When the invitation to a party to celebrate Monica Pope's 50th birthday and 20th year in the restaurant business asked guests to dress "cocktail cool," Charmaine Wilson knew exactly what to wear for the early evening spring event at Sparrow Bar + Cookshop to benefit Making It Better.

She paired a nifty white blouse from Melodrama, form-fitting gray Joe Jeans and tan wedgies from Nordstrom, dangling earrings and bracelet from Sam Moon, and a Charles Jourdan purse from Neiman Marcus. She accented the ensemble with a pair of red glasses from Walmart. "I change my glasses regularly based on my outfit," she said.

Wilson, a research laboratory manager in the Department of Pathology Research at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, likes to dress with flair outside the workplace. 

"I don’t like to look like everyone else," she said. "I like to add color and little pizzazz in the things I wear.

"I don’t believe that you have to have an overabundance of clothes; you just need pieces that stand out and show your personality. Once you mix and match them with some simple basics, then I think you’re good."

— CLIFFORD PUGH