Matchy-matchy

Hear that sound? That hollow 'thunk' is me smacking my head at my own stupidity. Bianca did a great post recently about making accessory sets, so you've always got a go-to set of matching accessories when you need them. How had I never thought of doing this? I can't bear it when things don't match, yet in the past I've always tried matching everything to my dress. That sort of works, but I really come unstuck with separates, and always end up falling back on black because 'black goes with everything'. (It doesn't, it's just the least noticeable way of not going with things.)
At this point, you might be thinking, “But I don't make accessory sets and my outfits work”. And you're right, yours do. I struggle, though. I don't know whether it's because I like simple shapes and clean patterns and tend to wear fewer 'elements' than most people, but whereas other people can pick out things and have them all work together like that, if I pick out a dress and shoes and bag and piece of jewellery, all too often they stay as four separate things. A really good, strong dress will pull the other elements in and force the shoes and bag and jewellery to get along, but separates tend to weaken each other's impact and then I look like a bundle of random items.

So, I got out my bags and shoes, and looked at them all to decide which looked good together and which didn't. The happy thing is, I really do like all the things I've got. Especially bags. The modern liking for giant slouchy bags has definitely been to my advantage, as nice little boxy bags end up on the charity shop shelves every so often. I've got a couple that need repairs – the suede shattered on the bottom of my half-moon-shaped one, and my favourite black one needs a new handle – but on the whole, I'm sorted for bags. Most are black and brown and so fall into the 'never going to be the high point of an outfit' category.

Cate sent me a really lovely blue bag ages ago, and I want to get a pair of shoes to match that. Mostly that gets carried with a blue/coral dress and coral shoes, but it deserves proper partners, and then I think it'll be able to 'do more'. I'd also like a pair of dark cream or ecru shoes to go with my cream bag, as it looks utterly wrong with black. Then there's the stunning Welsh tapestry bag/cap set I bought from Baboushka; brown shoes would make sense to match the leather details but I want to make the most of the colours in the fabric, so I'm thinking the pistachio loafers Van-Dal have in their current range, plus a matching headband, might be a better option. If I knit myself some 60s tops in the other colours in the tapestry, how fab would that look? (I am so hankering after some 60s tops right now. I really need to get the cardi I'm knitting for a friend off the needles.)

I'm not really sure what accessories to pair up apart from shoes and bag, though. Headbands and brooches, I suppose, plus coloured tights in winter. I don't wear gloves, rarely wear scarves, and the last thing my wide middle needs is an obvious belt cutting across it. Have you any ideas what would do the job? I guess that's why outfits from the 1960s seem relentlessly matchy; with fewer pieces to play with than in previous decades, people focussed on co-ordinating what little there was.