The holiday attire dress code can be confusing, as it can mean anything from cocktail attire with a festive twist to the recent vogue for ugly Christmas sweaters. No matter whether it’s for an office Christmas party, New Year’s Eve, or just to spread some holiday cheer, this is the only guide you’ll need to infuse some sophistication into your festive outfits.
Holiday Attire: The Golden Rule
Thinking Formal is Never Going to Offend
Our most general piece of advice for the holiday or festive dress code is to gravitate to the more formal end of the spectrum which we’re going to lay out today. After all, no one is ever going to fault you for looking put together. The exception to this advice, of course, is if the hosts have clearly stated that the party is going to be more extravagant and playful in nature and that an ugly Christmas sweater is expected. In that case, by all means, do loosen up and have some fun.
Your safest bet, of course, will always be to ask the hosts for advice directly as a gentleman always makes the effort to follow a dress code as closely as he can; to do otherwise would be an insult to your hosts. One more piece of general advice here before we dive in, keep it varied and have a few options handy, after all, it’s a busy time of year for parties and you may be invited to more than one that has a holiday or festive dress code to it so having a few options at your disposal will never be a bad thing.
The Holiday Attire Video Guide
Some say that singing loud is the best way to spread Christmas cheer – while we’re happy to join in a carol or two, chances are you’re also just as comfortable by the fire with your favorite holiday cocktail, gaining some inspiration for your festive ensembles with a video guide. Cheers!
How To Meet The Holiday Attire Dress Code Stylishly?
The simplest answer is this, think of it as being an offshoot of cocktail attire with an extra holiday touch in terms of color or some playfulness that’s incorporated into your outfit such as wearing tartan which has been an established alternative when it comes to holiday wear since at least the middle of the 20th century. Regarding color then, do feel free to incorporate some of the standard colors of the holiday season such as red and green. With that said, however, don’t go for bright and gaudy hues as these are just going to make you stand out a little bit too much. Instead, go for something subtle, understated, and elegant.
Now let’s cover today’s subject through the lens of multiple different types of holiday parties, each with differing levels of formality, and cover the related dress accordingly.
Office-Appropriate Festive Attire
Regarding how dressed up you should be for such an event, just take a cue from the regular day-to-day attire at your office. In other words, think of how you should dress as being a somewhat typical office outfit, maybe just a bit more relaxed and with a seasonal element to it.
White Collar Office Parties
Firstly, if you work in a traditional white-collar office environment, go for something that’s appropriately conservative. For example, a suit perhaps three pieces or double-breasted in a dark color like charcoal, navy, or in midnight blue, if you’re feeling especially elegant. Along with this, you could go for a dress shirt, ideally French cuffed and probably in a pastel color as white might be just a bit too stuffy for a festive party.
In terms of shoes, you’ll want to keep things appropriately conservative as well so you could go for the classic black cap toe oxford or if you’re feeling just a little bit more playful, something in a very dark brown color perhaps an oxblood. You could go for something like a monk strap or something incorporating just a little bit of broguing in its design but you don’t want to get too crazy and you probably won’t want to opt for light colors like tan either. After all, if your regular office attire consists of those black oxfords, you’ll want to keep it in the neighborhood of that kind of shoe even for a party like this.
As for your accessories, the novelty tie emblazoned with huge Santa heads is probably going to be a little bit too informal for a party of this nature. Instead, you’ll want to go for something like a dark burgundy or a similarly muted hue perhaps with a slight pattern to it. Although solids are of course a safe bet. Your pocket square can be a little bit bolder in comparison to your tie and can possibly incorporate some small patterns as well. Just remember that all of the elements of your outfit should ultimately remain harmonious.
You’re likely going to have the most latitude here with your cufflinks, they can be solid metal in any shade of course and can incorporate stones or other engraved designs. This type of party is just playful enough, however, that you could also do something with miniatures, say, for example, a tiny reindeer just so long as it’s understated and subtle. Have fun with it and try to strike that ideal balance between formal and festive.
Tie bars, collar clips, and rings can also be worn as long as they are similarly understated and of course, matching your metals is always a good idea. Finally here regarding boutonnieres, something light-colored and small so as also to be understated would be an ideal choice.
