Let's face it – unless you're traveling for the holidays, the real excitement of Christmas and New Years is that you can sleep late, see a lot of good movies, eat a lot – and dress up.
To those of us who love clothes, dressing up is an occasion in and of itself. I don't know about you – but I'm betting that if you're female, the feeling of velvet, pearls, and anything furry – teamed with a great glistening pair of heels – can get your heart racing even without that first glass of bubbly. It also probably gets the hearts racing of those around you. A great visual presentation is filled with energy and excitement. It says, "I believe great things are going to happen tonight!" because you are dressed for them – and then, very often, they do. If you present an image of "I'm feeling festive," it certainly draws people to you. It radiates energy and expectations.
And, equally, a wayward visual presentation can easily repel people. Remember Bridget Jones' hideous Christmas sweater her parents preferred her to wear? It made people think she was a giant nerd – except for Mark Darcy, the geek-charming barrister played by Colin Firth in the movie. He was wearing a Christmas "jumper" with reindeer on it when she met him at her parents' turkey curry party on Christmas day. The two looked so sheepish, she were immediately drawn to each other. Maybe not such a bad thing after all.
If you're feeling "reindeer sweater," I suppose there ARE places they might not look wrong –like any ski village. TheFind.com makes it very easy to find them: just type in "Reindeer sweaters," and all kinds come up – for good or for bad! The best one - the only one I could wear – is by Ralph Lauren, and it's red, short-sleeved, fitted and belted over a long black skirt. For $245.00, you can be a very chic Bridget Jones. But for children, there is a hoodie Fair Isle style by Gymboree for $32.50 that is adorable, and another cute one for $7.50 at IseeSpots. The silliest one I saw has multiple reindeer heads (North Style, $79.94) with Donner and Blitzen looking a lot like Bullwinkle. But if you're seeking your own Mark Darcy, it might not be a bad way to go . . .
To me, texture looks right on Christmas and New Year's – particularly black velvet, plaid, or bright gold. These are festive fabrics that you just don't see everyday.
I found some great plaid jackets and coats on TheFind.com that would look fab over a black turtleneck and pants, or a great black dress and boots. The best overcoat is by Mackage, and it's a plaid asymmetrical coat at Saks.com with a princess cut – going in at the waist, and then flurrying out – for $748.00. Mackage has a shorter style with wide, short sleeves for $550 at Bloomingdales.com. A fab one for the price is by DKNY – a grey plaid trench with all the trench sharp tailored details, at Bloomingdales for $279.99. Paired with a beret, it can't be beat. And there's a very charming plaid jacket at The Gap for $59.90.
There's a wide array of black velvet dresses available for all kinds of figures and ages. The Gap has an empire sleeveless style for petites at $69.50. Chinatowner.com has a black Gothic babydoll for $49.95. Eddie Bauer has a more grown up one, with long sleeves and a long stretch wrap body, for $98.00. And one of the best bargains on there is at laceandfrills.com, a vintage website – there's a black velvet fade out gown for $19.99 – but there's only one of them! One of my favorite fashion shopping sites, Net a Porter.com out of London, has a Paris velvet mini dress with 3/4 length sleeves for $460 – and their packaging alone is worth the price. One of L.A.'s chicest small stores, Satine, has a black velvet empire dress with lycra for $550.00. "I got it from Satine" goes a long way at the right party.
For New Year's Eve, a gold dress is as bubbly as champers; the shine equals the promise of a bright new year. Nine West has a gold sequined dress for $112.50 at Macy's, and Nordstrom has one on sale from Lisli – the "Bailey" tux dress is a very pale gold with a ruched body and a mohair skirt, that was $320 and is now down to $189. There's a stunning draped sleeveless gold dress at Bergdorf Goodman for $395. The most reasonably priced gold dress is by Twelfth Street: it's embroidered and has sleeves (there are SO many sleeveless dresses this year, this is rare) and is in an interesting rust shade. It's only $75 at Revolve Clothes.
And because your new winter holiday is so festive, you might not get another chance to wear these pieces for a while – which is fine – because you can wear them on Christmas and New Year's next year, and no one will remember!!!!
I do love clothes. I'm trying to be fashionable. since in my high school days. i have a lots of clothes according to any occasion. your post insight about the topic is refreshing.i love it. keep it up!
-sidney-
Posted by: akademiks | April 20, 2009 at 09:31 PM
Hey its me again..Dropping some comments to your post.. I really like your post especially when you tackle more on fashion style. keep it up!
sidney-
Posted by: akademiks | June 04, 2009 at 01:05 AM