Keeping Up Appearances: Finishing Touches: Words for Accessories

Ascot is a village in England that's home to a fancy horserace. Posh accessories worn to the race, including this wide men's scarf tied somewhat like a necktie, are described with the adjective ascot. In this country, the ascot tie is simply called an ascot. It's still very much a signifier of wealth and social stature, and an easy way to look like you own a racehorse or a yacht, even if you don't.

A bauble, like gewgaw below, is a piece of inexpensive jewelry or a small object designed to look as flashy as possible. It comes from the Old French babel or baubel, meaning "trinket" or "child's toy."

A clog in your toilet is no fun, but clog can also refer to a shoe made partly or entirely from wood. Some companies now also make comfortable rubber clogs for chefs. There's even a form of folk dance called clogging, and there's probably some smart-aleck plumber somewhere who does a dance he calls un-clogging.

The verb clutch means to grab tightly. As a noun, clutch can also refer to a small purse that is frequently with no handle or strap, so that it must be held in the hand. Usually petite and on the dressier side, a clutch is often beaded or sequined to make it an eye-catching fashion statement.

Croatian mercenaries in 17th century France wore distinctive neckerchiefs; the French named them after their version of "Croat," i.e. someone from Croatia, which was cravat. In several languages cravat is the word for necktie. In American English it more often refers to a neck-borne scarf, neckerchief, or bandana-type situation (as opposed to a tie). An ascot could be described as a type of cravat.

Gewgaw likely originates in the root of give, so that it means a pretty gift of little value. Alternatively, it may come from gaw, an obsolete word that's the source of gawk. In either case, the meaning is dismissive or mildly insulting: something a child would find pretty, but which is worthless.

A small umbrella often made from paper, parasol is from Latin, via French, and literally means "protection from the sun." You can see this clearly in the French word for umbrella, parapluie, where pluie is rain and the prefix para once again means "protection from." The word umbrella also comes from Latin, from the word umbra, meaning "shade."

Spectare means "to look" in Latin, so it makes sense that spectacles is another word for eyeglasses. Glasses, while necessary for some people to see clearly, are also a popular accessory, especially in their tinted versions. After all, everyone from Snoopy to ZZ Top knows that sunglasses make you look cooler.

Tiara comes from Greek, where it referred to royal Persian headdresses. It's a partial circle of jewels worn on the head, often by pageant winners and princesses. If you have a complete circle of jewels on your head, that's known as a crown, or, using another Greek word, a diadem.