The Ultimate Guide To Your Best Festive Outfit

So earlier this week we discussed how to gift shop this Christmas with heart but today we’re all about you and what you’ll be wearing this holiday season.

Whether you need an outfit for the office Christmas party or for Christmas day itself, this guide is designed to help you find the perfect ensemble for your big or small festive occasion.

1. The Dress Reigns

Whether it’s an LBD or a summer maxi, dresses bring fun and frivolity to the festive season and it’s almost impossible to go wrong if you wear a dress to the occasion. Oh, and this season there is a dress length for everyone: long, short or midi.

However, before you frock up, a reminder to always keep your vertical proportions in mind. It’s important to ensure that the dress does not make you appear shorter or unbalanced from head to hip and from hip to feet.

It may sound confusing but it’s actually quite simple to work out by standing in front of a full-length mirror and doing a quick visual analysis. If you’re still not sure, I go into more detail about this in my book or during consultations and workshops.

2. What budget?

For those of you not on a budget this Christmas (the lucky ones!) here are some high-end stores I recommend for the festivities.

• Alannah Hill

For a more feminine look, consider Alannah Hill as they always carry very pretty dresses constructed from beautiful quality fabrics. The designs always offer something a little different or out of the ordinary and for a festive touch, you could opt for a dress with some lace or embellishment. Alannah Hill also goes up to a size 14 but is on the smaller size so do be careful.

• Ted Baker

If you are looking for something for the evening, head over to Ted Baker. Everything in there is just to die for! You will be sure to find a very sophisticated and elegant outfit that can easily translate from day to night.

Their latest collection has an array of gorgeous cocktail dresses that are age appropriate for most of you over 40. (You won’t find super tight bodycon dresses here for the likes of the Victoria Secret Models.)

Oh, and for the gentleman, you can’t go past the refine tailoring of a Ted Baker suit.

Another high-end store we looked at was Arthur Gallan, which I found this gorgeous dress pictured below. They have some great reductions in there at the moment.

• Thurley

Thurley is another great option and again, the quality is incredible, beautiful tailoring and some gorgeous on-trend colours and feminine fabrics for the season. I would recommend pieces from here for an evening or opting for a floating maxi for a daytime event.

3. The in-between budget

• Seduce

If you love Thurley, you might also like the collections in Seduce that offer a lower price point. In store you can find evening, maxi and sweet cocktail dresses. I only recently started shopping at Seduce and you, like me, might be pleasantly surprised at the beautiful finds in this store!

• Cue & Veronika Maine

Now Cue is great for the corporate Christmas party where you need to demonstrate some decorum.

They also manage to translate some classic looks with a touch of this season’s trend.

Cue also has a vast collection that suits all body shapes up to a size 14. If you are looking at a size 16, head over to Veronika Maine for a similar aesthetic to Cue.

4. The Casual Christmas Party

• Seed

If your event is on the casual side, say a work picnic or BBQ, I would suggest looking at Seed.

Seed’s latest collection is very fresh and they have some amazing whites pieces in store at the moment. If you’ve been reading my blogs and perusing store windows, you’ll know that white-on-white is very on-trend and the colour corresponds beautifully with the colours of Christmas.

You could also try Country Road, French Connection, Bardot and Target. Now Target always surprises me as I saw some amazing dresses in there the other day for under $60 and a few of these went up to a size 20.

5. Underneath the dress

Now if you’re looking to feel just that little bit more confident in your festive outfit, you may like to look into some shapewear. I recently covered this in a blog post offering recommendations and a guide on how to best wear them.

Also ladies, there is NOTHING to be ashamed of when purchasing or wearing shapewear: we all have lumps and bumps. Shapewear simply sculpts those lumps and bumps into lovely curves and voila!

You suddenly feel amazing!

6. Body Shape Tips

Hourglass: Don’t lose your shape – it’s too fabulous. You can buy fitted pieces but ensure they’re not too body hugging.

Triangle: Cue has amazing dresses for triangles, waist defining and flattering on the bottom.

Inverted Triangle: It’s always best to choose clothing with the bottom half flaring out a bit whether it be an a-line dress, boot cut trousers or a skirt. Again be sure not to lose or hide your waist!

Rectangle: As a rectangle you don’t have a lot of shape through your middle so this is something you need to create. You can afford to wear more voluminous fabrics as long as you cinch in your waist with a belt.

Now if you have just read those tips and still have some questions, this may be because you have body features that you are unsure about. In my previous blogs I have written about how to successfully dress a large/small bust (enter links) and these tips will also help you to determine your body shape and make shopping for you much easier.

7. Accessories

Accessories are the perfect way to play with trends in your outfit and easily translate your look from day to night.

You have an incredibly vast range of stores to choose from beginning with Lovisa, Diva and Sporstgirl who offer many cheap add-ons to tie an outfit together.

If you seeking something mid-range I would recommend Mocha, Kookai or Witchery.

And for those who are looking at something higher end, I would suggest visiting stores like Mimco, Ted Baker, Cue, Alannah Hill and David Jones.

Finally, if you want an in-depth overview of this seasons trends before you hit the shops, be sure to check out my article in this weeks Shop Til You Drop magazine.

Remember, current trends don’t suit everyone and you need to discover YOUR OWN personal style.

Sometimes, the best way to do this is to experiment with new stores.

Now to…my…biggest…tip…yet…!

If you don’t feel comfortable in your dress of choice, do not buy it, do not wear it! Simple.

It’s up to the person to carry the clothes and you should be confident and feel good doing so – in every instance.

So, who has already planned their festive outfit and where did you find it?

Maybe you’re going away for Christmas (enjoy!) but have you finished your packing? Again, if you need some help, I’ve got you covered in my How to Pack blog.

I would love to hear your Christmas story!

Please comment below and I will keep you posted as I also head off and do my own Christmas shopping. List? Check. Christmas Spirit? Check.

Happy Shopping All!