DRESSING UP Age-rated accents provide festive touch

Accessories can add pizzazz to holiday outfits.
SCRIPPS HOWARD
For children, dressing up for the holidays traditionally involves velvet. A dress or suit jacket in red, kelly green or navy blue velveteen -- it doesn't get more simple than that.
Things get more complicated for adults. There are office parties and dinners to attend. Trends and bodies change, as do personal tastes.
The key is finding that one piece to update your wardrobe, or the perfect outfit that is fashionable and flattering -- and that fits, according to Keith Wagner, a fashion manager in Seattle with Nordstrom.
"You can still wear velvet as an adult, but it's definitely going to be in moderation," Wagner said. "A red velvet scarf or skirt, versus a velvet dress by itself. Women should pair velvet with satin."
Red shoes, boots and handbags are another easy way to accentuate what is already in your wardrobe, Wagner said.
"It's also something you wear all year round," he added.
Flashy touches
As for accessories, experts say just a touch of flash is the way to go.
"Just a little sparkle and understated elegance," said Michael Coan of the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York.
It's also a time to be more playful, according to Nicole Normandin, a belt designer in Los Angeles.
"A belt, a scarf or a hat can be all a woman needs to update what she already owns," said Normandin, whose belt line, Nic Norman, has been worn on TV shows like "Crossing Jordan" and "Gilmore Girls."
But what's playful for a woman in her 20s might look childish for a woman 20 years older.