Allison McGevna of Inside Allie’s World on How to Take One Dress from Day to Night

Welcome Allison McGevna, 31, of Inside Allie’s World, who is joining us as our resident curvy-girl style blogger. She was featured in the December/January issue of PEOPLE StyleWatch and contributes her thoughts on finding the perfect outfit to the site each week. This week, she spills on reusing statement pieces in your wardrobe. (And if her items are sold out, we’ve linked to similar styles below — happy shopping!)

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I find myself wearing dresses all the time and then putting something like a shirt or a vest over them. It ends up looking like it’s two totally different pieces from your closet. It’s not only a really good way to get the most bang for your buck, but it keeps our cluttered closets well, a little less cluttered.

The dress I’m remixing this week is an Ashley Stewart Mesh Cutout Skater Dress. It’s definitely a daytime look, and I envisioned it as a garden party kind of feel. It has really beautiful cutouts, and they’re strategically placed. I wanted the daytime look to be really easy and breezy so I kept the accessories to a minimum. I paired the dress with Vince Camuto nude heels to lengthen my legs and make me look taller, which is always something I’m going for. Then I added an Aldo nude clutch (similar style here) to keep it really simple. Because of the high neck of the dress, I didn’t put a necklace with it — it’s such a statement dress I feel like any accessory would kind of be competing with it.

The great thing about a skater dress is that you don’t have to wear shape wear with it because you don’t have to worry about streamlining things and keeping your belly flat. So this is really a great way for women to show a little bit of skin if they’re not in a place where they want to wear a crop top just yet — it’s a safe way to do it. You can still wear your bra and you could wear lighter shape wear with it if you wanted, but the dress doesn’t really need it. This dress definitely works best with a strapless, nude colored bra. What I like to do, because I still have trouble finding strapless bras, is to buy those convertible bras with the clear straps. They’re very 2003, but they work really well, and provided a little bit of lift.

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For the nighttime look, I took the “Pria” Mock Neck Crop Top from Fashion to Figure and put it over the dress. Then I put an Eloquii belt (similar style here) on my waist so you couldn’t see the line of where the top ends. With adding the top, it makes the whole look feel so different. I went for a going out type of vibe, and because this dress has such a high neck, I knew I needed something that would cover the neck up, which is why I chose the mock neck top. I also wanted to complement the graphic cutouts of the dress, and I feel like the belt brought that together well. Choosing a darker color on top (or on the bottom) is a great way to conceal a body part you might not be too crazy about. I paired the nighttime look with these Jimmy Choo shoes (similar style here) that I love — they’re actually my wedding shoes (clearly, I’m a little obsessed with remixing!). My advice to brides is to buy a really nice investment shoe that you can wear for years to come and wear multiple ways, or buy something that’s more affordable that will be just for that night. But these Jimmy Choos were something that I knew I wanted to spend money on, because I knew I wanted to own something where every time I wear it, it’s a reminder of one of the greatest times of my life — and they’re also very wearable!

So this is a great way to make the most out of you wardrobe, especially with a piece like this that’s such a statement dress. It would be hard to wear the dress once and wear it a few weeks later, because people would probably remember it. So this is a great way to switch it up and make one dress look like two completely different pieces.

What do you think of Allie’s remixing advice? What tip do you find the most helpful? Sound off below!