Festive Dressing So Far

Holiday color palettes that aren't strictly red and green

I absolutely love Christmastime. I love the chill in the air, which I can say with confidence because I live in Southern California, and the chill is strictly superficial, never sinking into your bones the way it does in the north. It’s just enough to hint at a season, enough to help some leaves turn red, and to remind you how grateful you are that you never have to scrape ice off a windshield again. But it isn’t just the weather; I don’t like January or February at all, because there are no special lights or parties or bakes or cheese boards or sparkling cranberry cocktails that are officially sanctioned by everyone, there is no circling back after the holidays — this is the time you are circling back to. So in November and December: ornaments, trees, music, lights, give me all of it please.

And the layering! We don’t get to layer much here, so when winter does finally arrive, I am wearing some permutation of scarf/turtleneck/sweater/coat even if it is 70˚F in the afternoon. In my pursuit of dressing for the season, I wanted to try some color palettes that were not primarily red and green but still felt festive. In order of appearance:

Red and Black

This is the Maar Dress from Revelle, and though this fabric is no longer available, I highly recommend this style. Scarf and brooch are vintage, the latter from my great aunt’s collection. The black and red color palette is inspired by one of my favorite fashion spreads ever, this feature on winter play clothes shot by Irving Penn for Vogue, October 15, 1944:

In particular, see box I, which is, of course, designed by Claire McCardell (ditto A, B, G and E; C is kind of unmistakably Tina Leser, iykyk).

Green and Brown

Reminiscent of a winter woodland with melty snow, this one went kind of viral-ish (for me) for its documentation of the Pendleton store that used to be in Frontierland at Disneyland:

Gingerbread and Cranberry

This is a wonderfully warm and toasty palette we see a lot in the 1970s:

Harper’s Bazaar, September 1976

I’m wearing it in an incredible dress from Bonnie Cashin, circa early 1980s, that can be belted or not. This time I tried it belted, with a belt handmade by Jasmine over at Working Dogs & Sons, who does these wonderful custom remakes of vintage belts. This one is an updated version of a belt I used to have in my collection when I had a much smaller waist, and I was thrilled to get a larger version from her.

My dress is from the latter part of Cashin’s career, but we still see some of her long-standing trademarks: the wide collar made for layering, the massive pockets, the high-quality knits and incredible color work. Cashin never licensed her name during her lifetime; if you see something with her name on it (except for the weird shit Coach started doing in the last decade or so), she designed it. Her Cashin Country label lasted from 1979 through about 1983.

Non-Specific Winter Holiday Gathering

Bonnie Cashin’s tradition of not licensing her name is in stark contrast to this next outfit with its denim shirt-jacket by “Bill Blass Jeans,” which had almost nothing to do with Bill Blass the designer. It was probably made sometime right around 2000, when the designer’s name had been sold to one holding company after another. Blass died in 2002 at the age of 79 and had retired several years earlier, but his name was still a valuable commodity in department stores. I like how the blues and red are the main story here, but the plaid and the hint of green in the turtleneck keeps it seasonal.

This was a tough one to post! I have gotten to the point in my body acceptance journey where I see myself in dresses and I think hey! this is cute! we like this! but pants are another matter! They really emphasize the part of my body I am least comfortable with, and these really make it clear to me that I still have quite a bit of work to do on how I react to realistic-looking pictures of myself. But I am posting it anyway, because when I first gained weight, I struggled to find folks my size whose style I enjoyed and I want to do what I can to normalize having fun with personal style no matter your size. Some size-inclusive brands here: the pleated trousers are from Big Bud Press and I highly recommend them, they are expensive but you can find them every once in a while on Gem secondhand. The turtleneck is from Noble and is on crazy sale right now, unclear if it will ever be making a return so grab it if your size is available. Scarf is vintage.

I hope you enjoyed these nontraditional color palettes that still read as seasonal and festive! There are still two more days of dressing so maybe I’ll throw in some red and green combos to be more on the (shiny red) nose.