The It-Girl Accessory

How do you define an it-girl? Do they have to be famous on social media, or only known and/or envied by important people in ~the industry~ (fashion, movie, T.V., etcetera)? Or do they just have to look really really cool without even trying? Effortlessly cool, right? My former self thought you had to have all the big designers' products to be deemed an it-girl -- that Alexander McQueen bomber or the latest Calvin Klein overalls or cropped flares from Citizens of Humanity. But my former self was oblivious, even though I still really want those cropped flares. Money doesn't buy you that cool factor; going an extra step with your look, the more unique the better, does. After this revelation, I wiped the stress-sweat off my forehead while looking at the extremely low number listed on my bank account because I already had what I needed.

I learned a few weeks ago that there are more things than turtlenecks that can protect your neck. I took a lavender bandana, tied it around my neck, bow in front Parisian-style, and didn't freeze to death in that chilly NYC weather. I now tackle the bandana again, but it wasn't cold (it was actually surprisingly warm for a late-February day) and it was hardly Parisian. Bows are great and all, as Gucci believes, but sometimes you have to change things up, do it differently than the rest, because that's a requirement for all it-girls. 

I tied the bandana around my neck choker-style, just like before (now it's black), but then I tucked in the ends and shifted the knot to the back of my neck, and voila: Parisian neck-scarf turns into cool-girl choker. Wearing this simple denim dress from Urban Outfitters alone would be "girl-next-door is trying to be stylish but it's kind of boring", but adding the simplest of items that everyone must have from the days they used to wear bandanas as hair accessories makes a look that is the complete opposite of girl next door, it's girl everyone wants to be. Now is that the definition of an it-girl?

Here's the beauty of it all: it's the simplicity of the accessory combined with the unconventionality of the use of said accessory. Effortlessly cool, basically. Tie the same bandana around your wrist a few times for a new take on bracelets, or even tie it around your ankle with ankle boots and cropped flares (there's cheaper ones than those Citizens of Humanity ones, like these). Adding an extra oomph of cool to an outfit, no matter how easy it may be, is the instant recipe for it-girl. I don't guarantee that a bandana will turn you into someone the entire Internet loves overnight, but it'll at least make you look like one. And this is something I noticed in New York a few weeks ago -- the people who stood out in terms of fashion had the simplest of accessories added to a fairly undemanding outfit. Not a conventional necklace or pair of sunglasses, but a really cool hat (it was cold!) or a few pins attached to an embroidered bomber. Once again, it's that simple. Who said looking cool had to be difficult?

Dress by Urban Outfitters. Shoes by Adidas.

Photos shot by me.

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