Mallory Sills is a Chicago-based personal stylist and Fashion Styling tutor at QC Makeup Academy. Today, Mallory talks holiday styling for the office professional!
The holiday season is such a special time of year with many events and occasions to celebrate. Naturally, styling an appropriate outfit for each occasion can be a bit overwhelming. As a professional fashion stylist, it’s important to develop your styling skills so you can help your fashion clients dress their best for the holiday season. We’re going to touch on a few strategic ways to dress for the holiday season.
Keep reading!
Focus on Versatility
The holiday season tends to be a pretty glamorous time of year. There’s a lot of sequins and sparkle! In turn, many holiday events tend to require outfits that are a bit more dressed up than the typical get-together.
Take every individual’s lifestyle into consideration when styling them for holiday events, just like any other occasion. More often than not, versatility is key to dressing for the holiday season. Even though sequins and sparkle are all over, an all-sequined dress may not be the most versatile piece for someone. Fortunately, there are plenty of other ways you can help your clients add a holiday twist to their outfits while still being functional in their wardrobes.
Accessories and shoes are great ways to incorporate the holiday vibe to a person’s wardrobe. They offer a lot more versatility for the average person. Styling clients according to who they are, their lifestyle, and their needs is a necessary skill for fashion stylists. Especially when it comes to creating versatile looks! This is exactly why we focus on developing these skills in our Fashion Styling course.
How to Style a Business-Casual Outfit for the Holidays
Most office environments stick to a business casual dress code. With many office parties for the holiday season happening, you’ll likely have clients asking for advice on incorporating the holiday theme into their dress code.
With business casual dress codes, one of the best ways to add the holiday style, without it being too over the top, is to add the holiday spirit in small tweaks. Keep the base of the outfit fairly simple/traditional to the business casual outfit. For example, image you’re styling a black pencil skirt with a white or black blouse. To add some holiday inspiration to the look, add red pumps, a metallic belt and statement jewelry.
Remember the holiday season tends to be all about glitz and glam, so you can style a little more than you normally would. But you still want to keep the work environment in mind!
Shop this look: Red pumps, metallic belt, and statement earrings.
Another way to add some holiday flair to business casual outfit is to opt for holiday-inspired colors, prints, and textiles. Choose traditional business pieces like a pencil skirt or blazer with a pop of red, plaid or velvet. Since these pieces are already in line with the dress code, they will also offer some versatility in your wardrobe moving forward. Even though they may be adding some holiday flair this time of year, they can be styled differently throughout the rest of the year to give a different look to them.
Holiday Office Party
Dressing for an office party during the holidays can be a bit tricky. You want to have fun and really embrace the holiday aesthetic, but also be appropriately dressed. Office parties are a great time to get to know your co-workers on a different level by seeing them outside the typical office environment. However, you want to make sure you’re still maintaining your professionalism.
The key to dressing appropriately for a holiday office party is to not show too much skin. One way to find balance when dressing for a holiday office party is to wear a couple pieces that pop and add that holiday flair, while leaving the rest more neutral and subtle.
Of course, if you’re dressing a fashion styling client, you will want to choose the statement pieces that best fit their personal style. For some, it may mean sequin leggings, while others may feel more comfortable in a red dress. Try to keep their lifestyle in mind so any statement pieces they purchase and/or wear should offer them versatility for the rest of the year!
Shop this look: Sequined leggings and red dress.
