“Attempts” (CC BY-SA 2.0) by SnippyHolloW
Getting your basic outfit right for each occasion is only half the battle. Very often, it’s getting the accessories right that really makes the difference.
The women who achieve a great look, though, usually know the secret of minimalism; getting the accessories just right without overdoing it – or overcomplicating things. Accessories can really complement a good outfit to make it look extraordinarily great.
If we take Chanel’s classic “LBD” or little black dress as an example then adding the perfect shoes and necklace can have a transformational effect. But the accessories have to complement the dress – so the viewer takes in the whole ensemble and loves it without really thinking why that is at a conscious level. In a word – we’re talking about sheer “class” here.
CHANEL – the little black dress obviously, classic Chanel pic.twitter.com/U8a6mPRGKn
— effortless (@givenchydiamond) January 23, 2017
Obviously, it’s horses for courses; deciding what look you want to achieve and for which occasion – but whatever the occasion is, it’s the accessories that really make the difference.
But if you had to single out one particular accessory as being by far the most important of all – which would it be? Well, it may surprise you to learn that the men in our lives know the answer to this question as well as we ladies do.
A survey conducted by PromoPony aimed to gauge American men’s perception of the relative importance of different accessories to women – and the shoes have it. The survey revealed that just over a third of American men believe that shoes are the most important single fashion accessory to their wives or girlfriends.
But are they right to think that? Well, yes they are; 38% of American women pick out shoes as being the most vital single accessory to get right when putting together an outfit – only a tiny bit ahead of our perceptive male partners.
“make up” (CC BY 2.0) by ⋆ Bárbara
One area where the sexes differ is in make-up. Just 17% of the men surveyed selected make-up as the number one most important ladies’ accessory, compared with a third of women surveyed. So maybe they either don’t know we wear it – or its subtlety means they don’t place too much emphasis on it. Whichever way you look at it – the make-up one is kind of a nice stat to have.
Meanwhile, another endearing statistic is that men place a greater emphasis on their perceived importance of handbags and jewelry than we girls actually do in practice. This perhaps reflects the guys’ penchant for purchasing these items as gifts on special occasions.
But overall, we all agree that the shoes are the most important accessory – so this is the first thing to get right. Just bear in mind as you do so that there’s more to our look than fashion alone. Whereas most accessories should have no bearing on your health and well-being, shoes most certainly do – and far more than many of us realize. So try to combine health and beauty in carefully selecting the right shoes to make sure you get the best of all worlds.
