Happy December everyone. Before I go on with this post I just want to say to everyone who’s been asking for a Midlife Lately – it’s coming on Friday. There’s a reason why I haven’t been doing it and I’ll explain why then. In the meantime, last week Marks & Spencer challenged me to look through their partywear and put together an outfit for one of my early Christmas events. The first party in my diary was a work related one so I ended up choosing something for that. Before I show you what I wore though, I’ve put together some ideas for other types of events that might pop up this month.
Formal Christmas Party Outfit
As we’ve already discussed this season, there’s been a big shift in ‘formal’ dressing. Times are changing and most of us are reluctant to give wardrobe space to outfits that don’t earn their keep. Here’s a dress that will work all year round. You could easily wear it for a wedding in the summer, at home on Christmas Day or for an evening event. It reminds of Self Portrait dresses but obviously it costs far less. And apologies to everyone who’s been asking for winter wedding outfits because I just haven’t had the chance to do the research but this would be my choice, worn with a cropped black faux fur jacket.
Now if you paired it with classic black courts it would lose its edge so I’ve teamed it with dramatic accessories to ensure it looks 2018 – or 2019 even. And don’t forget a strong red lip, matte lipstick has been dominant for the last few years but glossy lips are back this season.
- Red and black lace Self Portrait style midi-dress
- Feather and diamanté earrings
- True red lipstick
- Red and black heels
- Faux fur bag
Desk to dinner outfit
This is my favourite way to dress throughout December and I’m sure I’m going to regret this but I’ve set myself a challenge to wear something that’s either velvet or sparkly for every work day this month. I already have a navy sequinned skirt so I can’t justify this one but I’ve seen it in store and it’s beautiful. I love the fact that it has blue, pink, purple, black and silver in it so you could pick any of those colours out.
When you wear a statement piece like this, it’s usually best to pare the rest of your outfit down so I’ve added a navy cashmere jumper but of course you could choose purple, pink or grey to go with it too (by the way, go down a size if you’re wearing this jumper with a skirt or wide leg crops). I’ve then added boots in a tonal purple.
Christmas date night outfit
Obviously this doesn’t have to be a date night outfit, you could just as easily wear it for a work Christmas party. More dressed down than the formal look, it still has enough special touches to make sure you look as though you want to be wherever you’re going.
I have this tuxedo jacket and I love it (you can see me wearing it at the end of the post with the trousers too). It’s long and lean so it hides all of your pre-Christmas sins, it’s bang on trend and I find a single-breasted jacket much easier to wear than its double-breasted sister. But if you can make double-breasted work for you, I have to say that this one is the most amazing quality, it feels like a designer jacket in terms of cut and quality.
Christmas night out with the girls
I’m thinking that this is a night where you maybe have a couple of cocktails followed by something to eat in a place where you can actually hear each other (I’ve just realised how middle aged that sounds). Anyway rather than a micro-dress and towering heels, I’ve added a leather jacket that has five star reviews and boots because if you’re out in December, you won’t want blue toes!
Leather jacket (also available in navy)
Sparkly V neck blouse (also available in black)
What I wore
So as I said, to bring the clothes to life M&S invited me to choose an outfit for an event that I was going to. This is what I wore for an afternoon launch event that we went to last week. It was a Christmas preview so I wanted to feel sparkly but it was bitterly cold and windy outside – and even chilly inside so I needed to be warm.
Here’s the tuxedo jacket in action, I love the fact that it buttons low down on the waist because it gives you a streamlined silhouette. You can wear it without feeling too buttoned up and show off the top that you’re wearing at the same time. It’s going to be great to wear with silk camisoles when I’m at a venue with decent heating and it’ll be good for slipping on over a sequin skirt or dress too.
The jumper has a subtle gold fleck so it should work for you even if you tend to steer away from black because it has the warmth of the gold sparkles. The trousers are the ones from the M&S Christmas ad (thank you to Nicola who told me how good they are on the Midlifechic Facebook page ). I played around with the sizing because my usual 12 felt a bit restrictive at first so I tried a size up. However the next photo gives you an idea of the cut…
Tuxedo jacket; sparkly slash neck jumper; gold side stripe tuxedo style trousers; gold clutch; M&S shoes past season
… hopefully you can see that the trousers are meant to be sharp – I kept the size 12. (I was laughing because Mr MC wasn’t as sheltered from the wind as I was and a gust almost blew him backwards down the hill).
Tuxedo jacket; sparkly slash neck jumper; gold side stripe tuxedo style trousers; gold clutch; M&S shoes past season
I’m looking a bit self-conscious here because we were keeping people waiting but I wanted to show you the detail of the gold side stripe. The shoes are M&S too but from last year – I risked style over sense and my feet were frozen, thankfully there was mulled wine on offer.
Tuxedo jacket; sparkly slash neck jumper; gold side stripe tuxedo style trousers; gold clutch; M&S shoes past season
So you’ll be seeing all of these pieces worn in different ways over the next few weeks. As I said at the beginning of this post it’s time we had a catch-up on real life so I’ll be back on Friday with a Midlife Lately that explains – thank you for the messages you’ve sent saying that you’re missing it. Until then have a lovely week, I haven’t had a mince pie yet – I’m trying to hold off until 21st December when I start my Twelve Days of Festive Eating but I don’t think I’m going to make it!
Disclosure: ‘New Christmas outfit ideas from M&S’ is in collaboration with Marks & Spencer but all pictures, outfit ideas and thoughts are my own and unedited
Midlifechic Christmas inspiration posts
Everything Christmas at John Lewis & Partners
Christmas party wardrobe planning
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