First things first:  The winner of the Gracelaced 8X10 print + veggie chopper is…

Crystal who said: “Grace in my mothering means taking me where I didn’t want to go in order to produce in me what I could not do on my own. It’s Gods gracious work that does that. I would not naturally choose to be selfless but by gods grace I am made more lovely and loving because of his pressing through to me by grace to see the beauty in serving my loved ones.”

Beautiful answer!

Email me, girl, @blogabbie{at}gmail{dot}com, and I’ll get you hooked up with your goodies!

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Remember when—like 6 months ago—my husband and I did that Q&A thing for our anniversary?

What’s that you say?

That was less than 2 weeks ago???!

Holy moly.

It’s amazing how much traveling messes with your head and ability to gauge how much time has passed—especially when you’re attempting to set your alarm for 5 AM (darn you, early Eurostar train) by your phone, which still says that it’s 6:30 PM when it’s really 12:30 AM the next day (no, we didn’t get much sleep last night).

But back to that anniversary interview. One of the things that my husband mentioned as something I “can’t live without” was accessories. Which is pretty much true at this point.

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This hasn’t always been the case, though. In fact, I used to be the girl  who wore the same sterling silver ring as my only adornment for months at a time, and my usual uniform was a plain tee and shorts.

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I remember my mom looking  my outfit over at the twins’ first birthday party (orange eyelet dress, coordinating necklace/earrings, plus these fabulous heels) and shaking her head in disbelief, saying, “I can remember when you didn’t care about any of that. It’s like you’re a different person.”

And I couldn’t argue with her (my 14-year-old sports-obsessed self probably wouldn’t even recognize me now).

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Because now, one of my favorite small, inconsequential thrills in life is putting together a “look.” It’s the same thrill I get from rearranging a shelf with pretty things (says the girl who never hung a single poster or picture in her room, growing up). If you gave me a job styling storefront windows, I’m not saying I would be the best at it, but I sure would enjoy the heck out of it.

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Which brings me to the question in the title of the post: how many accessories is too many (and is there really such a thing)?

Take the white dress in these pics, for example. It’s crazy comfortable and soft. But it’s plain. Almost painfully (plainfully?) so. Which makes it a fantastic base for an accessory heavy outfit.

I posted a pic of this look to my IG and FB and got a variety of responses from, “Perfect” to, “Too much.” One reader even quoted Coco Chanel’s famous “take one thing off before you leave the house” rule.

Clearly, it’s a matter of taste.

But, even with no clear rules, I can tell you this: neutral accessories that can go with anything and are beautiful and functional are never “too much.” Which is why my favorite thing I threw on with my white dress was this Jord wooden watch. IMG_1634

I kind of have a “thing” for watches. I don’t always wear them, but I’ve gotten picky about the ones I do wear, simply because I haven’t been as choosy in the past, and I’ve gotten burned by a lot of $12, cute but ultimately short-lived versions (broken face, dead battery in a week, etc.).

So, now, watches are one of the few things I will actually spend a money on (unless, of course, I somehow manage to score them for “free” with Amazon gift credit you forgot you had; yes, that actually happened to me).

Lucky for me, Jord was nice enough to send me their Fieldcrest in maple. And I love it! It goes with absolutely everything, and so far, at least, seems very sturdy. I chose a very simple style and color scheme without a date on the face (I use my phone for that, usually) for maximum versatility, and I couldn’t be more pleased.

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(Note to self: make sure your bracelet’s not falling off for the pictures of a post about accessories next time)

I didn’t know what I would think of a completely wooden watch, but I like it a lot. It’s really lightweight and smooth, and doesn’t look or feel clunky like I thought it might.

If you’d like to check out Jord’s other options, you can here (they’ve got quite a few more adventurous/varied options that my monochromatic look).

ALSO, stay tuned tomorrow for something else fun from Jord for YOU!

So, where do you fall on the accessories scale? Pile ‘em on? Stick with the basics? Somewhere in between? As much as I love them, I do believe there is such a thing as too much. But it’s a pretty personal line to cross. As long as there’s some variety and visual interest and everything coordinates without being too matchy-matchy, I’m a fan.

Are you the same person you were at 14?(Pretty sure we all just said, “Oh goodness, I hope not!”). I think I am in essentials, even though I’ve developed different interests over the years, but I am grateful that certain aspects of my personality (competitive spirit, excessive self-criticism, argumentative nature, etc.) have mellowed considerably since my teens.

*Jord provided me with the watch for review, but all opinions and ramblings about accessories are my own.

