Every wardrobe needs a little black dress — preferably one that you can dress down during the day with a cardigan and low heels then transform it at night with your favorite clutch and bolder accessories. And that is exactly what Gwenyth Paltrow recommends in this week’s edition of GOOP. I recently subscribed to her weekly newsletter featuring Gwenyth’s favorite recipes, museum exhibit recommendations, fashion, and general suggestions for healthy living. Any advice that I can get from this classically elegant woman is good enough for me…

SHIFT DRESS: This is how Gwenyth transforms a simple black shift dress. Start with the garment first by tailoring it to suit your body. Being somewhat of a giant (6′ tall), garments often do not fit my body straight off the rack. I take them to my sweet tailor down the road who tucks, pulls, and lengthens my pants and dresses. Here Gwenyth snips 3 inches off the length of her Shell Kare shift dress to personalize it and make it her own. Simply by changing the belt from a satin sash to a more casual chunky leather belt she has achieved two different looks.

And now to the knee-length dress (my favorite)…

KNEE-LENGTH DRESS: This classic knee-length dress is more my style. Gwenyth transforms the Topshop Unique dress from a night look with gladiator style shoes to a more casual affair with a simple grey cardigan and leather belt. To amp up Look 1, I personally would add dangling earrings and a cocktail ring.

And here are some of my picks for little black dresses, scarves, shoes, and accessories…

The Tadashi black ruched dress is probably the most formal but you could dress it up or down with a skinny metallic belt or a wide red belt. The Design History black merino wool cowl neck would be great for winter — bring on the boots and leggings! And I just had to show you Nicole Miller’s boat neck because every dress of hers just fits so perfectly. Plus I find the neckline to be the most flattering.

Look no further than J Crew for cardigans. I love the preppy look of the aqua colored cardigan and belt but the ruffles are to die for.

Nico Reilly wore the two middle cocktail rings on an episode of Lipstick Jungle. J Crew’s sparkle ring would also work well with any of the little black dresses and I wear my Scarlett tassle-like earrings often for an evening look.

And shoes, well, I will have to leave that for another post because I could be here for hours trying to decide. The reason being is that you can just about where any shoes in any color, pattern, or heel height that you wish. That’s the beauty of the little black dress! You cannot go wrong with your shoe selection.

Image credits: GOOP, J Crew, Bluefly, Bandelle, and NBC