Accessories are sold as the answer you need to create visual interest in your outfit. 

Outfit looks off? Add a watch.

Too plain? Add jewelry.

Need to elevate? Add “finishing touches.”

I was extremely susceptible to this idea. Because it sounds efficient. You don’t need more clothes, just smarter additions.

In theory: elegant.

In practice (for me): noise.

The Watch Situation

I knew I would never be a big watch person, but I wanted to be a “little” watch person.

Here’s the breakdown.

1. It was mostly nostalgia

Every Christmas we got watches as kids. Fun ones and character ones. Some families get socks. We got watches. I never actually wore them. When I looked at old photos I never had a watch on. So this wasn’t about function. It was sentiment dressed up as taste.

2. Good Taste Culture

Watches are a massive signal in “good taste” spaces.

Understated watch = discernment

Mechanical watch = knowledge

Minimal watch = design literacy

I had one big watch once that recieved a lot of compliments. I stopped wearing it almost immediately. I did not like being “noticed” in that way,

3. I don’t actually check the time

This was the funniest realization.

I’ve worn watches for years and still instinctively:

• ask someone
• look for a clock
• use my phone

One day I asked my sister the time.

She said, “Look at your wrist, dummy.”

4. My life doesn’t require it

This might be a sad realization for some, but my life is pretty quiet and steady. I don’t have any high-pressure, minute-by-minute environments. 

I am naturally punctual too. If I do have an event come up, the watch never actually “saved” me from anything. It was symbolic preparedness.

5. The “Finishing Piece” Effect

This was the big one. The watch made me feel “complete.” But that completion came with tension.

A few times I accidentally left without it and felt weirdly aware of my outfit, like I had forgotten a part of the costume. My outfit felt “incomplete” and I was a little sad. That’s when I knew it wasn’t neutral. It was performative.

6. The absurd design conflict

I liked watches with markers, but I needed watches with numbers.

Markers meant I had to “count dashes.” Why am I paying all this money to “count dashes”? This felt like effort.

Digital watches felt visually busy. So the “perfect” watch existed mostly in theory.

7. It breaks my continuity

This one is subtle, but I naturally prefer long sleeves because they create flow.

Watches interrupt that line at the wrist. Even when it looked “right,” my sleeve usually covered it anyway. So why am I wearing this?

Compare That to My Stud Earrings

I wear the same stud earrings constantly.

I sleep in them. Shower in them. I only notice them when I’m staring in the mirror long enough to think, “I need to clean those.”

The earrings don’t:

• Signal.
• Perform.
• Complete a narrative.

They don’t finish my outfit. I don’t “style” around them. They just disappear.

So what does this mean somatically? Accessories that worked for me were never:

• expressive
• statement-making
• identity-reinforcing

They were:

• low sensation
• low visibility
• non-interruptive

Interestingly, since leaving style advice behind, I am finding most of the time the best “accessory” is no accessory at all.