These last weeks are full of  appointments: Christmas dinners with collegues, parties and happy hours practically every night!

Here is a practical guide with lots of outfit ideas for different formal and informal occasions:

HAPPY OURS

MORE FORMAL

For formal cocktails or work happy hours we can opt for light fabric trousers paired with a silk blouse.

Alternatively, a dress will be fine. But remember that we are in the early evening: the length is at the knee or at the maximum at the ankle.

LESS FORMAL

If instead you are about to attend an informal aperitif, go ahead with jeans and leather pants.

A dress can be raplaced by a pants-shirt combo, perhaps with a light sweater.

We are still in the period of parties, so prefer rich fabrics like velvet or luminous like lurex.

CHRISTMAS DINNER

MORE FORMAL

If we talk about Christmas dinners with bosses and colleagues, there is no need to overdo it with evening dresses or micro disco dresses.

The key is all in fabrics: velvet, crêpe, silk and thin wool. And in colors: from dark blue to burgundy, from bottle green to black.

LESS FORMAL

Christmas dinners, even when they are not particularly formal, are still elegant.

Whether it’s an accessory, a lurex fabric or a detail on the dress: you should not miss something in gold or silver …

PARTY

MORE FORMAL

Choose a midi length dress: it is more elegant than a sheat dress, but less demanding than a long one.

A nice idea is to wear a jacket on a dress or a maxi skirt: squeeze it with a belt and you’re done!

Finally, a great classic: the complete jacket and trousers or the female tuxedo …

LESS FORMAL

The parties obviously are not only super formal gala evenings!

And then lengths go shorter and the cuts become more gritty.

But colors remain dark and deep …

Whether they are Christmas dinners, parties with collegues or simple aperitifs, busy evenings will take place.

Better liven them up with style, then! 😉

Rossella Migliaccio
Italian Image Institute