Welcome back to the Gentleman's Gazette!
In today's video, we'll be discussing the dress code known as holiday attire or festive
attire, its varying levels of formality, and how you can meet each of these levels effectively
and stylishly.
Longtime fans of the Gentleman's Gazette will be aware that we relish the task of de-complicating
dress codes for men; we've got comprehensive PDF guides on the most formal of men's dress
codes including white tie, morning dress, and black tie, and you can find all of those
PDF guides in our shop here.
We've also got a video and a related article that act as a primer for pretty much any dress
code you could conceivably find on an invitation and we recently put out a video on one of
the most infamous of all dress codes, black tie optional, you can find links to all of
these by clicking the banners at the right.
Today's video, we'll cover another dress code, seasonal in nature, that also has a bit of
unnecessary complexity to it, Holiday attire also called festive attire.
The source of confusion in this dress code is that it can mean anything from cocktail
attire with a festive twist to the recent vogue for ugly Christmas sweaters.
By the way, if you want to find out more about cocktail attire, you can take a look at our
video on the subject here and stay tuned for an upcoming video that will give you some
more suggestions on how to meet that dress code well.
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 ugly sweaters are
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.
With all this in mind then, what would we recommend 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.
By the way, if you're curious to learn more about the rich history of Tartans and other
plaid patterns, you can check out our recent video on the subject here.
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.
As a great many holiday parties are held in the workplace, we'll start with some suggestions
for 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.
On that note, you can take a look at our videos for business attire, business casual attire,
and dressing for the office here.
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
or 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 and of course, for a wide selection of boutonnieres, pocket squares,
and jewelry, you can check out the Fort Belvedere shop here.
Next, 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.
On that note, we've produced videos on the history and characteristics of both houndstooth
and tweed and you can take a look at both of those by clicking the banners here and
here.
As we mentioned toward the beginning of the video as well, 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 here, 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.
On that note, you can take a look at our video on Oxford cloth button-down shirts here.
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 and as far as shoes
are concerned, you could opt for something like wingtips or loafers just so long as they're
well shined.
We've also done a video on corduroy which you can take a look at here and several videos
on shoes which you can take a look at here.
Finally in this overview, if we're to cover 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 sportcoat 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 and of course, for a complete guide to sweaters,
you can check out our video on that topic here.
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.
On that note, we've also done several videos on boots and you can take a look at those
here.
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 sportcoat at home.
In conclusion then, 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.
So what sorts of combinations have you worn to holiday parties in the past?
Share with us in the comments section below and as always a reminder to subscribe to the
channel and hit the little bell icon so that way videos like these can come straight to
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in today's video I'm wearing an outfit that would be most suitable for a very casual office
or residential party 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 from Fort Belvedere provides more texture
and more seasonal color you can find that tie as well as several others in the Fort
Belvedere shop here 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 fit the holiday mold and I'm sure you've seen
several other examples of more formal outfits throughout the video