recently had a birthday (thank you!), and, accordingly, required the perfect party dress. I bought a flattering black lace frock I'd had my eye on at the Newbury Street vintage store where I work, The Closet. But after the celebrating was over, and coming as I do from a consignment mentality (wear it a few times, consign it, get something you like better) I felt it would be a faux pas to wear my frock again.

I am also a huge proponent of the "cost-per-wear" strategy, however, and I strive to get mileage out of my clothes, even if it's more tempting to buy something new.

My friend Thais is always perfectly turned out. She maintains that it's a lot of fun trying to style a piece again, using her creativity to wear it in a way that it looks different from the way it looked the first time. This is great advice.

For some silly reason, a special-occasion dress begs to be just that: something worn once or twice, then relegated to the back of the closet. Rare is the fancy dress that can survive a single black-tie event, let alone five. Like the gown I loaned to a coworker for so many weddings, for example, that I ended up just giving it to her. She just kept changing her jewelry and shoes, and—voila!—it felt new.

Freshening up a little black dress is easy to do with accessories, and, for this, Artifaktori in Davis Square is a gold mine. From huge cocktail rings and clip-on earrings to vintage hats, clutches, and belts, it has whatever you might need to revive your wardrobe in a single visit. "If it's a really good dress and brings you joy," owner Amy Berkowitz says about our fear of repetition, "who cares what other people think?"

Or how many times they've seen it.

Off the Rack

Check out Zape, at 1195 Chestnut St. in Newton Upper Falls. Opened by a father-and-teenage-son team, the shop is an urban hipster boutique designed to resemble an old-fashioned five-and-dime store and carries classic toys, custom Ts, and other apparel including tie-dyed merchandise, hoods, baseball caps, and an exclusive line of women's jeans from Brazil.