Going to go out to dinner or a movie with your significant other right after work? You want to feel special, but don’t have time to run home and primp? Take my advice, and all you’ll need to do is three simple things to go from work to WOW in just a few minutes.

First things first!

First, plan ahead and wear a dress that is both work appropriate, yet figure flattering like the Susana Monaco dress that I found at one of our Goodwill Store & Donation Centers for only $6.99! Our model Mandie is a busy professional make-up artist and model, who also works for a fitness company part time. Her brown slouchy sweater, black tights, and brown wedge heeled boots worked perfectly for our “daytime” look. A simple amber beaded necklace was all it needed to add a little impact.

Daytime hair

Our make-up artist and hairdresser Michaelgina from www.beautymilwaukee.com decided to go for a topknot for her daytime look since she has long hair. Let’s get started with the three easy steps to transform our model and entrepreneur Mandie for her night out!

 1) Loosen the bun, hun!

Michaelgina took out the high bun on top of her head. The bonus here is that we’ll simply let the long loose romantic waves do their own thing while giving them a light spritz of hairspray for hold and shine. Next she applied a garnet red lipstick for a dramatic pout.

2) Add some edge!

Remove the brown slouchy sweater and add ankle-strap black heels and a cropped black leather jacket. Black leather is always a great way to get an up-to-the-minute look with almost any dress. It gives the color a chance to pop, and adds some “edge” to the look too.

3) Layer the glam!

Layer on the accessories! This is by far the way to take a plain fitted dress and make it go glamorous! We used a simple Ralph Lauren gold chain belt to accent her waistline, and then piled on some cool bracelets in gold to give that feeling of high fashion. Last but not least, we ditched her amber beaded necklace, and opted for a “wild” panther necklace in gold with black rhinestone details. It’s fun and funky, and really brings the focus up to her pretty face!

And, there you have it!

You could bring your change of shoes, jacket, and accessories to work with you and simply change there before heading out for your big night just like our model. Make sure to always scan the dress racks at our Goodwill Store & Donation Centers for name brand designer dresses, like the one I found, that have simple silhouettes that are easy to dress up or down. My next stop would be our coats and blazers rack to find a simple jacket like the one shown here. They never go out of style and they always add a nice impact to any outfit. Now you know how a professional stylist approaches and puts together the fashionable looks you see in magazines and online, and trust me, if I can do it, so can you!