Why Not Turn to Skirt Dressing Instead?
“Skirts are definitely happening for cocktail dressing,” said Meg Cuna, the fashion expert at the style site Popsugar. “It’s a less traditional way to dress for the holidays but it gives you so many more options and combinations to work with.”
Look no further than Kim Kardashian and other influencers, including Lydia Hearst and Alexa Chung, for ways to elevate a skirt.
“Skirts are great way to get the most variations out of your holiday party pieces,” said Connie Wang, fashion features director at Refinery29.
Some tips on how to dress up a skirt for the holidays:
Mix and match
Wang suggests wearing a stiffer skirt on top of a flowier dress. Try a slim pencil in a below-the-knee style over a slip dress.
“It’s a creative way to layer. Or cinch a longer-length skirt and a fitted top together with a wide Wonder Woman-style belt for a femme fatale silhouette,” she said.
Last year’s peplum-style skirts and high-low hemlines have been replaced by long, sinewy silhouettes like the below-the-knee pencil, long, fringed styles and pleated, asymmetrical crepe skirts, Wang added.
“Wear them with high-necked cropped shirts or an off-the-shoulder blouse and your flashiest shoes,” she said.
Or pair a mini skirt with a feminine blouse that has a bow at the neck and wear a killer pair of sky high boots, Cuna suggests.
Go for prints, and pay attention to fabric. Choose silk, brocade, lace or cashmere touches, she said.
Simple Elegance
Skirts can lend a simple elegance over the bling of a beaded or sequined cocktail dress. There’s a ‘70s vibe that plays on fabrics over embellishments.
“I’m sort of loving the feminine skirts and the cozy tops, especially when it’s starting to get a little chilly out,” Hearst said.
For cocktails, Chung added: “I’d wear a leather pencil skirt and I’d wear some kind of big frilly blouse and a stiletto.”