Introduction

The quickest and most effective way to accomplish a stylish appearance is with accessories. But like anything that works wonders, there is no shortcut to learning how to accessorise well.

While we have always said style isn't innate, there are women to whom the art of knowing how to use accessories comes easily. They will inherently know which shoes to put with a particular length of skirt and how a necklace can make or break an outfit. Those of us deprived of the accessory gene need to be taught what to do.

Deciding which types of accessories suit you depends very much on the shape and size of your bones. Forget about how much you weigh for once - it is your bones we want to focus on.

Look at us as an example. Susannah is podgier than Trinny (except on her arse), but because she is fine boned, she suits more delicate accessories. Thin Trin, on the other hand, is blessed with heftier bones that can carry off bold accessories, which in turn stand out more.

While we admit this bone thing is, of course, a sweeping generalisation, and there are always exceptions to the rule, it's a starting point to a subject that will change your attitude to dressing.

How on earth can you tell what is a big or a small bone? Well, the difference isn't enormous. We are not talking brontosaurus excavation site versus wren skeleton here. No, the definition is more subtle. Look at your wrists and ankles and if these are proportionately delicate to the rest of your arms and legs, then your bones are small.

If, however, the two are less distinct and you have, for example, thick ankles, your prize is that you can wear fabulously daring pieces which people comment on. Hands, too, are a strong indicator to sizing accessories. Do your fingers look better in big or small rings?

Personality plays a part as well. No shrinking violet, however enormous her bones, is going to want to stand out with an accessory that screams, 'Look at me!'

The bottom line is big characters have the balls to go bold or fragile, whereas the reserved may want to play safe with subtlety.

Think the learning process stops here? Well, interestingly, clothes do play a part, too, especially when it comes to colour. Keeping your accessories in tune with what you wear is vital, however important a piece is. The thing you love most about an outfit may be the necklace that you wear with it because it is a most individual item. Even in this instance, your clothes need to be of a similar colouring but of an unfussy fabric and pattern which will make the necklace stand out. The tone you set also makes a difference. Diamanté in the daytime looks cheap, but it comes into its own at night.

We also firmly believe less is more. Someone who wears her entire jewellery collection about her person does not look rich and classy but desperate to be seen as rich and classy.

It might be that the season's hottest look is military or flamenco. Unless you have either a boyish form or a curvaceous Latin American one you can't go there in terms of clothes.

You can, however, make great use of a gold button or two, or the rose that looks so good on a Spanish dancer in full regalia; it would look just as wonderful pinned to the lapel of your jacket.

Once you know your style, but want to be fashionable, give more attention to the runway shoe when looking through glossy magazines. You can pick up super-trendy footwear from high street stores at a fraction of the cost of the originals.