Welcome to Mini Makeover Monday! In this weekly column, Bianca Teixeira, our new makeover maven, will find, test and report back on an assortment of small changes that can be made to your daily beauty and style routine that can dramatically change your look. Let us know if you try any of her suggestions and what kind of effect they had on you!

With an elongated winter and spring right around the corner (fingers crossed!), clothing lovers should rejoice at the chance to continue wearing leather pieces well into 2014.

Leather is one of those fabrics that will (hopefully) never go away. Continuously popping up on runways all over the world, it’s an easy textile to incorporate into an outfit for an added edgy flair, whether you splurge on real leather or are all about only wearing vegan options.

Leather Pockets

Since the topic of this particular column is ‘accents’, don’t expect to find here a how-to on wearing head-to-toe leather. While the Angelina-back-in-her-prime look is always great for a night out, leather accents can be worn anywhere: the office, the bar, brunch, a keynote speech… absolutely anywhere.

It’s easy to start off slowly if you have an aversion to leather. Try a tee with leather pockets or a jacket with leather sleeves or even leather-paneled trousers to ease into the trend. There are so many ways to sneak in a touch of leather into an otherwise dull outfit, and the result is a fashion-forward look with a hint or two of badass-ery.

Leather Sleeves

The pros of this particular trend are obvious: a touch of leather will instantly take your look from day to night plus keep you a smidge warmer. Did I mention that the way leather pieces naturally fall are insanely flattering? A leather waistband on a dress will instantly give you the appearance of a slimmer waist. With the popularity of leather accents hitting an all-time high, you’re never more than a stone’s throw away from a store that supplies the look.

However, if you’re going bold this spring, a pair of all-leather trousers is your answer! Check out this video to see how you can style your pants…