Fashion and Appearance (II): Accessories

I've been wanting to do a post on accessories for some time, since there are so ways that they can convey your personality. This post provides general guidelines for using accessories and matching them with your outfit, and has a slight bias towards the well groomed and classy image. Therefore, if you are going for a specific kind of look (eg Rockstar, Rapper), this might not apply to you.

The accessories that I cover briefly in this post are:

1. Scarves
2. Finger Rings
3. Cuff Links
4. Chokers/Necklace
5. Bracelets/armbands/wristbands
6. Watches
7. Belts
8. Shoes 
9. Sunglasses
10. Ties

Scarves: The best type of scarves for the hot and humid weather in Singapore are the thinner varieties. This means that the silk or pashmina/cashmere scarves. 100% Pashmina is expensive because of the light weight and quality of the wool, and there are many knockoffs around. For social arts purposes, however, it is ok to get a cheaper (Non 100%) variety as you are going for effect rather than quality.

Some good ways of wearing a scarf can be found here.

The colour of the scarf should complement the shirt.

Finger Rings: It seems that anything that matches your outfit is acceptable here. Rings are generally shiny so they should match the rest of the outfit (ie silver ring with silver necklace/buckle etc).

Which finger(s) are good to wear rings on?
There is a lot contradictory advice on the internet on which fingers are suitable for wearing rings. Some sources claim that wearing a ring on the thumb is masculine while others say its a no-go. Most say that the index finger, middle, and ring finger (on the left hand) are suitable. Wedding/Engagement rings are usually worn on the fourth finger of the left hand, while commitment rings are worn on the fourth finger of the right hand, so if you're wearing a ring on the fourth finger it might give off the wrong signal. This came from the mistaken belief that the fourth finger had a vein that led directly to the heart(Vena amoris). Lastly rings worn on the pinky finger symbolise an affiliation with a particular class in society or an association, like engineers when they graduate in canada. Gives new meaning to the term engineer-ring. haha.

If you would like to cold read someone who is wearing a ring on a particular finger, refer to this.

You can view many ring types here.

Cuff links: Most shirts come with cuff buttons now so there is no real need for cuff links unless you want to look dressy. Cuff links can only be worn with shirts that come with a double cuff/french cuff (ie with button holes but no buttons) and not any normal shirt. Some shirts come with a cuff button and slit for cuff links, and you can use those as well. A great look with for cuff links is with a suit, like James Bond below.

Chokers/necklace: The necklace chain should not be too thick or too thin, something like a dog tag chain is good. The chain should be tucked in the shirt and not worn outside. The pendent should carry most of the weight of the piece and should be around the size of a dollar coin. The pendent should not be too shiny or contain gemstones, those are for ladies (unless you are going for a rockstar look).

In terms of length, the pendent should sit about a forefinger's length below the adam's apple.

A choker should not be the core piece of an outfit. If however, the choker is the central piece, the rest of the outfit should be basic. That mean's T-shirts or plain long sleeve shirts.

When wearing a choker, the impact of it should be against a bare neck (which acts like a canvass). Therefore, wear them with V neckline shirts. Don't wear them with turtle neck or crew neck shirts because they will compete for attention.

You can choose 4 or 5 main necklace types here and here. If you are going for a chain of precious metals, gold is preferred, followed by silver, and then platinum/steel/titanium. The last few ones give a more rugged look.

Credits: Men's style guide, helium

Bracelets/arm bands/wristbands: For a more rugged or tribal look, leather cord or bracelets made from hemp or rope are a good way to go. Otherwise, you can go for bracelets made from precious and non-precious metals, and a good writeup on them can be found here. Personally, I prefer a tribal look as the bracelets can be stacked on the wrist to create a "thicker" look, especially with beads.

leather cuffs or wristbands, especially rocker-type wristbands, are also a good way to add "bulk" to the hand to create a more masculine look.

Bracelets are more of a secondary piece and so should complement the core piece of your outfit. It should also match the shoes and belt, and the watch, if you choose to wear a watch with it. The bracelet should complement the watch and not it if worn on the same hand, and this means that the bracelet should be smaller than the watch in terms of size. If worn on the other hand, it should match the watchband in terms of colour and thickness.

Watches: This really depends on the look that you are going for. Something with a nice watch face and strap is good, especially if its interesting. As usual, choose a leather watch band for a more party look, and a metal or silver band for a more formal look. Watches with a big face look more rugged. If you're going for a dress watch, it should as simple as possible, nothing digital and without the functions like a stopwatch or an altitude meter. As far as watches go though, there's no need to be a watch snob. Apparently, most girls can't tell the difference between the high end watches, so they won't appreciate the subtleties in the difference between a Philippe Patek and an Omega. 

Belts: Black or dark brown is good. A casual belt should be worn if pairing with jeans and sneakers. Belt leather should match shoe colour, metal buckle should match watch or other metal accessories. See some tips from esquire here on choosing a belt.

The thinner the belt, the classier it looks. The thicker the belt, the more casual it looks.




Shoes: Black or dark brown is good. Invest in a good pair of shoes. Women always look at your shoes.

Longer shoes will make your legs look longer

Sunglasses: I don’t want to reinvent the wheel, so I’ll point you to a great article here. Generally, silver rims are flattering for guys with dark hair. Black rims are great for a sporty look. The top of the rims should line up with your brow lines. The frames should should sit close to the side of your face, and when you smile, your cheekbones shouldn’t push up the sunglasses.

Shades can make your eyes look bigger.

Your shades should also match your face shape, and there is a great guide here and another one here. If you don't know your face shape, you can refer to the link on Fashion and Appearance (I): Hairstyles.

Lastly, you can get a pair of sunglasses that match your personality here. Don't wear your sunglasses indoors. And make sure your lenses are polarised to protect your eyes from the UV light.

Ties: Avoid novelty ties. The tie know should conceal the collar band behind it, otherwise it is too loose. Match a solid tie colour with a shirt with stripes. Match a stripe tie with a shirt of solid colour.

Credits: esquire

General Fashion Rules:

• Always match your belt with your shoes. By match, I mean the same colour.
• Best to wear a dark colour for the bottom, and a lighter colour for the top. 
• If you are wearing a suit, a general rule of dressing is to match metal with metal for all shiny accessories. This means that matching the belt buckle with the ring with the cufflinks etc.
• It's always better to be a bit over-dressed than under-dressed.
• Your socks should match your jeans/pants and not your shoes
• Never wear more than 3 colours at the same time
• Never wear more than 3 pieces of jewellery at the same time

Learn about colour coordination here. To know what matches as analogous and complementary colours. What's a hue, tint, shade, neutral colours. This is pretty important, in my opinion.

In addition, consider these tips for wearing accessories with a suit here.

As a final note, checkout the fashion articles from Kinowear.com, which are very much tailored for people from the social arts community. This is a very useful resource for improving your fashion. The author, Jae, is a qualified member of the Association of Image Consultants International (www.aici.org)



Happy New Year!
Echelon


Singapore Dating Academy: AURA