One Basic Dress Can Get Your Style Going!

Sometimes all it takes is one basic dress...to get your style going. Really, just a basic piece.

As a stylist I am constantly telling my clients that they don't need as many clothes as they think. Most women are under the assumption that if they were to "makeover" their style (with or without my help)...they must be ready to invest in an extensive wardrobe re-vamp (think: massive purchase) and they just don't have the funds to do so. This is simply NOT true.

A good basic and simple wardrobe will save you money in the long run! When you have quality basics to rely on, you will spend less money when you renew your wardrobe at the beginning of the season. Often all you'll need are some updates with your accessories.

Do you have enough basic wardrobe pieces?

Basics should make up about 70-80% of the total items in your closet...

What often happens is: you get giddy about new styles and having new clothes at the beginning of the season and over-due it and buy whatever tickles your fancy! With NO plan or idea of HOW you are going to wear those mis-matched items just purchased. You are excited that they are cute, new and somehow you'll figure it out. Not a good plan.

Last year I did a style posting about "One items worn three different ways". It's about taking ONE basic piece from your wardrobe and stretching it to see how many outfits you can make with it. This is the beauty of having a list of wardrobe basics. They are the foundational items that makeup every well-dressed woman's wardrobe. Do you have enough wardrobe basics?

This LBD is perfect for transitioning into fall because it's sleeveless...

Below, you can see I've worn this LBD for fancy occasions...

However, bright pink necklace and shoes + a cream-colored jacket make it more business-friendly...

More often than not, my lifestyle is more casual...gold flats and a gray sweater are perfect with my LBD...



Just to jazz things up, black heeled boots are always fun and sassy w/ my LBD...



Awhile ago I took photos of a gray dress I stretched into many different looks...

This gray sheath is a wardrobe basic that gave so much...I "retired" it from my wardrobe last season.

But here are a couple of ways I wore it. One of my favorite ways to wear this dress was with my off-white sweater from Gap...

My faux-leather motorcycle jacket (last season at Target) gives my basic sheath some style edge...

By adding layers over the top of this sleeveless dress, it appears to be more of a skirt...giving this basic dress even more wear-ability...

Yes! Fewer pieces can make you more stylish....but you got to have 'em in your wardrobe in the first place!

(As I look at these photos it's interesting to me how my style and changed/updated/evolved since taking them.)

Start now and build a good core wardrobe. You will find this is the missing "link" to why your style has not totally come together. If you need a list, I have a fabulous one posted in all the Body Type sections on my site. Fall is HERE! There really is no better time to get stylish!









Do you have "LBD"

Do you have "LBD"?

http://www.anntaylorloft.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=25877&N=1200007&pCategoryId=3359&categoryId=211&Ns=CATEGORY_SEQ_211&loc=TN&defaultColor=Black&defaultSizeType=Regular#

Do you have “LBD”? Is it contagious? Should you take something for it? Nah, it’s not a bad thing, or a disease…actually it is a good thing that MissusSmartyPants wants you to catch! “LBD” is fashion lingo for the timeless classic…a “Little Black Dress”.

Any modern day woman who finds she’s always short on time and cash for clothes-- will find she needs a “Little Black Dress”. It can be an essential part of her wardrobe that comes to the fashion rescue in a pinch! It’s a “wild card” that can be played again and again when you find yourself saying, “I have nothing to wear!”

The popularity of the “Little Black Dress” was credited to the fashion icon, Coco Chanel back in 1926. That year she created a new “flapper” dress that debuted in Vogue Magazine. Back then, her design was considered flashy and shocking because it was a short dress out of a slinky black jersey fabric. A jersey knit was considered underwear fabric and the color black was reserved for funerals and nuns! Thank goodness times have changed!

The instant slimming qualities of the “LBD” alone are enough to make women want an "LBD" in their wardrobes. Black is a wardrobe color many women rely on, and the “LBD” can make you feel sexy like Audrey Hepburn in “A Breakfast at Tiffany’s”. What woman doesn’t want to feel desirable and like a goddess?

With its classic styling, you can never be under-stated or over-dressed. The LBD can rescue you when you find that your “fashionista ways” have taken a back seat to everyday havoc of kids, schedules and a busy life…not to worry!  When you pull out this perennial favorite, your style is saved once again! Think of your black dress as a blank canvas, and you are the artist. With the selection of colors in your accessories you can create your own loo.! This is very very important! Accessorize with colors…have fun here! You can almost never go wrong!

Here’s are ways you can change the look of your “Little Black Dress” for various occasions. Wear it to the office with a cardigan or blazer over the top, add some pearls and classic pumps and you have a conservative, polished look. Then, as quick as you can snap your fingers… you can change the look for an after work cocktail party. Simply change into some strappy heels, lose the cardigan, add dramatic earrings and pull your hair up. Your look has completely changed with the same dress! You will look amazing and no one will ever know it was the same dress!

Do you have a "LBD" (perhaps another color---but a solid color basic dress) in your wardrobe that you can go to in a fashion pinch? Tell me about your "go-to" basic dress and how you make the same dress super-casual to dressy for various occasions....