I was thinking about my Christmas outfits the other day. Youo might not do this, but I imagine what I would like to wear in any given situation, Christmas being no exception, in face Christmas being especially a time that I imagine what I might like to wear. Christmas Day, if I get it finished, I will be sporting what I would have worn last year if it had been finished in time, which is a dress, the bdice of which is blue Chinese brocade and the skirt of which is pink wool, it’s great fun, will post a picture if it gets finished. Then my mind thinks about the rest of Christmas and what I’d be wearing or would like to wear. Along with wht I’d liketo wear I ask myselfwhy I’ld like to wear it. So, for Christmas my question to myself is, “What makes it Christmassy, what makes it fun (both to wear and to observe).
Where my thoughts brought me is here:the long and the short of it; for a fun, festive outfit ring the changes and wear either a much shorter length hem or a much longer length hem, than you would normally. So what I’m imagining is a long red or black velvet skirt with either a satin blouse or a rollneck jumper. Long ifs fun! It’s different to every day it feel different. It’s quite glaourous, too, but not blingy glam. Velvet is great fun, reminds me of a skirt I had when I was about 8 years old. Long is comfortable and elegant. Long is a very easy way to look and feel grown up, but not old. It’s also liberating and forgiving, just slide into into it and hide all manners of bodily worries that really are silly to worry about in the first place.
On the other hand you could go a bit shorter when you change your hemline. Short is fn, snappy, cheeky, a heavy wool fabric in an a-ine shape, I am thinking A-line here, rather than straight (although it’s completely up to you and what suits you best). The change in hem line is a great marker between every day and holiday. It can also be a marker between every day and weekend. It implies transition: out of neat shift dresses into ankle length velvet with gold flatties – what fun! As I write this I think of the 1970s: long dresses o skirts with waistcoast and silk shirts, fab! I did mkae a full length wool skirt for apivate client once, it was for work.
As I write this I favour longover short for my Christmas transformation – probably because this is so alien to me, I don’t ever wear long. I wonder if we don’t make enough of the dividing line bwtween day and evening, in our lives. To come home, change and move into a idfferent scenario is liberating, it can even be done every day.
Short is fun. You can go for a long walk with wellies on in both long and short, but short is a bit snappier. Both look great with casual accessoies – caps, gloves, scarves.
S0, this Christmas, treat yourslef, do a bit or dressing up, go long or go short, it’s an easy way to tap into the fun of dressinng Celebrate that you can wear what you want, that we can reinvent ourselves visuallyon a daily basis.
And enjoy! Dont take it too seriously 🙂
Sarah
