DRESS LIKE A LADY
Coordinating accessories, once a fashion faux pas, is now a hot trend By Sara Parker Bowles
As the adage goes: ‘It’s a woman’s prerogative to change mind’; which might explain why fashion gets away with being so famously fickle. Most of us will remember until very recently, one of fashion’s favourite putdowns was ‘matchy matchy’—an arch reference to those who conformed to the notion of correlating their bags with their shoes. Anybody who dared to be so conservative as to harmonise their accessories, let alone their colour schemes, was met with the kind of withering hauteur made memorable in The Devil Wears
Prada. Fast-forward a few seasons, and it will come as no surprise that one of the most recent and dramatic about-turns is the trend of coordinating accessories.
Head-to-toe looks started to creep back into the style file a couple of seasons ago through ready-to-wear—trend-setters such as Marc Jacobs and Stella McCartney played with the notions of silk separates that masqueraded as all-in-one pajama-inspired jumpsuits in bold prints. Before long, it became a major style statement to wear the head-to-toe look, and that shift has also become apparent in spring accessories. Jimmy Choo’s matching hot-pink snake-print comes in bags, shoes, and purses; Bally’s signature soft weaving is seen through almost the entire accessories line; Mulberry’s gorgeous textured accessories are elegant and fashion-forward; and Michael Kors and LK Bennett kept the coordination simple, with a clean white palette and taupe patent leather respectively.
Of course, while the inconstant world of fashion will no doubt continue to fret over its most recent debate, one woman never fails to keep a cool head. Queen Elizabeth II, the perennially stylish, long-reigning monarch (and the best inspiration for coordinating accessories) has always exemplified the merits of matching one’s bag with one’s hat and shoes. So, until the queen decides to change her mind (her prerogative, after all), it’s a fair match...