How to wear your party outfits through winter

February 1, 2018

Now I’ll be honest here, I only had one Christmas party to go to last year, and really that was more of a small get-together than a party! However, I do have a few items in my wardrobe I was thinking about, and if you’re little miss socialite, I have some ideas that may help you make the most of those dresses you bought for the party season…

There are a few things to consider first:

Will you actually wear the dress to a party again?
Is the dress comfortable to wear?
Is it a fashion trend piece?
Does it need dry cleaning or hand washing?
Is it worth selling? (If so, will you actually get round to it?)

Of course, by ‘dress’ I’m also referring to coordinating separates, jumpsuits or any other party-wear. If you’ve answered Yes to question one about everything you wore in the party season, then forget this idea; I have another fashion blog post you might be interested in! Mind you, having said that, if the dress is comfortable, machine washable, isn’t made of fragile material and you wouldn’t be too upset if you spilled gravy on it and had to buy something new for the next party, then actually, read right on!

Question two is obvious. Whilst we can put up with some tightness or itchiness at a party when there’s plenty going on to distract us from those discomforts; when you’re sitting at work all day, or watching telly with the kids, it probably isn’t worth restyling into casual wear.

(Links to this outfit or similar items are at the bottom of this blog post.)

Question three really refers to whether the dress is actually likely to look dated in a year or two. If it is, then you may as well get the most out of it right now!

Question four is self explanatory and if you can’t chuck it in the machine, then it isn’t really suitable for daily wear. Though for me personally, unless it’s the embellishments that mean it can’t be machine washed, I usually put them in a cold delicate cycle with delicate detergent and they’re almost always fine! I don’t know if I’d risk it on an expensive item though.

Question five depends on how much you spent on the dress. If you bought a designer piece that you know you’re not going to wear out to parties again, then maybe you’d prefer to recoup some of your money by selling it on ebay or depop rather than modifying it for a more casual style.

In these pictures I’m wearing the ideal candidate! The blush pink velvet dress worn with bare legs, heels and silver jewellery looks lovely for a party, but it’s also comfortable, machine washable and didn’t cost much money so I don’t mind if it does get stained and I can’t wear it to a party again. (I don’t much mind about trends and whether my friends have seen me wear the dress already, so those aren’t really an issue for me.)

I love overdressing at any opportunity, but perhaps in a subtle way! So the quickest and easiest way to wear your party-dress on a more day to day basis, is sling a jumper over the top! Easy peasy! This kahki green knit was from Forever Twenty-one. If a jumper is too casual for your job, then experiment with wearing a shirt or a smarter long-sleeved top over the top. I’ve actually got a very smart-looking cardigan from Tesco that would do the trick.

Wear leggings or thick tights to keep your pins warm at this time of year, instead of the bare legs or sheer tights that you might have got away with in a crowded room with a mulled wine in your hand.

And footwear is the main accessory that can determine whether or not you look like you’re off for a night out or to work or to walk the dog. I’ve bought these cosy fleece-lined faux-fur trimmed ankle boots from Amazon and I think they look really good with the velvet dress. At home of course, it will be slippers!

I hope this blog post has given you some inspiration to take a look at those items that sadly hardly ever get worn, and see if you can style them differently. More night-to-day rather than day-to-night advice! Sometimes I look at a few things in my wardrobe and think it’s such a shame that I’m saving them for a special occasion. Why not feel a bit special every day?

Just tell my cats to keep their claws away!
By the way, we took these photos whilst on a trip to upstate New York in the Catskills mountains where the temperature was minus eleven degrees celsius – I hope you’re impressed with my stamina! To take advantage of the beautiful location we did many more photos than we needed to, so please take a look at the gallery below if you’d like to see them.

If you’d like to recreate the look, here are some links to help you shop:

My pink velvet dress came from Forever 21, bought in America in November. I couldn’t find it on the US website and unfortunately there was some sort of glitch with the UK one, so I couldn’t check if it was there. I did find these on on Amazon Fashion though, and the first one is pretty much identical:

And here are some jumpers similar to my one, which was also bought from Forever 21:

This one is from New Look. I love the slouchy sleeves.

These are the same boots I’m wearing and I’m so impressed with the value of these. They are fleece lined and keep my feet nice and warm in the snow, and are really comfortable and have good grip on the ice too. However, definitely order up a size. They aren’t Prime, so no free returns, so be warned!