Stop Saving Your Fancy Pieces, Dress Them Down

How to get more wear out of your dressiest pieces

There are pieces in most people’s closets that only come out for special occasions. They hang there all lonely, waiting to be chosen. I am picturing our clothes as the toys from Toy Story, just waiting to be played with.

This post is about changing that. We are here to give you dressy pieces some more life.

Think of a fancy skirt the way you'd think of a great pair of jeans. You can pair it with just as much, and the shape is often even more flattering. A sweater, a tee, a belt, a tote. The only thing standing between you and actually wearing it is the story you've told yourself about what it's for.

Casual and dressy are rarely about one specific item. It’s almost always the styling that decides the direction. The goal is what stylists call de-occasioning. Which is just taking the pieces you typically reserve for nighttime or special events and pulling them into your …