Coordinating men’s accessories does not have to be a Herculean effort. In fact, once you get the basics down, it’s quite simple. Dudes typically have fewer options than women fashion-wise, at least on the whole. While that may seem limiting, it actually just makes being stylish that much easier. Fewer options? We see it as fewer variables in between you and being a style icon. If you need some quick tips on how to coordinate men’s accessories, we’ve got you covered.
Table of Contents
Work From What You Know (and Have)
First things first: identify where you are style-wise. You’re looking up a guide on coordinating accessories, so evidently, you aren’t David Beckham. That’s okay. Most of us aren’t. Just because you aren’t Mr. Beckham doesn’t mean you’re clueless, though.
Truthfully assess where you’re at, and that’ll be step one. If your only knowledge of accessories is that you should wear a men’s wedding band, well, we’ve got some catching up to do. Still, that’s something! From there, take a look at your closet. Do you have belts hanging up that you never wear? Do you have a couple of watches gathering dust on your desk? If so, great! We can work with that. If not, you’ll want to slowly start picking up pieces (more on that in a sec).
Learn the Rules
Okay, this is big. It’s a lot like driving. Do you follow every rule of the road? Are you always driving under the speed limit? Plead the fifth at any point here. More so, though, we’re getting at a fundamental idea. You know what road rules you’re breaking because you learned the rules when getting your driver’s license. You know what rules you can and can’t break and when it’s okay to do so.
Style rules are much like driving. Some you can break artfully, and some you should religiously stick to at all times. Get the basics down, and you can worry about breaking the style rules later.
Don’t Buy Too Much Immediately
That’s how you end up with a bunch of pieces you never wear. You go out, you buy a bunch of things and go, “Well, these should be useful at some point, so I’m just gonna get them now.” Resist the urge, fellas. Look at the things you wear on a daily basis before buying too much. Buying a pair of cufflinks makes no sense if you haven’t worn a suit since prom. Start small.
Identify a Color Palette You Like
Accessories don’t universally match with everything. While they match plenty of options, you still want to be discerning. If you don’t already know what colors flatter you, figure that out first. From there, you can work back and figure out what sorts of accessories are going to flatter the color palette that looks best on you.
Metals Don’t Have to Match (But Leathers Should)
This is a stylistic battleground, and we’re drawing our line in the sand. You do not have to match your metals, no matter what people say. Now, should you? Probably when you’re starting out, yes. Not so much because of antiquated style rules, but because it’s a lot simpler. Mixing metals is advanced, so wait on it until you have all the basics down.
Leathers, on the other hand, need to match as closely as possible. They don’t have to be identical, but they absolutely must be close. This is a rule you should never break.
Don’t Be Afraid to Try Things
Especially if you’re diving into the style world for the first time, you’re gonna have to stretch out of your comfort zone a bit, and not everything you try is going to work. That’s perfectly fine. It’s part of the process. Maybe you want to try out a modern look like men’s black wedding bands. Maybe you think you’d prefer a more classic style. Really, the only way to know for sure is to give it a shot and see.
Ask for Help
There is absolutely no shame in it. Do you have a stylish friend who just always seems to be put together? Chances are he wasn’t always that way, and he’s probably got some really useful tips he’d be happy to share with you. If you don’t have a stylish friend, go make one. Seriously, if you see someone looking put together out in public, chat with them. It doesn’t have to be weird if you don’t make it weird. Just be a human and get all the stylish data that you can.
All of this is a journey. Seriously, you’re going to spend years perfecting this. That’s really part of the fun! Once you get all the accessorizing basics down, you have carte blanche to just try some fun new things, and the style world is your oyster. Bonus points if you can pull off pearls.