Window Shopping Along Avenue Montaigne, Paris: Chanel Accessory Spring-Summer Collection 2011

     Of all the fashion window displays on Avenue Montaigne, Chanel has the over-all collection of fashion accessories.   

      This is what I have learned from Chanel - to accesorize - to give an added touch to my suits, my dresses, and casual-wear pieces. A variety of fashion accessories can make the same clothes look different each time, transforming the casual to elegantly casual and the elegant to sophisticated. One can accessorize from head to toe to achieve a certain look.
     Accessories come in different shapes, forms, and materials. They add color and a polished, finished look to any outfit.

     A head accessory could be a hat, a headwrap, hair accessories (headbands, hair jewels, barrettes, clips, combs, hair slides) and head jewelry as in the Indian jewelry sets.

     Clothing accessories range from things that are worn or pinned, made of fabric, alloys or other materials.  

     Replacing fresh flower corsages are flower pins in solid color or printed, with a silky, velvety, smooth or textured feel, natural looking or stylized. The stylized camelia is the flower associated with Chanel. 

     They also use their logo in their accessory designs.

     Costume jewelry is definitely a must in anybody's fashion accessory box. They are more affordable and up-to-date. Getting a few pieces each season, say a pair of earrings, a long and short necklace, bracelets, and rings, is a good way to be fashionably updated. Sometimes, refashioning what you already can attain the new style you want to have.

     To showcase their accessory line, Chanel has a melange of things used to accessorize  the mannequin, above:  a black head cover - a beret-like head gear;  a white and black grouping of camelia flowers around the neckline;  several long necklaces made up of gold-tone metal chain, with faux pearls and imitation semi-precious stones; a medium length necklace with a bejeweled cross pendant, and a Chanel pin. 

     Using two or three of these accessories would be more of the norm, when accessorising. These necklaces and flower grouping around the neckline bring drama to an otherwise simple, sleeveless linen blouse, plus multiple bracelets to adorn the arm. 

      In these display windows, I noticed how accessories are being used all over, in not the very usual places we always do.

     How about a brooch, a trinket, or a flower somewhere in the bodice, between the empire line and below the waistline? This is a new look for me. And yes, it works. It brings focus to another part of the figure that is worth showing off or emphasising.

 With a tucked-in shirt, accentuating the waistband looks good.

     Notice the pink, textured camelia flower pin that was used in the white outfit, around the neckline? It is now used as a hair accessory, as well. You can have more than one use for just about anything. 

     I really like this style - the off-the-shoulder-laces or shoulderlaces (instead of necklaces), long chains starting from one shoulder and cascading down to wrap around below the hip on the other side of your body, draping in different lengths, then going up diagonally on the back side all the way back to the shoulder. It's like wearing a sash made of gold chains, pearls, glass stones, and other faux stones. The shoulder bag even looks like it is part of the costume-jewelry accessory. There is an elongating, thinning effect that will make one look even taller. I can see myself connecting long necklaces to come up with this effect. 

     A cuff-bracelet design is going to be prominent this season.  It can easily be worn with other bracelets with the same or complimentary color tones.

     Chanel has a separate store for their 18-karat gold jewelry, diamond and semi-precious-stone jewelry pieces and watch collection.

Do you see anything you like?

     You've noticed all the different colored and styled quilted purses. The quilted leather is their signature material for their bag designs, that has not changed for decades. In some of their shoe styles, platforms are back this season, along with the flats, and mid-calf boots, as well as closed-toe and opened-toe shoes. Here are more styles:

These ones are from their separate store for their footwear line.

I think you are getting the idea - to acessorize, accessorize and accessorize more! It can be the easiest thing to do to look fashionably chic.