[Welcome to Celebrity Chic on the Cheap, where our style guru takes a celebrity look and breaks it down for you, our poor college fashionista. What does that mean? It means that while the celebrities (like child-star turned fashion designer, Ashley Olsen) are spending $5,000 on an ensemble, you don’t have to.]

After disappearing for a hot second post-High School Musical, Ashley Tisdale reappeared this fall on the (completely underrated, totes hysterical) CW show Hellcats. Of course, she fills the role of a catty, ferocious, ambitious performer with ease (would you expect anything different the girl who brought Sharpay to life so perfectly?) Her personal style, however, is a lot more laidback, playful, and reflects a bubbly, adventurous personality.

And after seeing her don this look that is what I like to call hobo-chic, I wasted no time finding a cheaper alternative for myself.

Product Info: Sweater – Victoria’s Secret, $29; Slip Dress - Ebay, $19.50; Tights – DSW, $9.95; Boots – DSW, $39.99; Necklace – Forever 21, $5.80; Cross-body Bag – Charlotte Russe, $18.50.

I love all shades of red, and this deep raspberry sweater is so rich and luscious with a loose, laidback shape. Paired with a frilly white slip dress, the oversized sweater hits the dress right at the lovely ruffled skirt, creating a fun silhouette. Lace tights are one of the hottest winter trends (need I explain why? Have you ever seen a pair that was less than orgasmic? Didn’t think so). Ashley chose an animal print bag to accompany her ensemble, and I decided to take it a step further and find a sequined bag, because a little sparkle never hurt anyone. A thin, multi-strand beaded necklace is a delicate, but still funky addition. Then to balance out the super girliness of the rest of the outfit are some toughened up motorcycle boots.

Rock a look like this when you’re out and about in your hometown during winter break and make all those girls who hated you in high school seethe at how effortlessly fashionable you are (and maybe catch that pre-calc cutie’s eye in the process).

Get more celebrity looks for less here.

We all have that friend who can wear the same dress over and over and over again, but each time it somehow looks new. Or different. Or cooler. “I wish I could do that,” you think as you stare at your dress and think that by wearing different shoes you will somehow achieve a whole new look.

FAIL FAIL FAIL, my friends.

Fact is, in order to make a dress look new and different you must change all components surrounding it. If you wore tights and heels last time, wear leggings and flats this time around. If you rocked red lipstick before, do a smokey eye and a muted lip. Add accessories, switch out the belt that came with it for a new chunky detailed belt, throw on a blazer…

Think about that piece in your wardrobe like your favorite fro yo place with an add-your-own-toppings bar: Oreo makes everything better the options are endless!

I know it can be a bit overwhelming (lord knows you can’t pile everything on top of a cotton tee like I pile on every. single. topping at Yogurtland), so let me help. As an example I took one simple gray conservative-ish looking dress and broke it down into 3 totally different, totally awesome Budget Stylista ensembles.

Look #1: Rocker Chic
Throw some lace, patterned or colored tights into the mix with a leather jacket. Add some rocker chain earrings and a pair of sky high platform pumps and this dress just laughed in the face of Hilary Clinton’s conservative pantsuits.

Dress: American Apparel
Lace tights: Apostrophe by Sears
Black leather jacket: Urban Outfitters
Black heels: Forever 21
Chain Earrings: Stella & Dot

Look #2: Casual With a Twist
Take that gray dress and work it for daytime with a pair of leggings and some adorable flat booties. Add a little touch of sparkle with a fun headband and make it more Fall-appropriate with a cozy scarf. If you wanna add more layers, slip on a long cardigan and you’ll be comfy and put-together.

American Apparel Dress
Black leggings: Forever 21
Headband: Forever 21
Flat booties: Yup, you guessed it, Forever 21
Scarf: Urban Outfitters

Look #3: Day or Night Glam
I love the option of this over the knee boot because you can rock it high or fold it down! Hide the tie that comes with the dress under this sequined belt (or put the belt on over the sweater in place of the cardigan tie), throw on black opaque tights and the beret and you are good to go! You can wear this for day (especially those days when your hair is dirty but you don’t want anyone to know) or trade the cardigan for a vodka soda and hit the town at night.

American Apparel Dress
Detailed Belt: Urban Outfitters
Chunky Cardigan: Old Navy
Black Tights: Hue (the best tights in the business, fo sho)
Over the Knee Boot: Forever 21 (these bad boys are a steal compared to the hundreds you’d pay elsewhere!)
Black beret/beanie: Forever 21

And even better:  your faux fur look can be faux expensive. There are tons of options out there right now from Target to Urban that are trendy and cheap. For the total Zoe look, pair the vest with a giant Starbucks tea, huge sunglasses and act as if the smallest hiccups in life are the beginning of the end of the world (oh, and obviously don’t forget to throw in a couple of “I Die’s”  every 3 minutes).

But for those of us who like the look but not the RZ-emo, rock the vest with a toned down ‘fit because the fur is a total statement. And Rachel Zoe fan or not – you will look ba-nanas.

Here are some of my favorite faux-fur and totally luxe pieces around:

For a casual, pulled-together look for day, pair a vest with some basic, easy pieces and you’re good to go:

All that fur is gonna give you some bulk, so a fitted bottom – like a skinny jean or legging – will slim your silhouette. Then pick a basic tee for layering (neutrals like brown, grey, black or white work best!). Slip into a neutral flat boot for day, or punch it up a bit with a taller, sexier bootie and you’ve got yourself a look worthy of the RZ stamp of approval.

Or pair over a loose basic solid dress, opaque tights and boots for something a little more going-out appropriate:

The mixture of fabric and textures in this look gives new life to the basic-black ensemble. Plus, the vest is just fierce so you don’t want to add anything that will detract from it.

So it’s Friday night. You need to get ready and you spent far too long watching GLEE on your DVR and chatting with your roommate about the best mode of communicating with your crush tonight. Text? G-chat? BBM? You just don’t know! And now you have – uh – 20 minutes to get I-look-damn-good ready.

Enter from stage left, MAJOR problem: you are oh-so-sick of wearing a black dress with black tights and black shoes and a black bag. “Wouldn’t it be so nice if I had a style genie that could just pop in and show me ways to rock my plain black dress with, like, 3 different looks and 8 different trends for the season?” you think to yourself while sighing in front of your drab looking frock. Life is so hard sometimes.

Well call me a mind reader, call me a genie, call me amazing – I will answer to all. Because I have done just that for you (I know, I’m great).

From lace to leopard there are TONS of options to spruce up that ordinarily dark, boring ensemble of yours. Not to mention it’s a much better way than falling all over yourself while dancing on the tabletops to stick out a bit from the other 9,999 chicks dressed in solid black as well.

So here we go: One Dress, 3 looks, 8 different trends to rock with it.

The Essential Black Mini Dress

Look #1- Lace & Sequins & Jewels

Lace tights

Sequin peep toe

Jeweled Bracelet

Look #2 Leathers and Studs and Booties, OH MY

Studded leather jacket

Bootie

Black tights

Look #3 Leopard Print
Pick a shoe, cardigan or bangle (for the love of all animals, NOT all together)
Fabulous red lipstick optional!

Footwear

Cardigan
(This woman has it layered over another animal print sweater. Why? I do not know. Trust me, this will look chic over a black dress.)

Bracelets