She’s a cracker: how to dress glamorous this Christmas season

Whether or not your Christmas comes with baubles and Bollinger, ’tis the season to go glam. Karen Dacre dreams of dressing up
English rose: Printed dress, £395, House of Hackney (houseofhackney.com)
Karen Dacre|Fashion Editor26 December 2014

If your Christmas Day involves clootie dumpling, a driving snow blizzard and a ride in a Massey Ferguson, I wouldn’t bother reading on — fancy festive frocks aren’t for the likes of us. They’re for the characters in my Christmas fantasy, a decadent Billecart-Salmon-soaked affair that involves perfectly bronzed goose, candle-lit carols sung by Hot Chip’s Alexis Taylor and a host of waiting staff that resemble David Beckham — only hotter (imagine!). This fantastical soirée isn’t the sort of shindig for which any old bit of Christmas clobber will do and it’s certainly no place for the nonsense of novelty sweaters but an occasion that requires high-voltage glamour and a perfectly poised dress by the divine Adam Lippes.

If you’re picturing something similar, or at least a festive fantasy that takes you out of your PJs and into your favourite stilettos this yuletide, may I suggest you throw caution to the wind and really go for it. After all, while Christmas Day might seem like the perfect opportunity to don sloppy sweaters and trousers with elasticated waistbands, there’s something magical, decadent in fact, about dressing up for a day of Bucks Fizz-fuelled carb-loading. And after a year of slobbing around in navy-blue jumpers and skater shoes we could certainly all do with a bit of sparkle.

Yuletide glamour - in pictures

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So what to wear? I’d like to propose the black dress as a viable contender. While often lost under all the gilt and glitz at this time of the year, the joy of the little black dress (and the not so little) is that it creates instant elegance. Opt for a simple but beautiful style that allows you to slop on the sofa if necessary and you’ll be on to a winner. This drape-back number from all-black label Catherine Quin is among our favourites.

Of course there are those among us (not me, I’m in wellies and a parka wading my way across a weather-beaten farmyard) who consider making a statement to be a Christmas Day necessity, and for them I prescribe print — and lots of it. House of Hackney’s peony print is a showstopper that’s certain to distract Aunt Susan from her bread pudding, if only for a nanosecond, while the more subtle polka-dot-print frock from Topshop’s Boutique collection will thrill your grandma, especially when you show her the sheer overlay (crikey, dear). Shoe-wise, I’d suggest slipping out of your slippers and into that pair of stupidly high stilettos you’ve shied away from all year. After all, what better opportunity to wear them than on a day that requires no walking whatsoever?

When it comes to jewellery, go wild. Whether you’re frosting yourself in diamonds from Tiffany or simply going crazy with your mum’s tinsel stash, remember one thing: it’s Christmas — and bling is king.

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