Addison Montgomery from 'Private Practice'

Just how does a woman survive when she leaves McDreamy? If you're talking about Addison Montgomery of Private Practice, airing Wednesdays on ABC, the answer is "quite well, thank you."

The nice thing about picking up your life and starting over is that it gives you carte blanche to reinvent yourself. And while Addison may not have totally reinvented herself by rejoining her friends from medical school, she certainly upgraded her wardrobe. Perhaps the prescription for style was as simple as leaving Seattle for the sunny skies of Santa Monica. No matter what the reason, her style is as smart and pointed as she is.

Take, for example, her choice in dresses. Regardless of the color, fabric or neckline, her dresses are clean, uncompromising and beautifully structured. Of course, it helps that she's operating on a doctor's salary, because her taste tends to lean toward the subdued side of Versace. In a recent episode she wore a stunning sheath dress from the Italian label in olive linen featuring a scoop neckline and an even more dramatic scoop in the back. It also had a matching belt with an accordion elastic backing. Proving just how much she loves this dress is the fact that she has another Versace in the exact same cut, but in a beautiful tulip print in ramie rather than linen. With it she works a pair of Ensue opalescent patent sandals from Via Spiga in ocean.

Of course, in the field of medicine, things don't always go as planned, so the functionality of a black dress should never be taken for granted. And Addison has a perfect little black dress that can go from morning to late night with an ease of sophistication and minimalism. Her Oscar de la Renta trompe l'oeil bow dress has a classic silhouette featuring the aforementioned trompe l'oeil bow detail, front pockets and panel insets that really turned our favorite doctor into an elegant showstopper. The dress can be found at Net-A-Porter.com. She mixed the look with a pair of Jimmy Choo black leather Secret grommet pumps and a rectangular gold-link bracelet from J. Crew.

One of her more interesting choices is a retro selection from Milly, available at Bloomingdale's. The black and tan Doris Day features basket weave print and contrasting neckline, waistline and pockets. It's sleeveless and has a pencil skirt cut, front pockets with buttons and a slight V neckline. It's subdued and whimsical at the same time and works beautifully with Manolo Blahnik patent leather Mary Janes.

And while we've heard it said that it never rains in Southern California, the truth is, man, it pours. And Dr. Montgomery sports a wonderful trench coat from Burberry on those days. It has a full, feminine skirt and exaggerated collar along with its classic double-breasted approach, back shield with button, side pockets, buckled belt, belted tabs at the cuffs and back vent.

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