Fashion Accessories

A fashion accessory is an item that is either carried or worn and contributes to an individual’s outfit. Perfumes, footwear, belts, watches and handbags, and other accessories are enlisted under this heading.

While some categories of fashion accessory are common to both men and women, most fashion accessories are quite specifically designed for one or the other. Women’s fashion accessories commonly include handbags and purses, belts, collars, gloves, hats and caps, phone and tablet cases, scarves, and sunglasses. It is an idiosyncrasy of the fashion industry that women’s watches are often considered a fashion accessory instead of a piece of jewellery and can easily be classified as either. Handbags and purses too, will often form their own classification as an item of travel goods rather than as a fashion accessory.

Men’s fashion accessories can include belts and braces, caps and hats, gloves, scarves, ties, and wallets. Items such as tie pins and watches, whilst generally thought of as items of jewellery, can also be considered men’s fashion accessories. Men’s accessories can also include somewhat arcane items of sporting or hobby paraphernalia, from cigar cutters to golf ball polishers.

Items such as footwear and jewellery, whilst strictly classifiable as fashion accessories, tend to fall into their own broader categories for both men and women, due to the sheer number of options involved.