Saturday, December 24, 2011

Styling Holiday Separates

The holidays are here -  what to wear to different places and events?  I've never made or bought anything special to wear just for holiday dressing.   It has to work for more than just a certain time of year or event.   So, based on where I'm going, and the weather,  I put together appropriate looks with what I already have, adding accessories,  a little sparkle and a faux fur or real fur wrap and hat if necessary.  

I don't dress like a circus performer during the year, so why should I dress like a Christmas tree during the holidays?   I just don't understand that mentality but then each to their own.   I don't (and never did) wear flashy, cleavage revealing, butt hugging outfits.    Donna Karan is 64 and Vera Wang is 63.   Carolina Herrera is 73.    Each of those women look fabulous and dress elegantly whatever the occasion.    They don't wear tight or circus.   Those are the style icons I respect in terms of how they've dressed as they age, and still maintain a unique style.   So here's what I put together for holiday ensembles:       

This deep periwinkle blue (Pantone 17-3932) $1,095 viscose (rayon) jersey dress was from Vera Wang's spring/summer collection and was featured in the June Allure magazine.



Deep periwinkle is one of the recommended colors for my palette in Leatrice Eiseman's personal Style guide for Pantone, More Alive with Color.   


Many of the colors Vera Wang uses in her collections are in my palette.   So when I saw one of her dresses in the same color rayon jersey tucked/manipulated and paired with strips of bias georgette in her spring collection for Kohl's I bought it.   Another great detail is a wide black grosgrain sash that pulls underneath the back and gathers the waist slightly at the front side.   I also bought a rayon jersey cap sleeve tunic with the same fabric manipulation detail.    Both of these just skim the body and look elegant.  




For holiday dressing,   I paired this color with silver gray or midnight blue, and accessorized with a cord type necklace with rows of sparkly rhinestones dangling as fringe.  The little dark purple velvet bag with faux tortoise chain is a Donna Karan I found years ago at my step son's resale boutique in Bethesda.   That's the eShrug in a silver/metallic synthetic knit and an Eileen Fisher loosely woven asymmetric sweater /shrug in a  midnight blue.    The tunic is over ponte knit skinny pants but I  can also wear it with a pair of narrow black silk velvet pants I've had for years.  


The two dark periwinkle jersey is an elegant and unique color.  Each of these will be great to wear again next spring/summer.  I'm working on a 3/4 length sweater coat and a long sleeve eShrug using the chunky knit (a fabric used by Eileen Fisher) on the right in the photo below.  Those can be worn with these two pieces and others I already have.  This photo is the best for the color and shows the fun necklace.



Merry Christmas and my best wishes for happy and stylish holidays!

1 comment:

  1. Wonderful color palette and classically beautiful garments. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete