It's Never Too Early...

...to start thinking about your holiday party wardrobe!

Mostly I say this because I found this dress and I think we should ALL have one, because it's so gorgeous:

Isn't that lovely? It's by Yoanna Baraschi and you can find it at chickdowntown.com. (I couldn't find a specific link for the dress, but I promise it's there!)

Seriously, I think this is a nearly perfect party dress.

Look how easy that is -- elastic waistband, so you can eat lots of hors d'oeuvres and drink plenty of festive sparkly beverages. This is an LBD Plus -- a beautiful black dress with a gorgeous floral print that will make it stand out brilliantly in the sea of other dull LBDs at the party. (And you know there will be one -- let's start making book on the percentage of women in black at any given party you go to between Thanksgiving and New Year's. I'll bet it's a good 70%, especially in This Economy.)

This dress is not especially trendy or season-specific -- you could really wear this year-round and for several years to come. And would you just LOOK at this beautiful print!!

::sigh:: I'm so in love with this. And the great thing is how much fun it would be to accessorize. Afraid you'll be chilly in sleeveless? Top it off with a gorgeous jacket, there are lots out there.

(Click on photos for links!)

Ruby velvet from D&G that could do double-duty at the office, or even on the weekend with a pair of sharp jeans and some boots -- you'll wear this to shreds, I promise.

How about satin? So festive.

Oof, that's beautiful. Silk organza. That color is so unusual and pretty and this is oh-so-on-sale.

But it doesn't have to be color, black would work beautifully, too. The look this season is sequins, sequins everywhere. But I think a full-on sequined jacket would be too much with the print, so maybe just a touch on the lapels:

How about classic, wear-for-a-million years black velvet?

(From Banana Republic, so incredibly reasonable.)



This one made me gasp a little:

Ooooooh, my goodness. If you don't love that, you have no heart. (Also, not crazy expensive.)


If you are going to wear a black jacket, at least pleaseI'mbeggingyou wear a brightly-colored shoe.

These are adorable and they are a STEAL.

The shape on these is classic sex-kitten, and the price is great for a good pair of drop-dead party shoes that will never go out of style.





Wheeeeeeeeeee!!!! Sparkly!!!!!!! Style Spy loves her some sparkly! These are Nine West so they're also super-reasonable (and they come in some other fun colors).


Plan on doing some dancing at your holiday party?






How about these great gold wedges with a t-strap? Nice and stable, and they'll stay on your feet while you do the Charleston. (Or the merengue. Or the Hustle.) Plus -- on sale!


Every woman needs a dress like this in her wardrobe. I don't necessarily mean this dress specifically, but a dress that can be worn different ways in different seasons for a good many years to come. Most of us do have them and mostly they're LBDs. And that's great -- une petite robe noir has gotten all of us all through a sticky fashion situation at one time or another. But isn't it time to branch out a little? My personal challenge for everyone is to try to resist the impulse to buy one more black dress -- next time you're shopping for something special, see if you can't score a color or a pattern that lights you up and makes you smile. It takes a little more work -- the world is filled with black dresses and yes, some of them are truly great -- but it's worth it to not disappear into the crowd. Let's make this as bright and colorful a holiday season as we can this year -- it's been a rough one and we deserve some cheer.