The fashion industry lives off convincing you that you need something new. Which is why it is entertaining when it admits that sometimes you don't - that the same things already hanging in your wardrobe look different if you change just one element. This summer, that element is gold jewellery.

Black dress plus gold. A black dress is a canvas, nothing more. Vintage-inspired earrings lift it for an ordinary walk out, while a few rings, bracelets and chains together carry it to a formal event. Same dress, two different evenings.

Classic shirt and long skirt. A button-down shirt with a satin maxi skirt is cold on its own. Gold gives it warmth and takes it into the office without it reading as a uniform.

Pale yellow co-ord. Pale yellow tones bring out summer skin, and gold amplifies the effect. A chain with coloured stones breaks the monotony when everything else sits in the same shade.

Denim shorts and a statement top. An embroidered or printed top with denim shorts suddenly looks more considered once you add a gold choker, a chunkier bracelet and sandals with gold detailing.

The beach look. Black bikini, linen trousers and sandals - then a gold chain belt, a choker and bracelets that catch the sun and blend into tanned skin.

All in white. White makes the strongest contrast with gold. An Ibiza-style dress with a few gold pieces goes from day to evening without a single new item.

None of these six tips asks you to buy a dress. They ask you to buy jewellery - which is the cheaper way to sell you the same idea. The difference is that gold jewellery genuinely lasts beyond one season, and the dress photographed for that season usually does not.