Old-School Accessories That Will Never Go out of Style

In the Digital Age, everyone wants the latest and greatest device, the coolest and most cutting-edge tech. You can find augmented reality glasses that transpose digital information on your everyday environment; you can buy a smart water bottle that tracks your liquid intake; you can plug Bluetooth headphones into your ears to hear music and podcasts all day long; and you can connect your baby’s changing pad to Wi-Fi to monitor their weight before and after a dirty diaper. But — do you actually need all of your belongings to be digital?

The answer, quite certainly, is no. Though research into the consequences of such over-connectedness is only in its initial stages, results seem to indicate that plenty of people suffer poor outcomes as a result of too much data from their devices all day and night. Technology is certainly valuable, but there are a handful of items in your life you never need to connect to the web — which especially includes items you wear on your person. When it comes to old-school accessories that probably do not need to connect to Wi-Fi, you can forever rely on the following:

Jewelry

You can find all manner of smart jewelry, from watches that count your steps and read you your texts to rings that track your heartbeat and necklaces that post your selfies to social media. However, because you are unlikely to keep your smartphone far out of reach, none of this smart jewelry adds much functionality to your life; more often, it clutters your body with data that will distract and overwhelm you.

You need signature jewelry to complete your look, but that jewelry should be simple to allow you to maintain focus on your tasks at hand. For example, luxury watches for women will tell you the time without sidetracking your line of thought, and regular rings, earrings and necklaces should complement your personal style without coopting onlookers’ attention.

Shoes

Advanced smart shoes use sensors to collect data about how you move throughout your day. A regular person might be interested in the data from smart shoes to help them keep track of their daily steps, and athletes can train with smart shoes to monitor their speed, stride length, jump height and more.

However, smart shoes come in only one style: sneakers. Because you undoubtedly want to dress in styles besides athleisure, you need to invest in more than a few pairs of shoes that don’t connect to the internet. Besides sneakers, fashion experts advise everyone to have the following types of footwear:

• Boots
• Slides
• Flats
• Sandals
• Loafers

Handbags

Smart handbags are mostly novelties that have not exactly caught on in the real world — for the exact reasons you would expect. Connectedness does almost nothing to improve the functionality of a handbag, so you might as well spend your money on luxury styles and designer brands than on a Wi-Fi enabled purse. As with shoes, fashion experts advocate for having more than one type of handbag — though there is some disagreement about whether the full range should include five styles or 15. At the very least, you should have in your closet the following bags:

• Tote Bag. A large, strong bag with one or two pockets and long handles for carrying by the shoulder. These are traditionally made of canvas, but sophisticated leather totes are becoming more popular.
• Hobo Bag. An unstructured handbag with a casual and relaxed feel, this bag can easily be your daily go-to.
• Satchel Bag. An everyday handbag with more structure and refinement, a satchel bag is perfect for semi-formal and professional occasions.
• Cross-body Bag. Also called a shoulder bag, these smaller bags have long straps that span from shoulder to hip to keep the bulk of the purse out of the way.
• Clutch Bag. Clutches range in style from exceedingly formal to simple and casual. They only have enough space for the bare essentials, so they are best reserved for events.

Sunglasses

Despite decades-worth of anticipation over smart glasses, which were supposed to augment reality with all sorts of digital information, we have yet to gain any viable Wi-Fi-connected eyewear. In the meantime, you need to protect your eyes from the harsh, damaging UV rays of the sun, especially during the summertime when you are more likely to spend time outdoors, soaking up the beautiful weather. Instead of investing in a wide range of styles of sunnies, you could buy one high-quality pair that perfectly suits your facial features. As long as your shades offer UVA and UVB protection, you should be able to wear them for years to come.

Your accessories should speak for themselves — not because they are connected to the internet but because they complement your personal style. Old-school accessories will retain their value for the rest of your life, as long as you invest in high-quality brands and materials that will remain cool despite the trends.