Festive Season Dressing
A favorite time to get dressed up - and a reminder that you don't need an entirely new holiday party wardrobe (maybe just a fun piece or two!)
It’s the hap, happiest time, of the year! Unless of course, it isn’t. Or, maybe it’s happy but also stressful, and insanely hectic, and you’re busy at work wrapping up the year at a million miles a minute, and your kids are swapping sicknesses around like traders on Wall Street, and you have a filled social calendar, and you’re trying to manage a giant gift list and, you’re tired.
I love the holiday season, but, as I mentioned earlier this week, I am still finding my footing in terms of what we do (and, as important/relevant, what we don’t do), during this very busy time of year.
No matter what, I hope you have something on your calendar to look forward to! As this time of year (really, all times of year, but especially this month!) seems to fly by, I am trying to do one small thing every day that gets or keeps me in the spirit. And lest that statement make you roll your eyes at me and look frantically for the unsubscribe button (please don’t!), let me be clear! This is not some crazy challenge! It’s more about finding a way, big or small, to take note of where we are in the year. To remember that this is the lead-up to Christmas, that this is the ramping down of 2023. To be where my feet are, so to speak.
So far, some of those small things have included: watching a good/bad Christmas movie with my husband when we otherwise might have sat next to each other on the couch and stared at our phones. Taking ONE STRAND of lights out of storage boxes in our basement and hanging them on the window over our kitchen sink while my kids watched and provided creative direction (full decoration is still on the to-do list.) Reading a rom-com novel that takes place at Christmas time (and then, reading another- note this is a BRAD!) Enjoying peppermint in every form possible, including but not limited to: ordering a pump of peppermint syrup in my coffee, buying peppermint stick ice cream at the grocery store, and eating peppermint stick cookie sandwiches. Burning a balsam-scented candal. Wearing a bow in my hair every day.
I’m looking forward to more good/bad Christmas movies (likely enjoyed while wrapping presents!), plus annual viewings of some of our favorite classics (The Holiday, The Family Stone, Home Alone, Love Actually), decorating gingerbread houses, baking Christmas cookies, picking out and decorating our Christmas tree, putting up the rest of our decorations, spending a day in Boston seeing all the festive things, a Favorite Things gift exchange with friends, just to name a few!
Despite that looking like a pretty long list of things I want to do in the next couple of weeks, we don’t have that many major plans on the calendar this year. But, as you all know, I never turn down an opportunity to get dressed up, so I will take advantage of the ability to incorporate festive touches into the outfits that I wear to everything coming up.
If you have browsed the internet, scrolled Instagram, or turned the pages of a catalog recently, then you know that retailers are READY for you to shop for your holiday fits. (Probably, you have already done some of this shopping). Sequins, sparkle, velvet, tartan galore. Bows, fringe, gemstones. I love to look at it all. I love to dream about wearing it all. But I also can’t help but think that so many of the things that I am seeing are single-occasion pieces. I admire them, and I love them, but when I think about what I want to add to my wardrobe (and also, what is most aligned with my style), I want more versatility than a bright red velvet dress with a gigantic bow. Don’t get me wrong, I do love it. But, that doesn’t necessarily mean I’m going to wear it (see: personal style sweet spot). My budget requires more versatility because (sadly, it’s not unlimited) I don’t want to blow it all on one thing that I’m going to wear once and then never want to wear again.
Something that I’ve learned about myself and my style in the recent-ish past is that while I don’t need that many things to get dressed and feel great, and I love a uniform to make getting dressed easier (and honestly to feel the most like myself), I also need to feel like I’m not wearing the same thing every day. So while I might wear my favorite sweater multiple times a week, I’m going to wear it with different pants, shoes, or necklaces. And this applies to holiday dressing. I’m not going to wear the statement dress to every occasion this holiday season, because I’m just not. There are only so many ways to style it. So, I like to look for pieces with a little more versatility. Sometimes, this means I need to reign it in and practice A LOT of discipline. (If that isn’t the story of my life in writing this entire newsletter — I love everything but I can’t have it all, so I’ll show it to you, I don’t know what is!) I love a beautiful dress or a statement blouse - I will save and screenshot a million pieces like that, but I also know that if I’m not careful or thoughtful about the purchase, then it will sit in my closet unworn and that’s a terrible feeling.
Especially, if I am going to spend and not just immediately gravitate towards fast fashion. While I’m not against single-occasion wear pieces (I’ll show you a few examples in the collages below), I think the goal overall is to buy pieces that will be used. A great closet is one that you wear regularly, right?!
When I started to think about how I wanted to write about holiday dressing this year, I decided I wanted to provide a few different ideas for holiday dressing - for how to make your outfit feel special and appropriately festive, but not necessarily go for a full head-to-toe HOLIDAY look. Instead, it’s the type of outfit formulas and pieces that you could wear to any and every event on your calendar - to see Santa Clause, to a rowdy neighborhood party, to a Hannukah celebration, to holiday tea, to see the Pops, to Christmas Eve, to a neighborhood open house, to an intimate dinner with friends, to a school holiday assembly, to your Favorite Things Party. But, then, you can also re-wear the pieces throughout winter (and in some cases, well beyond). And, each time you wear them, the pieces will still feel fresh and fun - combined in different ways that will make your outfit feel fresh and fun, without feeling like you need to buy something new for every occasion.
Before we dive into it - I know there are still so many reasons why you might want to get something really festive and special to wear this season. If I had the right occasion (and an opportunity to get realllyyyy dressed up!), then I would be looking for something like that too. I love the idea of having a really special dress that I pull out and wear to Christmas parties every year (in my mind it’s something like this). But I am in a phase of life where my outfits feel a little simpler and I need more versatility in my closet. That said, there are some amazing FESTIVE HOLIDAY LEWKS out there right now - perfect for big parties, weddings, New Years Eve blowouts - all those things. I saved some great pieces in my ShopMy page. You can also find every item included in the collages below here.
Monochrome with a POP-Y Accessory
Anytime I feel like I don’t know what to wear, I go monochrome. This works for fancy occasions, everyday occasions, and days when all I feel like wearing is sweats. Around the holidays, I like to bring in something that feels a little festive - and you can rotate those pieces out depending on the occasion. Your monochrome look is like a neutral palette that you can add anything you want to - and ensures that you will have the opportunity to let each of the festive pieces in your wardrobe sing, depending on the event! One night you might wear a special pair of heels (bows, sequins, velvet, all are welcome!), another night you might just rock a velvet bow, or you might go for a fun, sparkly statement pair of earrings. These are the types of accessories I like to invest in this time of year because I’ll comfortably re-wear them, and will also look forward to wearing them year over year. Last weekend I went to my town’s holiday house tour with a friend and she showed up wearing the cutest sparkly headband which was perfect. And don’t forget - monochrome could be all black, but it could also be navy, or ivory/creme, or shades of brown!
Layer in your Festivity
Take the base of any outfit (jeans and a bodysuit, a maxi-length skirt with a tank, simple trousers and a tee, even a simple black dress!) that you would regularly wear and add in layers with a festive blazer or sweater. A velvet blazer, a jacket with sequin lapels or collar, or a satin tuxedo jacket make a festive statement but are still pieces you will wear throughout winter. Or, add a fun sweater that has special details, like a pearl collar, or sequins.
Opt for a Matching Set
I adore a matching set. There is something about a head-to-toe coordinated (this one from Reformation is particularly chic!) look that just screams chic. And then, of course, you can get a lot of runway out of wearing the set as separates in addition to matching it all together. I think this is a great way to embrace something on the most overtly festive end of the spectrum, but still get a ton of runway out of it. You can pair the set with any festive accessories - even something as simple as a big gold earring feels fun and special!
Make a Sparkly Statement
So maybe this goes a little bit against my thesis that you don’t need to buy something that is overtly “holiday.” But, as I thought about it more, it’s not that I don’t think we should, it’s that I don’t think we should feel like we HAVE TO. It is very easy for the internet to make you feel like everyone is out there buying something brand new for every occasion and that is normal, but really, it’s not. Buying new things is a luxury! And we’re all operating within a budget, no matter how big or how small - so, I’m trying to offer a POV that is realistic and shows how you might get the biggest bang for your buck, so to speak. So, if you want to make a sparkly statement - DO IT - with a skirt (I scooped this one up from H&M earlier in the year when it was available at 25% off because I knew I would be happy to have it), a feathery top, sequined pants, or a fabulous bag. I think the key here, is to choose ONE STATEMENT PIECE. Then, you mixpair that sparkly/velvet/sequin/feathery single piece with so many of your closet without fails, so that each time you wear it, it will feel fresh and fun!
Black or Navy Dress
If you’re more of a dress gal, then I love a beautiful, classic black or navy dress that feels just a teensy bit festive, and then you can use as your base to add in festive details. I especially find a mini with tights to be just *chefs kiss* for a holiday event!!
I hope you have a wonderful, relaxing, and peaceful holiday. I am so grateful that you are here, and thank you so much for reading.
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