Accessories as a statement

By: Joana Grzegorz

Sometimes you stand in the bathroom in the morning preparing yourself mentally for the day's important meeting. Your gaze lands on the jewellery box or the watch box and you think; today I simply have to wear this one and pull out a favourite. This favourite can be pretty much anything. But the favourite needs to underline the form of the day.

My husband had no problem picking out his wife that evening. Everyone else was also aware of the woman with the snake.

I had, for example, a salary review a few years ago, at that time my husband had a two-tone Rolex (GMT master gold/black) in the watch box. A watch I really liked. And a watch I felt was exactly right on this particular day. It gave me a strength and a bit of a zero fucks givenmentality, which I felt was exactly right in the context. Of course the salary review went well and I got my raise.

Another example; at a wedding I put on a simpler dress, but added a big snake necklace that coiled around my neck. Otherwise I hardly wore any jewellery and no bling. My husband had no problem picking out his wife that evening. Everyone else was also aware of the woman with the snake.

The difference between these two situations is that situation no 1 only happened in my head. I don't think my boss looked at my watch and decided on the spot to give me more salary (had he really looked, a Rolex on the arm might almost have had the opposite effect). Here the watch was only there to build up my confidence and straighten my back a little. The wedding situation was more for fun and really made no difference either way to my confidence.

It's a bit funny with accessories – they can reflect a personality and reinforce a desired feeling. But they can also make you fit into a context or the opposite, show that you don't fit in. On purpose. Being able to subtly play with accessories in this way is an art and it may therefore take a little practice in the skill.

take a cheap Russian diver's watch to an evening event where everyone is trying to shine with their most expensive things

My tip: look through your jewellery and watches and think about which feeling you want to convey today. And tip number two is: GO ALL IN! Think of the whole. And by that I don't mean that you should go the whole shebang and hang on everything you own. Choose with care and emphasise what you want. Sometimes one or several rings, earrings, bracelets etc. may be needed with a certain watch to show off a certain style. Sometimes a watch and matching shoes can be enough to change a whole look into a statement.

And don't forget the possibility of downdressing. That is, on purpose take a cheap Russian diver's watch to an evening event where everyone is trying to shine with their most expensive things. You will become a talking point with your watch. But also consider whether it is the right evening for you mentally or the right occasion in general, to become this talking point. One doesn't want to commit a faux-pas in the wrong context! But we can go into that another time.

/JG