Many of you probably saw that earlier this month I wore Stephen’s grandma, Missy’s, dress to a wedding! It was actually the dress that she wore to my wedding last year–so fun right?! After seeing me in Missy’s dress, one of my sister’s texted me saying that I should do a blog post on how to style things for different occasions, and how certain pieces can work with a variety of ages. And a good amount of you seemed to be interested in this topic as well so I figured let’s do it!

So in terms of styling pieces for different occasions, you want to consider how dressy the event is, what the location is, and what season is it. I feel like these are the main things I always think of. The wedding I went to was black tie optional so I knew I could wear something pretty formal or more along the lines of cocktail attire. It was also in Long Island, NY at a country club so the overall vibe of the wedding seemed more formal (compared to some other weddings I’ve been too). When considering the season–the length, color and pattern are all things to I take into account. I originally thought of wearing a navy dress but since the wedding was in May I ended up wanting to wear a lighter color. If this was a winter wedding, I may have opted for Missy’s exact dress but in a navy, burgundy, or black and I think that would be much more appropriate. So even though the style is the same, I feel like depending one the season you want to be more conscious of the color you opt for. I mean, you can never go wrong with black but I wouldn’t wear a floral  print or spring pastel during fall or winter. In terms of the length, I tend to think shorter for spring and summer but since the event was black tie optional I gravitated towards something floor length since it would give a more formal feel. So these are just a few things I consider when styling something for an occasion!

When thinking of age, I think a lot of pieces can look totally different depending on the overall fit. For example, Missy’s dress was more form fitting and overall tighter on me than she when she worn it. Also, when I moved, I definitely showed more midriff where the dress never showed her stomach even though it’s a two piece set. So those differences in itself make the dress look different, but appropriate and versatile for both age groups. Another thing to think about is overall length. Some dresses may be a very similar style, but if you’re older you may opt for a dress that are more of a midi length versus above the knee. Midi lengths are super versatile because they can transition through the various seasons and can be form fitting or more loose and flowy!

Below is a photo of Missy in the dress as well as myself so you can see how it looks different, but works for both of us!

I love this photo of her!!

Another thing that can be difficult is finding ways to repurpose the same dress for different occasions. If you guys are like me, once I’ve worn a dress to one occasion, I don’t want to wear it again to another occassion later that summer (or even the next year hehe #guilty). One thing to help with this is to choose dresses that are very versatile in terms of color and style and then focus more on your accessories to differentiate it. Each time if you have the focus more on your accessories, you won’t have to worry about buying a new outfit for each occasion. Having a couple staple black (or any darker color) dress is great because so many different shoes, clutches, or jewelry can go with it. I would also opt for some more neutral colored dresses that are lighter in color to have for those spring and summer occasions. Aside from dresses, jumpsuits are another great option. These can be more casual if you pair them with sandals during the day, but you can also dress them up with a pair of heels. They are super comfortable, and are usually pretty simple in terms of style and design, so you can really just focus on the accessories in order to dress it up or down. Also, another great option are websites like Rent The Runway. I’ve personally never used their site before but have had girlfriends try it and have really loved it. If you’re not familiar with the service, you basically can rent different dresses or other pieces of clothing for a limited period of time. This way, you can wear a really nice dress for an occasion but not pay full price for something that you’d only be wearing one time anyway!

I went ahead and linked some of my favorite staple dresses and jumpsuits! All of these would be great options to have in your closet for a variety of occassions! (Also, this dress I’m wearing is BCBG but last season so I couldn’t find it for you guys–sorry!! xx)

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