Styling Alexander McQueen Skull Tie is mostly a question of proportion, and the rest follows from there. Proportion does more than colour: volume on top wants something narrow below, and the reverse. Repeat one element, a metal, a texture or a colour, and an outfit looks deliberate. Dimensions decide how it ties. Under 70cm square will not knot properly. The groups below run from the decision that matters most to the ones you make afterwards.

What decides this is fibre, dimensions and drape. Everything else is preference. Two from the first group show the range: Joseph's Kenza Silk Scarf at $145, and Anine Bing's York Scarf Anine Bing - Tango Red at $150. The first is the easy entry point; the second is where the money goes. Dimensions decide how it ties. Under 70cm square will not knot properly. A higher price mostly buys materials and finishing, and occasionally it buys nothing at all.

A scarf is the cheapest way to change an outfit you are bored of. From the second group, Cult Gaia's Neemo Necklace ($358) is the one that earns its place, because it works in more than one context without being restyled. The third group is smaller and deliberately narrower, belts, for the decisions you make after the main one. None of this needs the whole group. One piece from each is usually enough.

There are 20 pieces here from 14 brands, $32 to $890, all in stock when this was written. We would not buy all of them, and neither should you. beginningboutique.com's Luxe Lattice Gold Hoop Earrings 3 Pack at $30 is the low-risk way in, and Ann Demeulemeester's Constance Bracelet Chains Small Locking at $890 only makes sense if this is a category you already use constantly. Read as a set, they get you close to Alexander McQueen Skull Tie without any single purchase being compulsory. Nothing here is included because it is famous, and price is not used as a proxy for quality anywhere on this page. If you take one thing away: buy the one you can picture using this week, not the one you are saving for later.