Christmas Holiday Party Dress, Not Always Red
Try Purple, Wine, Fuchsia, Emerald, Ruby, Sapphire, or Black
Nov 14, 2009
Christmas holiday party dresses don't have to be bright red or green. A nice casual knit dress in purple, wine, magenta, emerald, ruby, sapphire, or black will work just as well for most parties.
Christmas Clothes
What can a woman wear to a casual suburban Christmas party without resorting to a red cotton sweater with reindeer and a puffy inebriated Santa flying across her bosom? No, the answer is not a blue cotton sweater with skating penguins and sequined snowflakes.
Jewel Tones
Sometimes, the easiest holiday outfit is a cute little inexpensive dress in a cool jewel-tone color like:
- Amethyst / Purple
- Wine / Burgundy
- Dark Pink / Fuchsia
- Emerald / Hunter Green
- Ruby Red / Deep Red
- Sapphire Blue
- Or, Black with Gold, Silver, or Jewel-Tone Accessories
Party Dresses
The great thing about a little dress, like this, is that it can be tarted up with fabulous festive costume jewelry and a glamorous purse. However, this dress can also be worn after December, while only bag ladies wear Santa sweaters in March. And, that’s why a cheap little sweater dress or casual frock will live on and on and on, and will be a better investment than some red holiday dresses.
Spiegel.com
The easiest kind of dress to buy (and to wear) is one with:
- A knit fabric
- No zippers
- A simple style
A stretchy fabric will expand or contract, as needed, to fit one’s torso, as long as the cut is decent and the dress is in the right size. Most items with zippers are harder to fit because the garment is usually made of straight up satin, cotton, or some other unforgiving material.
Spiegel:
- Silk Cashmere Knit Peasant Sweater: It comes in Dark Wine or Royal Purple, and paired with one of their matching skirts, it would make a cute and casual sweater “dress”. Or a gal could just go for their V-Neck Dress from this same Silk Cashmere collection.
- The Signature Velvety Knitted Velour Bias-Cut Dress is cute, but it will look best on women with a toned abdomen because the fabric is not matte.
Christmas Party Dress
The best garment for most women is a stretch dress or knit dress that is cute enough to wear to a neighborhood or office Christmas party, but casual enough to wear to a nice suburban restaurant without looking like she just came from The Nutcracker Suite.
A short casual dress can usually be worn, during the day, as a tunic with leggings. A longer casual dress can be dressed up for parties, but then toned down, during the day, with cute flat boots.
Nordstrom.com
Here are two pretty, but not formal, dresses:
- Donna Ricco Twist Front Jersey Dress: The color is Azalea and it would be perfect, year round, for a dinner at a good steakhouse. (It has a zipper, but the cut and fabric look flattering.) Check to see if it’s also sold at other stores.
- Donna Morgan Twist Front Jersey Dress: At Nordstom’s the color is called “Coastal”, though it may be called a different color at another online store.
MyShape.com
This store was “built” for the internet, so it has dresses in fabrics that fit most gals.
- Ruched Surplice Jersey Dress by Igigi: The color will make this dress fabulous even in summer.
- Cotton-Modal Jersey Empire Dress: This dress comes in both purple and red.
- See photos for more dresses.
Read about the best Christmas gift for grandma and the family
Cheap Party Shoes
Look around online for inexpensive footwear to make a simple dress look more festive. Here are two possibilities:
- Spiegel’s Flat Red Suede Boots: These boots would be cute with a short black dress.
- Spiegel’s Patent Leather T-Strap Sandal: These are very festive, though some suburban homes are shoe-free zones, so check this out before relying upon shoes to dress up an outfit.
Read more articles about women's fashion for work and travel.
Suburban women don’t have the same type of life as city gals, who wear more formal outfits and have good tailors nearby. However, suburban ladies can wear their Christmas dresses as tunics all year long, and then, sometimes, they can take cheap-but-fun cruises with the money they save.
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