Kristina does the Internets: How to Dress Down a Party Dress

Dress (no longer available in velvet but here it is in black crepe, the green and blue versions are currently 40% off!!) - CeCe / Sweater (similar) - Loft / Boots - Kaitlyn Pan / Earrings (similar metallic earrings, or budget option) - Charming Charlie / Watch - Wristology / Bag (similar) - Coach Factory

Tell me if you have this problem.

You look in your closet and have nothing to wear, yet there's a whole section of "event dresses" that have only been worn once to a party or a wedding.

Anyone else?

I've been trying to be better about the re-wear, but after a while I tend to get stuck - after all, now that we're out of the never-ending wedding funnel (the year we got married we had eleven to attend!!) there are fewer reasons to get dressed up.

I bought this dress for the holidays and wore it for our photo shoot in Paris, but besides the one dressy holiday party we went to I didn't have another reason to wear it. So, it was time to dress it down!

There are a couple of things you can do to easily dress down a fancy dress:

Choose casual accessories. For a formal occasion I would have picked a fancier bag, but with this casual cross-body and a fun watch this outfit veers towards daytime.
Layer up! Look for ways to incorporate other pieces into your outfit, whether it's with a cozy cardigan, a tee shirt or turtleneck layered under your dress, or a casual jacket, adding another piece can tone down the formality of your dress.
Ditch the heels. By choosing OTK boots instead of heels here, I took the dress into fun territory, good for daytime or a fun night out with friends. Plus, they're so much warmer for these Chicago winter days!

I've worn this combo out to a bar with friends, for running errands, and for a casual dinner date with Jeff, meaning I've gotten a ton more wear out of my fancy holiday dress than I thought I would!

So tell me, would you dress down a fancy dress? Any tips I missed?