Dressing up for the Holidays
Quote of the day: “I know for sure that what we dwell on is who we become.” Oprah Winfrey
It’s that time of the year again when the women of the Ageless Style group showcase a theme and how we all style that theme. Shelly chose a holiday inspired look and the 3 of us started off with a casual look recently.
Now we get to have fun with a dressier outfit. I noticed that we all wore skirts or dresses for this category, and I apologize for those of you who only wear pants. But you could easily substitute black pants in my outfit, if you wanted.
Jodie’s (50+) Outfit: When I think of dressing up for the holidays, I love to incorporate a lot of sparkle and shine.
Therefore, I had to style this metallic silver pleated skirt that I just recently acquired. In a moment of weakness, when I received a postcard saying I’d get 40% off anything at H&M, I went to look at their site. I had been wanting a pleated skirt, and had even asked my mom to make me one. She said they weren’t easy to make, so I figured I’d have to buy one.
So while I was looking on their site, I didn’t find any I liked, until the light bulb went off, and I checked the kid’s section. I mean, it was under $20 and with the discount, it was such a steal. I was worried it might be too short. But you can see that the girl model on their site must be my height, because it hits us in the same place, LOL.
Since I grabbed a longer necklace, I decided to wear some statement earrings. When I bought these beauties, I didn’t even think about how heavy they would be. And they are pretty darn heavy. I can wear them a couple of hours, but definitely not all day.
I think that’s why I loved the Coruu earrings that we showcased this summer except they aren’t as colorful. Possibly the statement earrings that are fabric like these or these would be lighter?
I’m sure you’re not surprised that I wore my OTK boots.
These have been my absolute favorite new style in footwear lately, especially because they are so much warmer for me. All three of us showcased them with skirts just recently on the blog. You could argue that this pair is too dark for this outfit, but maybe that just means I need to buy some more in different colors, right?
Most of us have the stereotype in our heads about these boots, but manufacturers have started making them very mainstream. For example there are some that are barely over the knee, and then are those that are just like a regular boot but taller.
It’s hard to tell in these photos, but my top under the cardigan is metallic and sparkly. In fact, enough that it caused concern when I went through TSA at the airport. Or let’s just say, that I got a nice massage from TSA that day, ha ha.
Metallic tops could be the easiest way to incorporate bling into your outfits if you don’t already have one. There are gold ones, silver and even a white version.
Skirt: H&M (here)~~Cardigan: J.Jill (similar here)~~Top: (similar here)~~Boots: Betsyville (similar here)~~Necklace: (similar here)~~Earrings: BaubleBar (similar here)~~Purse: Mix No. 6 (similar here)
Nancy’s (60+) Outfit: Nancy was excited to show off her purchases from our recent local boutique shopping when we were included in Trendz fashion show.
The coat was an item that I modeled in the fashion show, but Nancy snagged it because she has been looking for a longer, casual coat for the winter. This one is almost sweatshirt material, so it’s nice and soft and works for dress up or casual, I think.
If you live in the colder climates like we do, then having a couple of basic coats is a must. If you’ve been in the stores recently, then you might realize that the leopard coats are huge this season. But there are also fun colored, solid ones like light blue, olive green or burgundy ones too.
Nancy wanted to sort of recreate her look from the style show with this dress. Since she didn’t purchase the scarf or necklace that she wore that evening, this is one of the variations that she came up with.
The wrap is one that I knitted for Nancy many years ago. If you’re a knitter then you might be able to tell that it’s flipped, but it still looks nice. She could even scrunch it up and wrap it around her neck to have it be more like an infinity scarf.
And then she chose a pearl necklace to fill in the neckline. Pearls are taking on a new way to be worn lately. I’ve seen them on jeans, sweaters, and even sweatshirts. What do you think about this dichotomy?
Metallic footwear is a great way to bring in sparkle and shine for the holidays.
Nancy bought these because they have a chunky heel so they are easy to walk in and yet quite dressy. But you wouldn’t have to choose a heel to join in on this style. I found a pair of loafers, sneakers, or even booties if you wanted a different selection.
The nice thing about this dress, besides the fact that it has long sleeves, is that it can easily be worn for casual or fancy events.
Another example with Nancy wearing this same dress can be found here.
