FESTIVE FASHIONS Accents can spice up styles for the season

You don't need a whole new wardrobe for the holidays.
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
Now really, how much are you willing to spend on a holiday wardrobe?
After all, in a few weeks when the office parties, client dinners, family gatherings, nightclub events and worship celebrations have significantly slacked off, do you really, really need a separate closet full of sparkly clothes?
Unless you're playing the big room in Vegas, of course not. Chances are you can simply dress up existing pieces in your closet to don your gay apparel.
"You can put some life back into that little black dress or even a suit you wore to work and move it into evening and to a more dressed-up look with some accessories," says Melissa Goff, fashion director for Burdines stores. "The big things this season are chokers and chandelier earrings. Also in the jewelry category you may want to try a big bling-bling ring. If you can't afford the real thing, then try cubic zirconia, which has improved a great deal since it first came on the market years ago."
Goff says pearls (in all lengths) and necklaces that spell out the wearer's initials (spotted everywhere from "Sex and the City" to the Source Awards) are also popular ways to dress up outfits for the holiday season.
Colorful
"And colorful handbags -- whether it's high color with lots of brights or low color with deep, rich shades -- are great for taking that suit into evening," Goff says.
"With shoes we're seeing lots of ankle straps, sandals and, of course, the high heel. High heels make you taller, sexier and your legs look better. There's a lot of ornamentation on shoes with jewels, rhinestones and beads. Patent leather is coming in with a mod feel. Of course black is the favorite color, but silver and red are hot this season. Those colors in shoes can totally change the look of that dress."
Jewel tones and metallics are traditional holiday fave raves. But rouge hues are particularly red-hot with ready-to-wear this year.
Seeing red
"Red is so hot this season," says South Florida designer Craig Signer. "Even if women don't have red in their wardrobe now they can add to it with a shawl, gloves, belt or shoes.
"We are offering red beaded belts and evening bags, as well as these very cool drawstring organdy silk shawls that look great on a simple dress they may already have in their closet. Sheer and shine will take an outfit to a new high. We make a sheer organdy swing jacket in different lengths that women can order in any color and add to any outfit. It looks great with pants, dresses or gowns."
Signer, who designs for Bette Midler, Gloria Estefan, Jon Secada and Jane Leeves, says women can also take existing cocktail dresses, evening columns and ball gowns and alter the look at a fraction of the cost of buying a new garment.
"I think it's great to take a simple dress or even a simple tee and have it beaded, add ruffles to the collar, sleeves or hemlines. We have another customer from London who bought his wife one of our simple red slip gowns with sheer georgette sleeves. He then sent us a diamond and ruby Cartier necklace with matching double bracelets that we added to the gown for her Christmas gift. Not everyone has that kind of husband -- no matter how we try -- but the idea is adding the holiday sparkle."
Cosmetics
And that doesn't mean just your clothes. Makeup manufacturers always add shine, sheen and sparkle to holiday cosmetic collections.
Prescriptives is introducing All That Glitters, a shimmer powder to highlight eyes, cheeks and even d & eacute;colletage with a golden glow. Yves Saint Laurent Beaute is going for a frosted crystalline palette in iridescent silver, slate-gray, diamond white and milky pink tones. Shiseido this month launched Shimmering Sensations, a line of lip glosses and nail lacquers in gold and silver glitter hues.
"Going to parties, you want to have some fun with your makeup," says Tina Davis, a stylist with j.a.n.e. Cosmetics. "It's not the same feel as the rest of the year. It's more festive with all the glitter and shine that goes with the season."
But does all that shimmer work on mature women or women of color? Yes, says Susan Yee of Zhen Cosmetics.
"I'm in my 40s and I love glitter and sparkle," Yee says. "But I tend to do more shimmery rather than glittery."
As for women with ethnic skin tones, Yee suggests a rule of thumb: "The darker the skin, the darker the colors you can go with. There's nothing wrong with wearing red; it's the kind of red you wear. Women of color might want to look at a red with more of a brown base. You don't want an orangey red."