Look through any magazine’s holiday issue and you will read articles about how to dress your festively best from Thanksgiving through New Year’s Eve.
Harper’s Bazaar likes Perfection! I don’t.
A great number of the clothing in ads and editorials are ridiculously expensive. They are also extremely sparkly and rather overdone.
This look from the ’60’s is way too blingy for me. All that shiny stuff would reflect the fuzz on my face and I would be tweezing lady whiskers all night! What a sign of the times! Look to the left–how far can the Russian look go? Well, now that our president-elect is going to be partying with Putin….
..I would say this will be a popular look by next Christmas!!
Don’t get me wrong. I think dressing up for the occasion is fine and befitting. But not all of us are sparkle girls, bling ladies or shiny women.
As much as I love Scarlett, her look is too much for me. Maybe if I didn’t have turkey neck I might wear this..and maybe if my waist was 18 inches I might wear it…
Many of us are happy to be dressed in skirts, dresses and pretty clothing that evoke the holiday spirit. But we are just more comfortable dressed in a less blingy way. Many of us are a bit on the casual side.
I am one of the casual ladies.
Since I was a child, my mother always dressed my siblings and me in great holiday clothing. Red. Plaids. Organdy dresses (is organdy even around anymore?). Black patent leather shoes. The whole shebang.
This could be why I love the color red so much. My mother always made sure we were dressed to the nines on Christmas! And the reason I’m standing is that the crinolines under the dress preventing me from sitting down!
I’ll admit—when I was young and single and living in Manhattan. Wait. Actually when I was young and single and living in Manhattan, I couldn’t even afford the fancy holiday dress because I had to pay my New York City rent!
And so, I’ve always taken a pretty pragmatic look at Holiday Dressing.
Some of my rules:
- Don’t buy clothing specifically for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day or New Year’s Eve. Wear what you have but just fancy it up a bit.
- Don’t wear boots to any Holiday Soiree or Party. Pretty shoes will always make an outfit look dressier.
- WEAR THE CORRECT UNDERGARMENTS!! You don’t need Spanx either. Dear God. Spanx are the single most uncomfortable undergarment on the face of the earth! You sit down and the top rolls down. How can you possible enjoy eating or drinking if you are trussed like a turkey?
- Wear a good but comfortable pair of panties that’ll suck the tummy in without causing internal damage.
- And the bra. You’ll see what I’m talking about further in the post. You do not want to wear a n overpadded bra. Padding and pushup are great—but don’t overdo it.
- If you are going bare-legged, get a spray tan or a self-tanner. Nothing says unattractive than white-blue legs during the winter.
Anyway, enough about my rules. I want to show you some of my Holiday/Christmas looks that I’ll be wearing this Christmas season. I’ll be wearing these looks either to work or shopping because since moving to the Philadelphia suburbs I have no friends. I never get invited anywhere. But—my lack of social life doesn’t stop me from being delusional. I can pretend that Ina and Jeffrey have invited Bonaparte and me over for cocktails and dinner.
Grab a seat in my room. Hey. Watch out for the pile of clothing and shoes. I still have to tidy up.
And it doesn’t matter if you are over 50, 60 or 70. You can wear a short skirt. Just wear tights!
These are the shoes I’ll be wearing between now and Christmas. (I carry my Weejuns with me just in case my feet give out). A red clutch and a silver clutch will suffice. Not oe of these pairs of shoes are new.
Here’s the first look. This is a great look for going out to dinner or to a party where you will be eating lots of food. The pants are J. Crew pixie pants and there’s lots of stretch to expand the tummy as you eat. The shirt is a silk button down and is unbuttoned down to show some cleavage. I love the Chanel-inspired jacket. I’ve had it for years and haven’t worn it yet. The shoes are rockin’….
…but if you chose to wear open-toe shoes, PLEASE get a pedicure. I need one. Desperately. I’ll go this weekend. My “Holiday” pedicure should get me through the rest of the winter.
As much as I love this look, it is NOT a Holiday look. It’s too bland. I will save this look for January when all is dull.
See what I mean about the bra? It’s obvious I’m not wearing my French bra. I’m wearing a super-padded bra from Victoria’s Secret. Let me introduce myself to you “I’m Ton-Tittied-Tessie, nice to meet ya!”
I wore this last Christmas. And the Christmas before. In fact, this outfit has now become a Christmas tradition. I love the skirt so much and with tights, I can bend down to pick up all the stuff that falls on the floor with no problem. I also love the clean line of the pointy toed shoes with the tights.
Another festive look for the casual woman! I’ve worn this to work with a black sweater but I think a red sweater gives it a very nice holiday look..
Same outfit, different look. Red shoes. Trust me if you do this, tan the legs. I’m debating going to get sprayed a couple of days before Christmas!
For something a bit more fun and festive, I like this necklace made of big fake pearls. I also give my hoops a rest this time of year and wear little pearl studs. They are more ladyish!
It isn’t red. It isn’t green. It’s plaid! My rules–I’m wearing this during the Holiday season! In fact, I’m wearing this to work tomorrow. This skirt by SportKilt is the cutest ever! It’s so comfy too. Another great outfit to wear if you plan on eating because you can adjust the waist–it’s velcro. Perfect for all the cookies and cocktails you will be enjoying!
I can’t help it. I love this skirt so much. Oh look! I DO have red–on my nails!
Another no-no. Separately, the pants and the blazer are great. Together, they just look clownish. The red shoes are too much with this.
The pants look much better and still remain festive with burgundy heels and a green sweater.
The blazer looks MUCH better when worn with jeans. I’m still on the fence about the red shoes though.
A very casual look. Maybe I’ll wear this to the movies. Jeans. A plaid shirt. Schoolboy blazer and festive red shoes..
Another casual look. I think I like the blue heels better. Oh–and another thing. You may want to size up if you wear a more fitted sweater with a shirt. I think this sweater may be a bit too tight for comfort when worn over this plaid shirt..
Don’t forget to be careful–especially if you wear fake hair. My “hair” *cough* got caught on my necklace and I had to cut it off. Thank God it wasn’t my real hair!
This is my FAVORITE Holiday Casual, casual look! Silver metallic shoes, a silver clutch, ripped AG jeans, a cotton shell that is probably ten years old and a chanel-inspired jacket. The hair is new. Bobbi Boss’ Copper wig. I miss being able to wear my hair in a bob and this long bob is epic. I’m wearing this to work on Friday for Jeans Friday!
Here’s a better view of the texture of the jacket. I got it at Nordstrom Rack years ago–I think I paid nineteen bucks but was too heavy to wear it. I can wear it now!
That’s about it. As you can see, I don’t really get into any special holiday dressing. I stick to what I have. And to tell you the truth, on Christmas Day we won’t even get dressed until dinner is prepared! It’s Old Navy pajama bottoms and sweaters most of the day. We all love to be comfy and cozy.
And just as the gifts are wrapped, I’ll be wrapped too, in my Christmas Wrapping of clothes..
What an appropriate song for today! Christmas Wrapping by the Waitresses–one of the greatest Christmas songs of all time!
