Is there an existing rule to pair watches with outfits?
Imagine this situation: You see a dashing woman in her flowy long gown, but when you look at her wrist, she is wearing a rubber-strapped watch.
Rules may sound an overstatement, yet there are power and influence that underly in our outfits. Our fashion statement reflects our personality. A watch may be a small piece of accessory, yet it may break or build our outfits.
Wardrobe and timepiece mismatch is a forgivable flaw. A fashion guide and a little tweak on your preference will help you complement your watch and outfit. We have prepared some general guidelines to have your own fashion statement.
Rule 1: Follow a Dress Code – Match Watch Formality with Outfit Formality
Following a dress code links everything together– pair the formality of your watch with the formality of your outfit. In order to have an idea of the dress code, you need to be familiarized with the types of watches. Considering the types of watches will answer the questions:
What watch will I wear with my casual attire? Which attire will match with my luxurious racing match?
Different Types of Watches
There are two main categories for watches, these are analog watches and digital watches. Digital watches show numeric format on their LCD or LED displays. Most of these watches have a rubber or plastic straps. Thus, they are usually used for casual, sports or fitness tracker and paired with athletic or activewear.
Meanwhile, analog watches have hour face and minute hands with a 12-hour format displayed through markers or numbers. Analog watches are more suitable for formal, casual, and business outfits. Furthermore, there are different types of watches under analog watches:
- Dress Analog Watch – a dress watch has a simple, sophisticated, and plain face with less or no complications. Most of these watches have roman, numeric 12-hour cycles, or no numerals. Some dress analog watches may have a date-format. They are paired with thin black leather straps for a more formal look.
- Dive – These diver’s watches solely designed for underwater diving, they can resist water up to 100 meters. They have a medium-size watch face with legible numerals or hash marks.
- Racing (or Driving) Watch – These are sports watches with an analog-style. They are made from durable high-quality plastic composites which makes them look sleek. Their watch faces are in medium to large size with large dial sport with legible Arabic numerals.
- Field – These are functional, versatile, and rugged watches. Their watch face is small to medium in size with easy to read numbers. Some may have date-only or no complications. Some may have canvas or leather straps. More so, they can endure tough activities.
- Pilot – Pilot watches are designed for cockpit use. Thus, they have medium to large watch faces. Their oversized dial accommodates legible numbers, dates, chronographs, and luminous hands. These complications and features help improve the wearers to easily and accurately read the time. More so, they have large crowns to help pilots to operate their watch with gloves on.
Rule 2: Familiarize the Levels of Formality
Each watch has its own specific purposes. Thus, in order to avoid fashion mismatch, you need to familiarize the formality of the event.
- Business or Formal Events – These outfits are classic and simple in style. They prefer metal watches with limited or no complications.
- Casual – Any type of watch can be paired with casual attires. But, they best go with classic silver and gold metal watches. Meanwhile, business or smart casual attires are best with leather straps.
- Sports – Activewear is worn for activities that involve physical activities. It is best paired with watches that are made with durable materials that will allow its users to focus on the sports activity.
Rule 3: Matchmaking – Strap Complements
After you have grasped the different types of watches and outfits, you can easily narrow down the choices to match with your outfit. You can follow these guidelines:
- Sleek leather watch bands are considered more formal than metal watch bands.
- Black leather is more formal than watches with brown leather.
- Gold and silver metal watch bands are not an ideal choice for formal wear. They are more suitable for dressy occasions as they complement the outfit.
- Meanwhile, those rough, rugged, and worn-in leather watch straps are an exception to the “leather is formal” rule. Watches with these bands are paired with casual wear.
Rule 4: Outfit Saver – Match Watch to Shoes
When you are in doubt, you can go with matching your watch with your shoes. The color and material of your shoes are a preferable reference for your choice of watch.
Watches with metal bands will complement with either black or brown shoes. However, there are specific metal colors that match better with certain shoe colors. Silver watch bands are best paired with shoes with black, blue, and gray colorways. Meanwhile, gold watch bands are more suitable with earth tones like brown, beige, and tan colorways.
Furthermore, black leather bands are ideal for black shoes while brown bands are best with brown shoes. It would be easier to have interchangeable leather bands to easily match your outfits.
Rule 5: Heirloom Watches are a Rule Bender
Most of us are handed with family heirlooms. These memorabilia are an exception, they remind family history and culture, or valuable relationships. Heirloom watches are legacies passed from one generation to another. Most heirloom watches are from great grandfathers who have made sacrifices for their generation.
These watches bend over the rules, you can wear them not based on the fashion trend. More so, they are usually worn on special occasions and when worn they become great conversation pieces. Their old-fashioned watch parts and the importance of the wearer’s relationship to the heirloom watch are the subjects of conversation.
Final Thought
Watches are small accessories yet they reflect our personality. The type of watch you choose to wear needs to match the formality of your outfit. Use these tips to have a harmony between your outfit and watch.