It’s that time of year when you may have many holiday party invitations sitting on your table and the first thing on your mind is…  what will I wear?  With the expense of holiday shopping and entertaining, its unrealistic to run out and buy a whole new outfit for every event.  At the same time, you can’t wear the SAME outfit for all of these events, can you?  Well… maybe!  By starting with a simple black cocktail dress you can mix and match your way through all of those parties.  Here are a few simple ideas to change up this look.

Lets start with the dress first…  I found this simple strapless black cocktail dress by LC Lauren Conrad at Kohl’s for under $35.  I am sure you can find a similar dress anywhere, but I thought this was a steal! 

 My first suggestion… keep it simple.  I love black and red together for the holiday season.   You can pair this dress with a great pair of red pumps like these Fitzwell Lana II Patent Leather pumps that I found on Zappos.com for $65.00.  Add a chunky red choker necklace like this one I found on Kohl’s for $16.08 and you are set for a simple but stand out look. 

 For a more casual look, find a silver or gray shrug sweater to wear over this dress and add a long silver necklace like this one from Ann Taylor Loft to add a little sparkle.  I found this LC Lauren Conrad Cocoon Sweater at Kohl’s for $45.  This is a piece that can be worn later with jeans or slacks, as well. 

Lastly, add a little sparkle to your dress with this sequin tie front cardigan from INC at Macy’s.com.   This piece can be found at Macy’s.com for $79.00.  Again, this is a versitle piece that can be worn with black dress pants, as well.  Also, the sparkle of the sweater eliminates the need to add many accessories, if any. 

As you can see, many different looks can be made with a simple black cocktail dress.  You may even have many of these add-ons in your exisiting closet, so make sure you shop there first!