Kad’s Korner: Holiday Recap

Around the holiday season college students are home from school, students are out for winter break and families are in town. This makes for a season packed with parties and get-togethers. For me, this means many opportunities to put together outfits for these occasions. Here is a recap of my holiday attire.

1. Family Brunch

Floral mini skirts are no longer exclusively a spring/summer thing. The dark backdrop and cool, dark shades on the retro print of this Topshop skirt make it appropriate for all seasons, and therefore a terrific investment piece. The variety of colors in the print also make it easy to wear; you can throw on basically any solid colored top and call it a day.

The dark green tights also add to the winter vibes of this outfit. When wearing colored tights, I recommend something slightly translucent because opaque colored tights tend to look dated.

Like I said, this shirt goes with almost any solid colored shirt or sweater, but I chose this pink and white check shirt from J. Crew to show how you can mix pattern with pattern. The main rules for mixing pattern with pattern are:

1. Color: Use two patterns in the same color family; don’t introduce more colors to the outfit with the second pattern. An easy way to do this is by choosing a pattern with only two colors.
2. Size: Be sure that the patterns don’t compete. If one is a big pattern, have the other one be small.
3. Shape: If one piece has mostly abstract lines, like a floral, choose something more geometric for the other piece.

Rules are meant to be broken, so think of these as guidelines. It’s also important to know the rules in order to know how to break them.

This look goes best with booties. I chose high-heeled combat-boot-styled booties to dress it up but keep it edgy.

2. Holiday Party

Sweater dresses are my cool weather go-to. This sweater dress is Free People, but I got it bargain hunting at Nordstrom Rack on Black Friday.

I paired it again with the green tights. Believe it or not, my green tights have become a staple piece for my wardrobe, especially last winter when rich jewel tones were so in. The color compliments the green in the dress without being too matchy.

This dress can stand on its own, but if you want a jacket to wear with it I always recommend something structured to go with something as body conscious as this. That’s why I paired it with my black blazer from XXI (yet another staple piece). Another way I have worn this is with a J Crew pullover chambray shirt. I would also try it with a fur vest, which is very in this season.

Tall boots definitely look best with this form fitting dress. I chose my brown Melissa Frye boots, but the dress would look good with black as well. If it were warmer out, I might have chosen a lacy sock to peek out the top of the boot, or I might have skipped out on the tights all together.

 3. New Years Eve

You can’t do New Years without doing a little flash. This outfit satisfies that without being too much. The fabric of the green skort from Topshop has a mild sheen to it. The texture of the skirt with the lace shirt, by Laundry (but purchased at T.J. Maxx), is unexpected but ends up going well. If you like the idea of a skort but wouldn’t know how to wear it, I included a second skort to give you some ideas. Both of these skorts are available at Nordstrom Topshop.  The cream shirt pulls out the cream in the pattern on the skirt.

I would again wear this with my high-heeled combat boots. They follow the slick silhouette of the rest of the outfit.

If the skirt alone isn’t enough glitz for you, don’t be afraid to over-accessorize. I wouldn’t wear a necklace with this because of the neckline of the shirt, but it’s perfect for an armful of bracelets. I mixed in different shapes, sizes and textures. I even used both gold and silver. I’ll most likely be wearing this outfit with the earrings and the bracelets, but if you wanted to recreate something like this, you could choose bracelets, earrings or both.

Even though it’s past the holiday season, there are still plenty of opportunities to dress-up. Because dressing for winter can be tricky with the chilly weather, try these outfits to be seasonally-appropriate, but still cute look. Some can also be converted into warmer weather by ditching the tights or a jacket. Good luck!