There is nothing wrong with an accessory that’s subtle and delicate — there are plenty of times when that’s exactly what an outfit needs. However, we find more occasions on which we’d prefer to wear a piece that brings a little more to the table — the type of piece that can make a stranger take a second look.

A bright ballet flat is the perfect shoe to take you from day to night, office to ladies’ night, because it’s so easy to pair with a variety of looks. It will look chic with a pair of tailored slacks for work and it’ll give a pop of color to a pair of dark jeans. It’ll also look fab with a cute little dress, and it gives you an excuse to add some bright, chunky jewelry to your ensemble.

Every woman should have a quality, stand-by purse. You know, a purse that will go with just about any outfit, is large enough to hold whatever we might want to bring with us, and is classic enough to stay in style season after season.

This MAXX New York Bowler bag, available at Nordstrom for $168, doesn’t quite fit that mold, but it has some fabulous qualities of its own.

The sandal is in the process of a style evolution. It began with the gladiator sandal when we first saw it a season or two (or three?) ago, it really seemed hard to wear. It was clunky and not terribly feminine, but now, of course, we love it. And so it’s time to move on to the next stage.

More and more celebrities are sporting sexy sandals with a lot more material across the front than we were previously used to. Case in point: The Christian Dior Extreme Cutout Sandal, which was Carrie Bradshaw’s shoe of choice in the SATC movie (and costs, depending on the material.