Christmas is one of the most celebrated holidays in the calendar and is a great time for fashion as well. We think that you should use Christmas as a great opportunity to dress up, play with colors, textures and patterns and to make the best of the season from a sartorial point of view..
There is nothing wrong with wearing a Christmas jumper and corduroys, especially during the day, but if you want to take your outfit further than that, or if you are going to a Christmas party or have a festive dinner at home, here are some general guidelines on how you can make the best of your outfit during Christmas time and on how to express the spirit of the holiday in a subtle, yet elegant manner.
1. Colors and patterns
Each holiday around the year has a certain color scheme attached to it: Thanksgiving is all about shades of brown, Halloween is orange and black, and Easter is all about chalky colors. Christmas is a holiday that revolves all around light and its power in a cold environment. Therefore, the colors that are mostly associated with Christmas are red, silver and gold, which symbolize light and blue and green, which symbolize unexplored depths.
When it comes to color combinations, the idea of light during the long winter nights is expressed through contrasting colors, as the most popular color combinations during Christmas are red-green, gold-blue, etc. These colors lie on opposite sides of the color wheel and therefore make each other pop and command attention.
Color schemes
To create elegant and sophisticated outfits, try not to wear too many neutrals at a time during the festive season. Neutrals are colors that can be worn in combination with any other color, pattern or print and are usually used as the blank canvas on which you build a color scheme of an outfit, as they themselves do not create a lot of visual interest.
This DSQUARED2 jacket goes great with a pair of red shoes, a black and white bow tie and a golden watch from Daniel Wellington. Red, black and white, paired with golden accessories is a perfect way to convey a festive spirit and masculinity at the same time
Men usually lean towards wearing a lot of neutrals like browns, grays, black, white, tan and khaki; especially during winter. Neutral colors can be the main colors of your Christmas outfit, even though we don’t recommend it, it would be great if you would wear other colors as well. For an amazing sartorial experience, you should always add at least one pop of color to any outfit.
The pop of color can be one of your main pieces or one of your accessories: a red bow tie on a white shirt can make set the vibe of an outfit to “Christmas Magic”, a golden bracelet around your wrist can make a look more interesting and a silk pocket square added to a velvet can make you the most refined guy in the room.
If you wish to add more rhythm to your outfits, you can put on several pieces in, opaque, muted colors and pair them with metallic or shiny pieces. A dash of color on an outfit that is composed of mostly opaque colors is a very fancy and elegant way to meet Christmas. If you are into it, you can take it a step further, and add a second pop of color.
The picture above illustrates a row of Christmas-appropriate neutrals (top), a row of colors you can easily match to those neutrals (middle) and a third row of colors, which you can match to these two colors. These are all safe bets, but they work very well for Christmas dinner and for going to Christmas parties. Each vertical line of the graph makes a great color combination consisting of colors from three different categories. You can make use of any of these combinations and rest reassured it will look great.
Prints and patterns
Moreover, during the holidays, you can always make great use of patterns and prints. These can be anything from Christmas trees to glen plaid and abstract motifs. Patterns and prints can complement solid colors well if you know how to mix colors. However, you can also choose to mix prints and patterns among them.
In case you wish to mix patterns, you can easily do so by following one simple rule: The sizes of the patterns need to be different one from the other. For example, thin stripes can be easily matched to wide stripes, or to any other patterns or print, as long as they are not similar in size. You don’t have to wear the same pattern twice but in different sizes, you can wear two different patterns, but still follow the rule; for example thick lines mixed with small dots. For a great effect, pair two very different patterns or prints that share a color. This will indicate that you are a guy who pays great attention to details and will add fluidity to your outfit.
Don’t forget: A pattern is a symmetrically repeated construction, a print is an image that features a clear composition and a texture is a pattern that can not only be seen, but felt as well.
2. Materials
Christmas time is an occasion when it is indicated to take out the best of the best and to wear your fancy materials proud. Velvet, tweed, silk, as well as gold, silver and very special furs are all the perfect materials to wear on Christmas.
For great effects, you can pair two materials that are similar, yet that feature a difference.
To give you an example, both velvet and silk are very soft, fine and rich fabrics, but velvet is usually matte and appears to be denser, while silk is very flowy and often shiny. Combinations like velvet and silk are great both layered and as top and bottom combinations.
3. Layering
Speaking of layers, adding layers of clothes that go together well is a great way to style up any outfit. Adding a vest over a dress shirt for example, will add depth and volume to an outfit and will therefore make your looks more interesting from a visual perspective. Cardigans and vests and as well as sports jackets and blazers and can make for perfect parts of a layered outfit. Don’t forget that the number one rule of layering clothes is that your pieces need to be arranged from thin to thick: the thinnest piece should go closest to your body, while the bulkiest one should be the furthest. An example of a thin-to-thick arrangement would be: Undershirt – shirt – vest – blazer – coat (if going outside).
4. Accessories
A very elegant way to express the spirit of a holiday through your look is by adding one or more seasonal accessories. No matter what you are wearing, accessorizing with a pair of cufflinks that reflect the season either chromatically or by shape, featuring designs such as a Christmas tree or a reindeer as well as putting on a fun Christmas tie that features Christmas colors, is definitely going to make your look more in tone with the holidays..
Themed socks, necklaces and bow ties also make for great accessories to be worn on this holiday. However, always consider that you should not wear too many accessories, three is enough, as you are not a Christmas tree and also remember that you should incorporate the colors of your accessories in the color scheme of your overall look.
When it comes to wearing gold and silver, remember that metallics are neutrals and that they go with anything. Moreover, they can be even worn together, so there is nothing wrong with wearing a silver necklace with a golden bracelet.
In the end, we advise you to wear whatever you feel reflects who you are and whatever makes you happy. If you want to incorporate the spirit of the holidays in your outfits, these following these tips will help you do that.
Have a great Christmas and don’t forget that Christmas should not only be around you, but in you as well.
Fraquoh and Franchomme
P.S. How do you dress on Christmas? What colors do you like to wear? What type of accessories do you like to add to your outfits? Share your thoughts in the comments below! For more articles on style, fashion tips and cultural insights, you can subscribe to Attire Club via e-mail or follow us on Facebook or Twitter!
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