**Linking up with Lindsey!

0 Comments

  1. My look has changed somewhat over the years. I’ve always been a minimalist, but I used to be much more plainly. As a teenager I had big round glasses (think Harry Potter) and I’d wear turtlenecks and accessorize usually with only dangle earrings. I’d wear jeans and clogs to finish it out, and actually I think it was a really good look. I carried that through to college.

    Now, in my late 20s, I love a really sleek look. My wardrobe is black clothing (plus denim and some bright pink accents) and go for a vaguely grunge or punk vibe most of the time. I like bold, long lines, like thick cloth headbands, scarves that hang down long down my front, and chunky high heels. I wear minimal jewelry, maybe a small cross necklace, and always my five black stud earrings.

    Unfortunately, lately I’ve switched out of contact lenses back into glasses over concerns about my eyesight, and it’s been making me feel insecure about how I look. I haven’t shelled out for new glasses frames yet, so I’m in gold wire frames I chose ten years ago (not the Harry Potter round ones, thank goodness! But ovals – not the more rectangular frames that have been in style for years now). I battled a lot of frustration over my style being “ruined” until it occurred to me – duh – to start dressing more like I did when I chose the frames. I’m not going entirely back to my bookworm vibe, but I’ve started adding more details to my outfits. I find that adding sparkle and variety complements my glasses – whether it’s a patterned shirt, dangle earrings, textured braid in my hair, whatever – and makes a nicer complete picture. Whereas when I wore contacts I would have kept my accessories and patterns to just one or two per outfit (I wouldn’t have worn any jewelry if I had on a patterned shirt, or I would have worn very plain clothes with a pair of earrings), now I’m making an effort to combine several elements together and that makes my glasses fit in better. The key I guess is to treat them as an accessory, albeit one I can’t take off.

    It’s still not my favorite look, but I’m starting to feel more confident and happier that at least I’m making it work for me. And getting new frames is on my to-do list as soon as time and budget allows. Then of course I’ll have to work with them and see what new look I come up with!

  2. What a great look!! I need to find a nice, plain white dress like that because, I have found that white pants, but NOT white jeans, are not my friend!! But a dress…I know I could make that work 😉 Anyhoo, I have LOVED accessories since I was able to talk. My parents tell me (and I remember this) I was asking for a baby doll with “the JEW-RY!! The baby with the JEW-RY” for Christmas one year…my mom finally figured out it was this doll that came with a sponge crown and (I think, necklace and bracelet) and you would fill a plastic bottle with some shampoo and water; shake it up and then squeeze out “diamonds”! OH, I loved that baby!!!

    When I choose dressy looks, I tend to be drawn to simple plain dresses that I can accessorize with statement jewelry (My wedding dress was a completely plain dress that allowed me to have beautiful jewelry and a sparkly headpiece…my perfect look!)…

    SO, I adore jewelry and my husband feeds that love (so good to me), but I do not do a lot of accessories together…I have issues with scarves (even though I like them and wear them) as I get easily annoyed with my hair and scarf; feels like I”m choking 🙂 And, I don’t like to wear bracelets, a watch and rings; so if I’m wearing one of my right hand rings, and my watch, than no bracelets!

    Usually, I am all about dangly earrings of every shape and style, a necklace, my wedding ring and one of the beautiful rings my hubby has gotten me…

    Was that TMI??? Anyway, you made the accessories work and if I changed anything for that to work for me, I’d have to take off the bracelet and change the scarf to a necklace 😉 But that’s just me… you look fab <3

    1. Megan, I think your approach to accessories sounds perfect. I do something similar. If I have jangly bracelets on my right arm, it’s just my wedding set on my left hand and a bare left arm. Lots of times I’ll combine a watch and bracelet or two on my right arm. If I have something significant around my neck — I love long pendulum necklaces, get impatient with scarves but wear them — it’s just simple stud earrings. I find it all clutters up too fast for me if I have both arms covered, rings, drop earrings, hair, makeup bag and the clothes themselves. I’m petite, so that may explain some of my preference to accent simply with a few quality noticeable pieces with an overall “together” effect and no one thing screaming too awfully loudly, “Hey, look at me!” Sounds like that’s your style as well. :-).

  3. I love all of the accessories, but I could see where it wouldn’t be a person’s thing too. I have been trying to make sure my style looks like I am 25 instead of 15 (which I often get mistaken for as a high school teacher). I am finding that the difference in having a more polished look often ends up being because of my accessories.

  4. Looks great! I really like the look of wooden watches as well. I’m love accessories as well, as it allows you to have a pretty simply wardrobe, but with endless variety. Thankfully, I am not the boy-obsessed, looks-obsessed girl I was at 14!

I love hearing from you guys!