Before you have one glass of egg nog or champagne too many, here are a few holiday reminders for your winter wardrobe:
1. Leggings are not pants. I know I’ve said it before but I need to say it again (this is made more complicated by the fact that retailers like Nordstrom’s put leggings under the pants category when you shop on-line – please, make them a separate category!). These are two different items of clothing. I do not even let my six year old out of the house in leggings if her rear is not covered. Oftentimes that means she needs to pull a skirt on over the leggings before leaving. Every increasingly, like each and every month, I see more and more grown women wearing leggings out of the house with their rear showing and their destination is not the gym. Even if you are just running errands, have a sweater or long coat or wrap to throw on to cover up your behind in your leggings. And leggings are just not appropriate for the traditional office place.
2. Don’t dress for the office party like you would dress for a hot date. There are certain things colleagues and bosses don’t need to see. Cleavage. Upper thighs. Your panty line. (Your swimsuit – summer activities only. Hopefully.) If you want to be taken seriously and consider to get important and increasingly visible assignments, dress responsibly. You can still look lovely and festive but not like your next stop is a night club.
3. Ignore coded attire. Holiday parties are the WORST about giving weird coded attire directions on the invitations. I’ve started ignoring it. “Festive frocks.” “Winter chic.” “Snowflake smart.” Good grief. If it’s a work or straight-from-work event, dress in business attire (depending on your profession, that may be more or less formal – suit versus pretty cardigan). If it’s a weeknight event, dress in a nice cocktail dress (unless it specifies black tie). If it’s over the weekend day, then pull out your favorite holiday attire and amp up the festive spirit (my friend from the Polar Express had just the perfect outfit for a more casual holiday outing!).
4. Be comfortable. Inevitably, holiday outings frequently result in us purchasing new shoes or new dresses or new sweaters. If they’ve not been worn, then we haven’t identified their Achilles heel. Try the outfit in different settings before your event. If they’re shoes, walk around your block in them to break them in. If it’s a sweater, make sure it does scratch or pull. If it’s a dress, try dancing, sitting or hugging in it to make sure you don’t have a wardrobe malfunction.
Most of all, HAVE FUN! Enjoy this extra time with colleagues, family and friends. Laugh loud. Have a piece of pie. Be silly with your kids. Participate to the fullest.
(And then send me pictures. I’d love to see what you wore!)
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