Less Formal Office Parties
For a slightly less formal type of office party, we recommend that you go with a combination of sport coat and odd trousers. A patterned or textured sportcoat would be a good choice here with or without a tie. Something for example in herringbone, houndstooth, or a mottled tweed will provide a rustic quality that’s still appropriate for the season. Wearing a blazer with a tartan or other plaid pattern would be an ideal way to be seasonally appropriate, a little bit bold, and a little bit rustic all at the same time.
Finally, this would also be a great opportunity to break out something like a burgundy velvet jacket if you’re feeling especially avant-garde. Your shirt could be plain in color, either in a pastel shade or alternatively in a rich dark hue if you’re going for something a little bit more fashion-forward. Also, the shirt could feature a pattern just so long as that pattern doesn’t clash if you’ve also got one in your jacket.
In terms of styling and materials, choices like the Oxford cloth button down or OCBD would be appropriately semi-formal. A chambray shirt would be another good choice or alternatively, you could substitute the collared shirt altogether for something like a dark turtleneck sweater under your jacket. You can round out this look with some flannel trousers or corduroys. As far as shoes are concerned, you could opt for something like wingtips or loafers just so long as they’re well shined.
Casual Office Parties
Our advice is largely the same as for semi-formal office parties but with a few key distinctions.
First of all, you can feel free to swap out the sport coat with a cable knit pullover or a cardigan sweater in a warm color. Alternatively, a fair isle sweater or sweater vest will allow you to stand out a little bit more while still looking rustic and traditional.
In addition to flannel trousers and corduroys, a casual office party would also be an appropriate time to break out dark denim or perhaps even colored chinos if you’re feeling especially bold.
Finally, you can add an accent with some brightly colored dress socks or maybe incorporate your crazy socks featuring Santa and his reindeer here and you can round out the look with some informal shoes or perhaps a dress boot.
Should You Wear (Ugly) Christmas Sweaters?
Certainly not for everyone, but also seemingly difficult to escape from during the festive period, the ugly Christmas sweater is often pictured as de rigueur for many holiday events. Watch our video on the topic to help decide whether you should (or shouldn’t!) add one to your closet this Christmas.
Holiday Attire FAQs
What is festive holiday attire?
Festive holiday attire broadly relates to any item of clothing or an accessory that relates to the holiday season, usually with an emphasis on the traditional red and green colors associated with Christmas. With regards to classic and stylish menswear, festive holiday attire means an item or (more likely) an ensemble that has been crafted to fit in with the holiday season. This may include items of clothing not specifically designed for holidays such as Christmas, but when combined with other similar items becomes reminiscent of the season.
What does festive attire mean for a man?
Festive attire for men will typically include items of clothing and accessories such as corduroy pants, tweed jackets, knitwear like sweaters and cardigans, and will even include elements of the black tie dress code. These items, including accessories, become part of the festive attire dress code when they utilize patterns, colors, and textures that relate to the festive winter period – things like tartan checks, Fair isle sweaters, and accessories in tones of greens and reds are typical of the dress code.
What is good attire for holiday cocktail parties?
Holiday cocktail parties offer a great opportunity to explore elements of more formal festive attire. Try mixing things like a dark flannel suit with oxblood shoes, forest green accessories, and gold metal tones. If the formality level requires a little more panache, then a burgundy velvet dinner jacket paired with deep green silk socks and traditional evening trousers is a fantastic festive statement.
What does holiday festive attire mean?
In a nutshell, men should look to incorporate traditional holiday colors for the holiday or festive attire dress code. While there may be the temptation to wear an ugly sweater or crazy Christmas sockswe’d suggest going for a more tasteful solution, as outlined in our guide.
What should a man wear to a festive gala?
With the assumption that a festive gala has a higher than normal level of formality, look towards the creative black tie dress code for your inspiration. This will form the base of your outfit, but you can always add or change a subtle detail that makes it part of the holiday theme. For example, a tartan bow tie could happily exist in your regular wardrobe, but if it bears traditional Christmas colors like reds and greens, this would make an excellent addition to your outfit.
What is the traditional dress code for Christmas?
