My Accessories, My Self

Ah, the accessorization of the American landscape. Accessories are to the fashionista what location is to realtors. So what if I can't afford a Chanel suit? I can afford Chanel eyeglasses. I can afford a Christian Dior perfume (Addict smells SO GOOD, imo) even if I can't afford a Dior bag. I find myself worrying less about the clothes and more about dressing up the clothes. A black t-shirt is as plain or dressy as you want to make it. Add a silver geometric necklace, silver hoop earrings and maybe a spiffy hat and you are ready for up town. Add a pair of sunglases a pooka shell necklace and some sunscrren and I'm beach bound.Ê And the accessories are so very available. No wonder I can afford Chanel eyewear. Almost any fancy chi-chi accessory can be imitated and in a Walmart within a month. Of course with Chanel, you are also paying for the little linked cc logo. But it's as affordable as any other brand on the market. Haute couture is less and less haute and I for one, am glad for it. I do wonder if this is leading to some great homogenization of American fashion and is that a bad thing?

I have a friend who is mad about jewelry and really knows her stuff, but it's rare that she really goes decked out any longer. She doesn't wear any accessories ÒmostÓ of the time. She saves her show offs for friends, as she feels dressing up for work would be pearls before swine. I have another friend who does not leave the house, even to go grocery shopping, without lipstick and a scarf. Any chance to be seen by anyone is reason enough to put a little more effort into it. We all have different accessory styles. Nique, our soon-to-be-Foreign-Fashion-Correspondent, is mad for hat pins now. We no longer discuss the flamboyance of clothes but of the accessories we dress them up with.

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