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"While some are beholden to the almighty handbag and others fetishize footwear, me, I&amp;amp;#8217;m a sucker for pretty party dresses. Impractical as they may be, I&amp;amp;#8217;ve never met a ruffled, lace-covered, or vintage-feeling frock that I didn&amp;amp;#8217;t like. (Especially if they&amp;amp;#8217;re on sale!) But as my social calendar isn&amp;amp;#8217;t exactly filled with all-night ragers these days (more like lots of QT with the laptop and low-key dinners with friends) I&amp;amp;#8217;ve had to figure out a few ways to make my cocktail dresses work during daylight hours. Read on for my 3 fail-proof tricks. Me, in our Glamour offices, in my fancy-ish Banana Republic dress ($70 on sale), Gap cardigan ($40 last season), vintage belt (free!), and Newport News heels ($30). All good deals, right? 1. Skip the bling and add a quirky belt instead. To keep my Banana Republic floral silk dress from looking too bridesmaid-y, I added a wide belt from--get this--my grandmother&amp;amp;#8217;s closet! The unexpected combo works because both the dress and the belt share the same dark brown hue, but a fun hot pink or navy belt could also do the trick. 2. Toss on a boring cardigan. There&amp;amp;#8217;s no better way to dial down a dressy outfit than with a simple, solid-color cardigan. (Wear a fancy or embellished cover-up and folks will ask if you&amp;amp;#8217;ve got a hot date after work.) I love this lightweight gray one I got at the GAP months ago because it falls at my hip&amp;amp;#8212;which makes me look a little bit taller! 3. Slip on some serious heels. I don&amp;amp;#8217;t mean sky-high stilettos&amp;amp;#8212;those are for when you want to up the glamour factor on a big night out. No, I mean some serious-looking heels. These librarian-worthy platforms are my favorite fall find so far: Newport News suede platform oxford heels that I got for $30 bucks! What do you think? Do these styling tricks make that dress look less fancy? Would that be an OK outfit to wear to your workplace? Why or why not? Got any dressing-down style tricks? "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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