These swing dresses are so flattering and easy to wear. I found some in other colors for your convenience. There are many in charcoal, green, velvet blue, and even a black & white one.
Dress: purchased at Trendz (similar here)~~Coat: purchased at Trendz (similar here)~~Shoes: Chinese Laundry (similar here)~~Shawl: Jodie knitted it (similar here but not in black or this one in black)~~Necklace: (similar here)
Charlotte’s (70+) Outfit: Dressing up for the holidays for my mother would definitely include a dress of some kind.
She made this maxi dress last year, and even wore it when we traveled to Vegas for our Christmas fun last year. The nice thing when you make your own clothes, you can make sure it has long sleeves for the colder months.
Both Nancy’s dress and mom’s dress have long sleeves, but it always amazes me how many you see at this time of year with no sleeves. But I did find some other long sleeve dresses at the bottom of this post, if you’re interested.
My mom has quite a few garnet jewelry pieces since it’s her birthstone. Even though she is quite the discount shopper, these are items she will end up spending more money on if she really likes them.
Personally, I don’t have a lot of pieces in my birthstone–do you?
I have to admit that my mom and I have a discussion about these shoes every time she wants to wear them for the blog.
If you’d like to see a close up shot of them, she had them on in our New Year’s Eve post from 2 years ago. Our discussion that we always have revolves around the fact that mom has some hose that are the same color, and she always wants to wear them together. My argument is when she wears these hose with them, you don’t notice how cool the shoes are because there’s no contrast.
So for the sake of the blog, mom wore her nude hose with this outfit. But if you know my mother, then you’ll know that when she wears this out in public, she’ll have on her burgundy hosiery with it instead, LOL!
And not only can my mom make her clothing, but she also has made a few purses in her time. She made my leopard purse that I wore in a post last December. And she made Nancy’s purse that she styled with our print mixing challenge this spring. And this burgundy and gold one is also one of her creations. I have one just like it.
Dress: Mom made it (similar here)~~Shoes: Donald J. Pliner (similar here)~~Necklace: (similar here)~~Earrings: (similar here)~~Purse: Mom made it (similar here)
Thanks to one and all of you for your support. It means more than you know!
Ageless Style Link Up
And now check out all of the other women in our Ageless Style Group and how they interpreted the theme.
Cathy ~ Cathy V Style blog, instagram, facebook, pinterest, twitter
Daenel ~ Living outside the stacks blog, instagram, pinterest, twitter
Debbie ~ Fashion Fairy Dust blog, bloglovin, instagram, pinterest, facebook, twitter
Jennie ~ A Pocketful of Polka Dots blog, instagram, twitter, bloglovin
Jodie ~ Jodie’s Touch of Style blog, facebook, instagram, pinterest, bloglovin, twitter
Paula ~ Dimples on my What blog, facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, twitter
Shelly ~ The Queen in Between blog, instagram, bloglovin, Pinterest, facebook
And please join us in the Ageless Style Linkup! We would love to see all of your outfits of any kind.
The Facts
Even if you wouldn’t consider purchasing your clothing online, it can be helpful to look through my links to see what is available! It certainly doesn’t hurt my feelings, if you click on them but don’t like them. Just so you know, one of the ways I make money from this blog is through these linked items.
Denverites!
If you’re available, we will be at Paradise Baggage, and would love for you to join us for a presentation.
Paradise Baggage presents
What’s In Your Bag For The Holidays?
Keeping in Touch
Are you registered for my email reminders to let you know when a post goes live? I’d certainly love it if you take the time to sign up and make sure all your friends sign up too!!
Do you ever wonder why you should connect with me on other social media sites? Well let me explain what I’ve been doing lately.
Sure you can find my posts on Facebook but I also love to share other people’s posts that I think you may like. Or my Pinterest page has all of our outfits in a nutshell along with fun inspiration from other women!
Right now, most of my time is spent on Instagram. Here’s where you’ll find many other of my outfits and plenty of musings about life and such. Sure, you may not feel like you want to add another social media site to your list. But I spend lots of time and effort to make sure there is something for everyone!
And if you’re new to the party, you can always see our outfits organized by categories, here. Don’t forget to check out the deals & discounts too, on this page.
Dresses can certainly make dressing up for the holidays easy. Whether they are fancy or casual, I rounded up a bunch with long sleeves for you:
