It’s been a funny old Christmas, hasn’t it? None of the parties, none of the festivities. There were no impromtu drinks in the pub that accidentally went on till 3 in the morning, no kisses under the mistletoe or enthusiastic, drunken hugs. Our celebrations had to be kept small, just dancing in our kitchens and gatherings on Zoom. This was upsetting for lots of reasons, of course – not seeing family and friends was really tough, and as someone who has always seen the run up to Christmas as the best part, not being able to go to parties, or even just to the pub, was a bitter pill to swallow. But it also posed a sartorial problem for me. Well, I don’t know if you could really call it a ‘problem’. In the grand scheme of 2020 this would not even register on the scale of crapness (yes, I’m sure that’s a word…) But it bothered me none the less. Because Christmas is my favourite time of year – not just for the general merriment, but for the dressing up opportunities it brings. Those who have followed me for a while will know that evening wear is hands down my favourite style choice – I never feel better about myself than when dressed to the nines in something glitzy, and Christmas normally brought with it oodles of excuses to do just that. Would facing a festive period without socialising – or at least the kind that showed more than just the shoulders up of your outfit – mean that all my prettiest and sparkliest pieces were doomed to spend another year languishing at the back of the wardrobe? Would I have to spend most of December wearing, **shudder**, leisure wear…??
Well, no. I decided early on that this wouldn’t – nay, couldn’t – be the case. Lockdown had already stolen so much from me, I would not allow it to take the joy out of getting dressed too! It would be tricky, finding ways to work a giant, flouncy skirt when there was nowhere to go other than to walk the dog through the mud swamp that surrounded our village, but I would do it. Because the sequins deserved it. Also for all the reasons I laid out in this post back in the Summer when I naively thought we were just about through the worst of it (LOLZ!!) But mainly because of the sequins thing….
Anyway, I vowed to spend as much time as I could over the festive season wearing my go to Christmas pieces, and here is how it looked….
Tartan
There is something about a plaid print that just feels right at Christmas. I’m not sure if it’s the combo of those classic festive reds, golds and greens, or the nostalgic memories of party outfits I wore as a child in the 80s, but for me they just go hand in hand. As I don’t own much tartan patterned evening wear (I’m not sure if anyone actually does these days??) it doesn’t often feature in my special occasion outfits, but since there were no occasions as such this year I took full advantage of the opporunity to wear it in some more casual outfits!
Velvet
Velvet is very much an all year round fabric for me – I just love a tactile material and you don’t get much more touchy feely than a sumptuously soft velvet! But in the Winter months when you want to be snuggly and cosy it really comes into it’s own. I love how the colour of a good velvet almost seems to glow, which lends itself well to all the candles, twinkly lights and roaring open fires that go along with a Christmas evening at home. Normally I’d be sporting a velvet frock with killer heels, but since the events were more low key this year I really enjoyed mixing textures by pairing a comfy knit with a pleated midi, and of course adding a healthy smattering of glitter!
Red, Gold & Green
What can I say really? I don’t think anyone would deny that these are the failsafe combos this time of year. Yes, there is a risk when you combine all three that you might end up looking a bit like a Christmas tree, but honestly I’m not sure I really care if that’s the end result of my efforts! It wasn’t intentional, but it looks like my favourite way to wear these shades was with a metallic sheen and in the form of a big ol’ circle skirt, which still to this day tends to be my formula for feeling glam!
Christmas Jumpers
I’m not the most kitsch of dressers. That’s isn’t to say I’m not partial to the odd cutesy motif or a novelty handbag or two, but often I worry about looking a bit too much like a cartoon character, or like the person no-one told when they canceled the fancy dress theme! Come Christmas, though, all bets are off! Suddenly I’m as kitsch as it gets! Matching pyjamas? Yes plase! Christmas pudding hats and huge fluffy socks? I’ll take them! And of course, my little collection of (mostly dog themed) Christmas jumpers get at least one outing every year! I added a new one to the mix this year in the form of this preloved Marks & Spencer beauty, all covered in sequined bows and tiny jingly bells. I loved that it was a little easier to style than it’s poochy counterparts and it actually ended up being part of my Christmas day outfit!
Sequins & Glitter
And of course I couldn’t leave out the glitz! Personally I don’t believe a hefty dose of sparkle should be kept just for the party season – glitter is for life yo…. But Christmas is, of course, the ultimate opportunity to dust off those sequins and wear sparkle all day every day, amirite?? So I was happy to oblige, most often in the form of a glittery shoe – partly because it’s the easy choice, but also because I have about a billion of them. I definitely tried my hand at daytime sequins too though! Some of my shimmeriest pieces are just too pretty to assign to night time only!
Looking back through these pictures I’m glad I decided to don all my favourite festive gear this year despite barely leaving the house. It really did help me get into the festive spirit at a time I was finding it hard to feel even remotely like celebrating, and it’s nice to see so many of my favourite frocks and shoes got worn – I doubt a lot of them would have seen the light of day even if I had been out galavanting! Honestly though, I was making such an effort to make sure all my glitziest things got an outing that it started to feel a bit forced after a while and I started to kind of look forward to January and just wearing what I wanted again! It has definitely taught me though that you don’t need an occasion to wear nice things. It was far easier than I thought to make sequins daytime appropriate or wear glitter with a casual look. It helped me think a lot more creatively about how to pair certain things and I’d like to think I’ll apply that logic a bit more going forward to make sure my lovliest garments don’t get forgotten about.
How did you approach dressing up this year? Were you here for the glitz and glamour or all about PJs all day?
Love,
P.S – I love leisure wear, just so you know, just not in place of my glad rags!
Picking the Day 
Love your pics. The tartan coat is particularly nice. Think I’d pair it with all navy; trousers, sweater and boots. The velvet trousers look stylish too. Keep the pics coming. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much! I love the sound of that combo, I may give it a try! x
LikeLike