I have been looking through fashion magazines and on websites at the new Fall offerings recently, and have noticed a heavy lean toward an entirely black outfit, from head to toe.

While that is a nice, clean, look that I would have embraced back in high school when I used to sit and listen to the Cure in a darkened room, nowadays, I like a bit of color. In fact, I think most of us like a little variety in our wardrobes. It’s very easy to incorporate some color while still keeping the overall outfit black.

Throw on a brightly colored coat over the black outfit:

Above: B.B. Dakota Coat found at Lulus.com.

Add a bright t-shirt as a foundation piece and make it the burst of color in your outfit:

Above: LnA tee found at Bluefly.com.

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Rachel Bilson has an enviable sense of style. Despite her diminutive height, she managed to outshine the taller and more well-known Mischa Barton at every turn during The OC days. Rachel’s made dressing for her body into a work of art–nearly every photo of her belies the fact that she barely caps 5′1”-and-a-half. Proportion, style and a bit of quirkiness thrown in for good measure seem to be her trademarks, and those are definitely admirable trademarks for any amateur fashionista to follow.

I’ve taken three of Rachel’s distinctive looks and come up with affordable, look-a-like pieces you can buy and wear without maxing out multiple credit cards.

The LBD (”little black dress”) is something that every woman—no matter what she tells you—has at her disposal, awaiting a chubby day, a bad day, a rainy day or the ever-popular, “I’ve got nothing to wear day,” which is exceedingly common in my own home.

A LBD can be elegant, but can also translate just as fast to plain-old boring. How many times have you put on a black dress and added accessories or sweaters or switched up your handbag to try (try so hard!) to look different?

The best mode of action, as Rachel displays effortlessly here, is to pair your LBD with flowing hair, minimal jewelry and standout shoes. Yellow, red, purple or perhaps a color-blocked pair of pumps, but whatever you do, don’t wear black shoes with a black dress to any sort of fun party, because really, it’s not a funeral. It’s not.

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