While many people will probably think of Victorian or Edwardian dress as the traditional Christmas attire, this is probably due to the popularity of Charles Dickens’ novel, ‘A Christmas Carol’. Realistically, as Christmas is a time to spend with family, the most traditional dress code will be whatever is laid out by those you’ll be spending Christmas with. After all, dress codes exist to make everyone feel more comfortable, and Christmas time is the best time of the year to embody that.
What do you wear on Christmas Holidays?
Depending on where you choose to spend your Christmas holidays, your attire may be quite different to the next person! Most people will probably want to embrace the traditional image of Christmas by enjoying a colder climate. In this case, comfortable and cozy casual clothes including corduroy pants, knitwear, flannel shirts, and sturdy overcoats are the go-to. If you’re someone who prefers a warm Christmas vacation, then our guides to dressing in hot weather are perfect for you.
What is the dress code for Christmas dinner?
If you’re someone that enjoys the food of the festive season, then wear something comfortable! All jokes aside, Christmas dinner traditions vary between households, so the dress code is likely to be different depending on where you’ll be enjoying your Christmas dinner. If you’re unsure, default to a smart sweater, chinos, and a soft jacket as a perfect Christmas dinner ensemble.
Residential /Private Holiday Parties
Now let’s briefly cover some advice on what to wear to a holiday or festive party given in a residential or otherwise similarly private setting.
In the broad strokes, you’re going to want to keep things a little bit more relaxed for a home party than you would for an office party but the breakdown we’ve just given for three different formality levels of office parties can still hold mostly true here as well.
In other words, all of the suggestions we gave for specific combinations of garments still hold true for home parties as they did for office parties but when we gave you more than one option in some of our breakdowns, you would here opt for some of the less formal of those options.
For example, at a semi-formal or mid-level holiday house party, you could perhaps go for the turtleneck sweater before going for the button-down. Remember, the bottom line for house parties is always the dress code that’s printed on the invitation and/or the personal advice of the hosts. If the party takes place during the holiday season but the invitation says black-tie, wear a tuxedo and leave that tweed sport coat at home.
Conclusion: Holiday Attire Doesn’t Have to Be Confusing!
While the holiday or festive dress code covers a wide range of levels of formality, it doesn’t have to be a source of anxiety. For a party at work, take a cue from your regular office attire and add a twist or two and for a residential party, take your cue from the invitation and the advice of the hosts and feel free to be just a little bit more relaxed and playful and yes, if ugly sweaters are expected, do loosen up and feel free to have a little bit of fun.
Outfit Rundown
It consists of a muted brown cardigan sweater for a seasonal touch over a shirt in a light cream yellow that features a broken check pattern of green purple pink and burnt orange. The olive green knit tie provides more texture and a more seasonal color. My corduroys which are in a warm almost mustardy brown color are similarly casual and my socks echo my shirt. In that, they’re also sort of a cream yellow color but they feature an argyle pattern in white and light blue.
I’m rounding out the outfit today with some medium brown wingtip derby shoes that feature heavy broguing. As you might be able to tell, I’m not really wearing very many other accessories today. My shirt even has barrel cuffs so I’m not wearing any cufflinks. I just figured this would be a good example of a very casual outfit that still fits the holiday mold and I’m sure you’ve seen several other examples of more formal outfits throughout the video.
What sorts of combinations have you worn to holiday parties in the past? Share with us in the comments section below.
YES–a Gentleman’s Gazette endorsement of crazy socks! Watch out, Preston, Raphael is not a fan. :-D
–David
If Laurence Fellows was a sculptor instead of an illustrator, he would have made Sven. :-)
LOL.
I can see Fellows drawing Sven in those mustard coloured pants.
Please don’t show those orange/yellow pants with the oversize cuffs ever again. Donate them to a charity such as Goodwill (if they even accept them). otherwise burn them – I’m not sure that even a blind, homeless bum would wear them. Then change some Xmas lyrics to “Sven’s pants roasting on an open fire… Jack Frost nipping at your nose…
Happy holidays!
As helpful as these articles are, they are consistently undermined by the fact that you guys haven’t learned how to GET YOUR PANTS TAILORED. Seriously, Preston–in what universe is an extra 4 inches on those corduroys acceptable? Surely there are tailors in Minnesota? (Happy holidays!)
Iโm confused, how many large corporations, law firms, banks, consulting firms have you worked for in order to provide such definitive advice?