thing.
Green and purple work well together and this jade is perfect. Not only that but the dragon on the pendant (not to mention the fact that jade fits with our perception of Chinese Jewelry) allows us to add this to our ensemble to tie everything off nicely.
Just don't wear this outfit too often or everyone might think you're a little dragon obsessed.
Alternatives:
Cut out the blazer and the graphic tee and go with a work appropriate purple blouse instead. The dragon on wrist on the one on your neck should play well together without becoming too overwhelming. This is also a good choice if you work in a place that isn't t-shirt friendly.
Not loving the shoes? That's fine. Choose a simple black or appropriately colored pump instead. The embellishment on the ankle strap was just a style choice that may or may not work for everyone.
Prefer to skip the pencil skirt? Then go with a pair of slacks instead. The outfit will work just as well without the curve hugging skirt. Opt for a pinstriped black or solid charcoal gray instead of a solid black though. Remember my earlier warning about wearing black nylons with a black skirt and tee?
The first is that they're a great pump that matches our primary color.
The second is that the fake crystals, most likely glass, on the strap match one of our secondary colors. This is by no means required, but it is a nice bonus.
These shoes come from china and all fashion related items from Asian companies tend to run a bit small so make sure to keep that in mind when ordering. I'd probably go a minimum of at least half a size up.
Oh, and even though I didn't list them on the big image at the top of the article I should probably take a moment to talk about nylons. You'll probably want to avoid wearing black ones with this ensemble, simple because both the skirt and tee are already black. Go for a dark brown or nude pair instead. Those should keep the black from completely overwhelming you.
4. Additional accessories are the final stage of this outfit. Since the dragon bracelet is the star of the show, we want to be sure to chose things that compliment him best. Our first goal is to break up the continuous chunk of black we've created with our tee and our skirt. For that we'll need a belt, preferably a gold one, that will keep with our work friendly theme. We don't want anything too flashy because we don't want people staring at our midsection all day, but we do want it to be interesting enough that it creates a division between our upper and lower halves.
This simple gold tone circle link chain belt will do the job nicely.
It matches one of our secondary colors, it has a simple design, and yet it is interesting enough to break things up.
No outfit is complete without earrings and since we already have a touch of each of our accent colors we're going to want an earring that includes both of them. So what better than a gold stud diamond, or crystal, earring?These 10k yellow gold, diamond earrings are absolutely gorgeous and would make the perfect accessory to this outfit.
However, any similar style earring would do the trick. We don't want anything too big or too elaborate because the bracelet is the focus. The earrings are just meant to compliment him.
Use these as an example of both size and complexity when picking out earrings of your own.
5. Now for the finishing touch. Just a dash of contrast to make everything pop. I happened upon this by accident, but when I saw it I knew it was just the thing.Green and purple work well together and this jade is perfect. Not only that but the dragon on the pendant (not to mention the fact that jade fits with our perception of Chinese Jewelry) allows us to add this to our ensemble to tie everything off nicely.
Just don't wear this outfit too often or everyone might think you're a little dragon obsessed.
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| If t-shirts don't work, try this instead |
Alternatives:
Cut out the blazer and the graphic tee and go with a work appropriate purple blouse instead. The dragon on wrist on the one on your neck should play well together without becoming too overwhelming. This is also a good choice if you work in a place that isn't t-shirt friendly.
Not loving the shoes? That's fine. Choose a simple black or appropriately colored pump instead. The embellishment on the ankle strap was just a style choice that may or may not work for everyone.
Prefer to skip the pencil skirt? Then go with a pair of slacks instead. The outfit will work just as well without the curve hugging skirt. Opt for a pinstriped black or solid charcoal gray instead of a solid black though. Remember my earlier warning about wearing black nylons with a black skirt and tee?
Ill have to follow some of these tips!
ReplyDeleteThanks :)