All dressed up

Want to look stylish in no time? No need to drain your wallet to buy lots of dresses to stuff in your closet.

Dina Midiani, the designer of the ready-to-wear women’s clothing line Chanira, gives some tips on how to experiment and unlock your creative genes for a daily dose of fashion styling through her latest collection.

“Years ago, we might have been stuck into must-have items to dress ourselves, but today, you are freer to mix one outfit with another to get a new look and, surely, to save your money,” says Dina, noting the power of mix and match.

Take a simple dress, which can create different kinds of look, depending on the tops.

• Dress + motif leggings/stockings

Dina takes fashion enthusiasts back to the 1960s and 1980s, offering a combination of multicolored leggings or stockings with geometric and art-deco patterns and pleated dresses — either trapeze-line, low-waist or H-line — in candy colors like blue tosca, shocking pink and neon orange. If you are daring enough, contrast the tone of your dress with leggings or stockings.

• Dress + tops

Bored donning the same old dress for casual events? Dina gives some ideas by teaming up dresses with either long or short-sleeved blouses. You can wear the blouses under the dresses or the other way around.

For a more formal event, you can team up a dark or neutral-colored dress with a tailored jacket, while an asymmetric jacket is more suitable for casual occasions.

• Dress + dress/skirt

Combining two dresses into one look? Why not? Dina suggests mixing a mini-dress with a skirt to give a chic look.

• Long dress + long-sleeved top

The combination of loose long dress, long-sleeved jacket and leggings or slim pants, for instance, can be chic Muslim wear.

• Outfits + fancy accessories

Another way to freshen up your look is by adding some fancy accessories to complete your overall look. Dina created ornate accessories, uniquely made of pieces of rolled cotton tied into one long piece with rosette and casually applied as a belt or necklace layered on your neck.

— Triwik Kurniasari