Of all the American holidays, Thanksgiving is my favorite. This wasn't always the case, of course. As a child I loved Christmas, but now Christmas just feels like an inconvenience. Sorry Christmas lovers, I don't mean to be a Scrooge, but for me Thanksgiving reigns supreme. First of all, you get a free pass to eat amazing food. Diet? What's a diet? Second, it's relaxing. Okay, I will admit it's relaxing because I have never actually hosted a Thanksgiving dinner, but even if I did, comparing it to the demands of Christmas, it pales in terms of stress. Third, and most importantly, the focus of the holiday is on gratitude. The older I get, the more important this is to me.
Of course, it also helps that I really love spending time with my family. They're just good people and I know I am fortunate to be able to say that. It's not that we don't come with our fair share of quirks and drama, but after years of learning how to understand and deal with each other we really do relish the few moments we all get to spend together. We're also exceptionally casual. What we wear is of little concern to us. As long as it is comfortable and we feel good wearing it we can come to Thanksgiving. Our family doesn't have a dress code. My husband fell in love with this aspect of my family immediately. Kudos to all of you who get dressed for the holidays, it's just not how we roll. Certainly, we're not a bunch of slobs, my grandmother would be rolling over in her grave, we're just casual.
With the holiday coming in a week, I decided to put together three Stylish Thanksgiving outfits to consider when you are getting dressed for your big dinner with whomever you are spending it with. Remember, family doesn't have to be defined by blood, and as my favorite saying about family goes, "Friends: God's apology for family."
So take a look below and get some ideas on what you can wear to your Thanksgiving dinner.
Stylish Thanksgiving Fashion
Outfit #1
When I came upon these relaxed cropped pants from J. Crew I hesitated using them. Typically, I'm not a huge fan of elastic waist pants. They don't usually flatter most body shapes. Yet, what made me decide to use them was the idea that they take the concept of the casual jogger up a notch. Thinking about Thanksgiving, where you want to be as comfortable as possible but don't want to look like you rolled out of bed, I envisioned these as a possible alternative. With the little cropped ankle length, I loved them styled with flats. I added these gorgeous ballerinas from Corso Como that have a rich color pattern.
It isn't always that I am inspired by how retailers style their clothing, but I quite liked the way J. Crew paired a relaxed blouse tucked in with their pants. I know <gasp>, tucking in a shirt with a pair of elastic waist pants, right? However, when it comes to pants with gathers, your options can be limited. Wearing something untucked will just show lumps and bumps of elastic, so forget that, and a tunic sweater will just make you look like a shapeless box. You can try a more cropped top but there are obvious pitfalls to doing that on the biggest eating holiday of the year. Taking a blouse and tucking it in gives you some relaxed shape. Again, not for everyone, but if your body looks good in these pants you are likely also someone who looks good with a blouse tucked into them. So I chose this silky French Connection blouse. With it styled not so buttoned up, I added this layered rose colored necklace from Stella & Dot and used this cross body in aqua to finish the look.
Outfit #2
This next outfit is much more palatable. I love a relaxed sweater on Thanksgiving and really liked this Boden style that can be worn alone or as a layering piece. I placed a slim turtleneck bodysuit from Theory under it (don't like a bodysuit, just go for a cotton turtleneck) and added these velvet jeans from Madewell. For a finish, I used these black booties from Isola, added this very cool lariat from Banana Republic and accented the look with an Elizabeth and James hobo in pearl grey.
Outfit #3
I understand that not everyone dresses casually on Thanksgiving. This is why I love sweater dresses for the holiday. You get the coziness of a sweater with the polish of a dress. However, often sweater dresses can be really uncomfortable. If they aren't relaxed enough they can show off lumps that women would prefer to camouflage and they sometimes require things like Spanx or tights, which ultimately defeats the comfort-drive purpose of the dress to begin with. I decided on this Lands' End sweater dress because the fit from this company tends to be a bit more generous and relaxed, plus, styling a tall pair of boots, like this Frye pair, doesn't make tights mandatory. To give this dress a pop of color, I added this stunning scarf from BCBG, a pair of turquoise colored earrings, burgundy bag from Aquatalia and gold link bracelet from Banana Republic.
I hope these stylish Thanksgiving outfits give you some ideas of what to wear on Thanksgiving. I'd love to hear from you. What do you normally wear for the holiday and what do you plan on wearing this year?