November 29, 2021
Ah, skirts… Some of us love them, many of us don’t. But this time of year, one well-chosen skirt can get you through lots of dressy occasions, without a massive investment in multiple outfits. Pick a color or fabric that you deeply love, and that looks good with the neutrals in your existing wardrobe, and build around that!
Imagine that you bought this skirt, and each winter holiday season after that, you treat yourself to a piece of pink tourmaline jewelry, or a stunning evening bag, or just a couple of gold “things” to brighten up your winter wardrobe:
the sequined top comes in black, grey and pink, too…
Sequined top – Halogen; pink tourmaline earrings – Azura Jewelry; skirt – J.Crew; tourmaline bracelet – Lola Rose London; clutch bag – Mae Cassidy; gold ballet flats – Anthropologie
If you love earth tones, this next skirt might be a good one to consider; if the slit is too high for you, baste it down to where you’re comfortable!
Many of us don’t have madly dressy holiday parties to attend – a pretty skirt, warm tights and a seasonal necklace will get us through almost anything:
White cotton sweater – L.L.Bean; holly necklace – The Met Store; skirt – Talbots; clutch bag – Cult Gaia; tights – Target; ballet flats – Drivers Club USA
If you seldom wear skirts, even a floral print in corduroy will shock and amaze your friends!
Bramble Berry cashmere sweater – L.L.Bean; garnet earrings – Chan Luu; corduroy skirt – Talbots; bracelet – Chan Luu; bag – Ted Baker; tights – Hue; navy ballet flats – Esprit
Maybe you’re the woman who really prefers subtle, blended color palettes. These colors will not be worn by anybody else at ANY party you attend!
Grey cashmere sweater – L.L.Bean; green amethyst earrings – Auree Jewellery; green amethyst bracelet – TJMaxx; slate green skirt – J.Crew; scarf – Fiorio; bag – Coccinelle; shoes – Nine West
In fact, you can wear any color you want for parties and dressy events! If you love brown, you could wear this next outfit to dinner, a religious celebration, a party at someone’s home…
Sweater – Reformation; earrings – Barse; toile skirt – Miaou; bracelet – Barse; bag – Nina; ballet flats – Kenneth Cole New York
And, of course, don’t discount the possibilities of a traditional plaid skirt! Talbots always has at least a few of them – you KNOW that those will be nice quality and enduring style. Choose one that works with your favorite neutral and accent, and you will be ready for anything dressy for years to come:
Navy cashmere turtleneck – Lands’ End; earrings – Rivka Friedman; emerald necklace – TJMaxx; Black watch skirt – Talbots; bag – Calvin Klein; boots – Bella Vita
My go-to skirt for dressy events is still my mid-calf crystal pleated black skirt. I know that crystal pleats are very “last year,” but I don’t much care!
love,
Janice
p.s. Four years ago, we considered the possibilities of wearing grey for dressing up!
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Janice, those are wonderful ideas. And you write: “even a floral print in corduroy will shock and amaze your friends!”. You are so funny. Always a joy to read your suggestions!
If I had anywhere to go that i would dress up, the sequined skirts would be tempting. As it is, if I need to dress up it will be my velvet pants. On a side note, my closet purge is done. Several things I’ve had for years but don’t wear that often still made the cut :) Three bags of donation. I divided clothing by colors/capsules. Thank you Janice! And to Beth T and Sally from Saint Paul and some of their suggestions in various posts. Have a great day!
Well done Sheila. I’m sure that your donations will be much appreciated. Charity shops had a hard time in the UK as they had to close too during the lockdowns, even though many people rely on them for clothes and shoes. It has taken quite a while for business to pick up again.
Congrats, Sheila! I hope your donations get a second life in someone else’s closet!
A velvet skirt and sparkly top are my choice for Christmas. Love the sparkly and luxurious accessories of the top outfit and the sparkly grey outfit. You are right that you add to your accessories or buy a different top over a few seasons to make the outfit look a bit different.
The look back is great as I love grey and I could easily wear the aqua jumper in winter to bring out my inner ‘Snow Queen’. Usually, my colours in winter are the deeper end of the Soft Summer palette. I begin to wear pastels in January to herald spring but often don’t get much wear out of the warmer garments before the weather turns mild.
As one of the Pantone colours for Autumn Winter is lilac pink or Orchid Pink as I call it, I’ve decided to keep pastels in my wardrobe in warmer fabrics to wear all winter. Orchid pink is one of my favourite colours. I will wear my vintage orchid pink velvet blazer and I recently found an orchid pink wool/cashmere coat in a charity shop. I wore it yesterday to a Christmas market. My husband was able to spot me easily in a sea of black and navy coats!
