Circular, voluminous skirts always seemed to look better on the hangers than they did on me - that is, until I learned the rules for wearing a skirt with volume. Unless you're looking to accentuate your hips, you're going to want to take note of these three simple guidelines.

Rule #1: Highlight only one part of your body at a time. Because you are centering your outfit around a skirt with some volume, you're going to want to keep your top simple and streamlined. Try this top (pictured at left) from Eddie Bauer.com. A thin cotton and angora blend, this v-neck, solid colored sweater won't compete for attention with your skirt and will help create the sleek silhouette you're going for.

Rule #2: Don't go bare-legs when you're wearing winter clothing! I'm from Texas, so believe me when I say that I understand wearing flip-flops all the way through February. However, if you're going to dress up in cold-weather clothing, make sure your ENTIRE outfit agrees, including hosiery/stockings. As a natural evolution from the summer-leggings trend, opaque stockings have taken over as the footwear of choice for this fall and winter. Darker colored stockings also help disguise winter-white legs and are generally a more slimming option than nude or sheer hosiery.

Rule #3: Footwear is important. Boots feel like the natural choice for dressing up a winter circular skirt, but this isn't always the case. Depending on the length and shape of your skirt, adding boots to the outfit may make you look too bottom-heavy. A safe bet for skirt-friendly footwear is to pair a round-toed pump with your skirt, sweater, and stockings combo. This way you'll not have to worry about the dreaded pear shape and you'll also visually lengthen your legs by not breaking up your natural lines with a bulky boot.