Dress: Marks & Spencer (*) / Coat: F&F Tesco (*) / Shoes: Next (*) / Bag: Vintage / Earrings: Cinderela B (*) / Belt: Primark / Bracelet: Cinderela B (*)

I don’t know about you, but I unless it’s a very specific event like school leaving ball or graduation ball, that happens once and then never again, I normally don’t buy specific dresses for occasions, because I would probably never get to wear it again. And that totally goes against my get-the-most-wear-out-of-things attitude. I must more prefer buying dresses that depending on makeup, hair and accessories, I can style differently for different occasions.

Clearly Marks & Spencer is exactly on the same wavelength, as they invited me to participate in their “1 Dress, 3 Ways” style challenge. I picked a dark red velvet skater-style number from their dress range as I think it’s quite versatile and velvet is so hot right now (I’m slowly warming to it – it gives me early-90s flashbacks!).

I wanted to show you how this one dress can be ideal for a Christmas or New Year’s Eve party as well as for work as well as for a casual shopping spree. It’s all about what you combine with the dress as you can see. Shoes, coats/jackets, jewellery and bags make all the difference!

Above is the Party Outfit – I used gold accessories like the belt and jewellery and my favourite faux fur coat and those cute glittery pumps to glam it up.

Here’s how I would wear the dress to work – this time combining the red wine of the velvet dress with yellow coloured items like that blazer for a more elegant and smart touch.

Dress: Marks & Spencer (*) / Blazer: H&M / Earrings: Vivienne Westwood / Bag: Matalan (*) / Boots: New Look (*) / Belt: Primark / Scarf: Bershka (*)

I really love this blazer, I’ve worn it in so many outfits! I think it’s probably my personal purchase of the year!

Here’s how I would wear the velvet dress for a casual shopping spree or day out, just with a parka and my massive new killer heels that I got at The Clothes Show Live that Echo Falls invited me to.

Dress: Marks & Spencer (*) / Coat: Next (*) / Shoes: Oxygen Footwear / Necklace: New Look

You see that you can ‘recycle’ dresses for different occasions. It just takes a bit of outside the box thinking and a few bits and pieces of accessories to make it work! Try it yourself, pick an item and style it different ways – it’s super easy and you’ll get so much more value for your money!