Christmas outfits

I planned to get this post out before everyone was totally sick of Christmas, but I was just too busy, so please make room for this post the way you make room for pudding after Christmas lunch. You are full but I know you can do it.

For the season of festive parties I started with some subtle Christmas references: red tights, tartan alice-band, bow shoes and mittens brooch.


Dress: Zara
Skirt worn as petticoat: Primark
Gold leather shoes: Office

The dress from Zara is made of a stretch fabric which is why it fits me, but it's incredibly short so I wear it with a bit of frill underneath in the same colour as the Peter Pan collar.

Alice band: thrifted
Knit acrylic brooch: Tatty Devine sample sale

Next was something I wore to a slightly more glitzy event. This is the first year I have felt confident enough to wear figure-hugging "wiggle" dresses, and in this one from Asos I felt totally Joan Holloway. Joan would approve because although it is curve flaunting it also has a demure neckline and length. Joan would also definitely approve of making the most of your curves with some good shape-wear undergarments, that's all I'm saying. 

I was failing to channel a 60s pose here and didn't get a shot where the dress isn't bunched up, unfortunately. In fact I'm working on making awkward poses my signature thing. 

I felt the red of this dress was slightly Christmasy, along with the (rein)deer brooch and sparkly gold shoes. I like that the shoes are glittery but have a slightly sooty, matte look.

Dress: Asos
Belt: thrifted
Brooch: vintage silver and citrine, with garnet eyes
Shoes: New Look
Alice band: Sunshine and Carousels

Asos seems to bring out this wiggle dress in a variety of different prints, so now that I know that I like the cut I may buy it in different fabrics. Watch this space.

For my last outfit I cranked the Christmas cheer up to full blast. I had two ugly Christmas jumper parties to go to so I thought it was worthwhile making an effort:

"Less is more" Mies van der Rohstmas

It seems that this year, ugly Christmas jumpers have reached an all-time price high. I found that the vintage ones all started at £30-£40, and I'm just not prepared to pay that for something hideous that I will never wear again. I also found that all the funniest and most ridiculously ugly Christmas jumpers were in the men's section of the affordable high-street shops, while the women's ones were all cute/sexy/boring. I boycotted it all and decided to disguise a jumper I already own as an ugly Christmas jumper:

I used an old embroidered doily as a base and then made a cat (an under-appreciated Christmas animal) out of fabric scraps like felt and leather. I went bananas with the foil bows and painted fake flowers, and finished it off with some Christmas lights, whose battery pack I wore in my pocket. I stuck everything onto the doily base with double-sided tape, and used safety pins to temporarily attach the whole thing to a jumper from New Look. I also wore the leftover pizazz in my hair.

DIY ugly Christmas jumper

Since I was feeling crafty I also tried my hand at a project I bookmarked on Pinterest: strawberry and cream Santas:

They didn't turn out very well as you can see, because the Santas' eyes started sliding off their faces like a horror scene. The problem is that I served these in a room full of sweaty people and the heat melted the whipped cream. I also would have liked something darker for the eyes, but all I could find were those silver candy balls. Better luck next time.

I'm submitting these Christmas looks to Gemma's Ways To Wear Challenge, so head over there to see what others wore for her Fabulously Festive challenge.

I hope you all had a chance to relax over the festive season and enjoy some time with family and friends. Happy 2013!