So I’m now wearing more of my lighter pinks, lilac and sky blue (to match the sky on a crisp winter day) in warmer fabrics. Teal is my winter green. I’ll still wear plums, purples and deep pinks but I have more options.
I’ve also like to wear ivory/cream in winter too which looks lovely with pastel colours. I found a cosy ivory cardigan but didn’t like the brash “gold buttons”. A quick trip to my local sewing and haberdashery shop, who have a wall of hundreds of buttons. I found ivory cream buttons for 30p each. I always buy an extra button as a spare. Grand spend £1.50! Buttons easily change the look of a favourite cardigan.
I love every one of the combinations! The pink arty clutch in the pink combo is the most unique item you have ever featured! Thanks for the eye candy; it made my day.
Love them all! The 21st century take on the plaid skirt is lovely! When I first read plaid skirt I thought Oh no, not one of those frumpy dump kilts from the 1980’s! We all had one à la Princess Diana…Black Stewart was my choice for holiday wear, went well with red or black. Sadly, the moths liked it too… The Talbots modern take is far more flattering as well. The top skirt in velvet is dreamy with the gold top but alas, ‘twas sold out in my size! Black still available. I am a pants person (velvet or leather leggings) our holiday events are casual and always include kids, pants are more comfortable and easy. I do have a long black crystal pleated skirt if I needed to get ‘ gussied up’. We are escaping next week for two nights to a charming B&B, might consider a longer skirt with a cashmere top for a fireside dinner.
The Barse earrings and bracelet in the brown ensemble are particularly lovely.
I am one of those women who doesn’t like skirts. I wanted to dress up a bit for my son’s graduation, though. I thrifted a plaid, flannel pencil skirt. Worn with tights, booties and a simple cashmere sweater, I felt cozy, appropriately dressed and like me. The opportunity arose to attend the Montreal Symphony and I was glad to have a dressier outfit along. I was surprised how casually dressed attendees at both events were.
Love the plaid skirt. I would enjoy having that in my closet.
Great options here! The pink + gold outfit is divine. The white sweater + maroon print skirt outfit really appeals to me as a twist on a classic Christmas color combo, but the white tights and ballet flats give me pause…perhaps brown tights/boots (and a brown velvet headband) would be an alternative?
The last few posts have contained multiple Talbot’s items that have caught my eye, though the flat lay images do not do them justice. (How have retailers still not figured out that a good flat lay photo is always necessary?!)
Talbots flat lay are impossible to grab, and never in focus. It drives me crazy because they have such nice things!
hugs,
Janice
They are doing themselves a real disservice!
Love all of these! The shimmery grey and green combo is truly creative!
Thank you – I was kind of smitten with it myself!
hugs,
Janice
What wonderful combinations! Just last night I put together an outfit for an upcoming “business casual” buffet, but after looking at your paisley skirt and off white sweater OR the satiny skirt with wool sweater, I’m going to head upstairs to try a few more outfits. I won’t bother asking my husband who will tell me that I look “fine” no matter what I wear, I will send my daughter a few photos for her opinion. Daughters often have strong opinions! Thanks for the inspiration. Carol in VT
My daughter has saved me from frumpiness! She knows what suits me in style and colour, even though our colour ranges are polar opposites.
There are so many lovely skirts showcased in this post – something for nearly everyone (who likes skirts). I especially like the Black Watch plaid skirt and the white and chocolate toile skirt.
You’ve also shown interesting ways to style the skirts in ways that are fun without being ridiculously dressy.
Thank you for constantly teaching me new things!
Love all of these! The shimmery grey and green combo is truly creative!
Oh my gosh, that toile skirt and cashmere sweater!!! I could crawl right in!
I have a shimmery skirt much like the second one you shared (with a slit in the back that still needs to be basted down to a comfortable level) and a top to match, but I have struggled to find shoes that will go with it. I like the flats shown here – I’m going to have to look around a bit more! Thanks for all the ideas, they are lovely.
*The bronze shoes shown with the brown ensemble are the shoes I’m talking about. They would be perfect with the skirt I have. (I just realized the skirt I referenced didn’t have any shoes shown with it!)
These are such great looking outfits. I’m feeling like I want to dress up for Christmas this year, after last year’s un-Christmassy day. Skirts are so comfortable. Love the shimmery pink one.