Move down to Step 1 to find out how to dress at Christmas when you have no money to spend for new clothes or accessories.
Steps
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Clean up your bed. You need it to lay your clothes on. It is good to have an overview.
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Open your closet doors and take a while to look at it. How is it possible to have nothing to wear when all of my clothes don’t even fit in the closet? When you believe there is something in there you will be more open minded to find it.
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Take out all of your dresses. I DO mean all of them. This is actually a good moment to clean out your closet. You can categorize them under three options.
- The first one is “Never going to wear this again”. The clothes that are in this category should be neatly folded and kept apart. Use a garbage bag or a box. You can give them for a good cause or maybe sell them on the Internet. (I prefer giving them to a good cause, but if you’re short of money it might be a good idea to sell them.)
- The next category is “Nice but not Christmas appropriate”. Those dresses should be put back in your closet for another occasion.
- Last category is “I could wear this for Christmas”. Those dresses stay on a pile on the side of your bed.
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Take out all your skirts and do the same thing. Ditto for your shirts, cardigans, tights, shoes, pants, etc. When you’re selecting your pants it might feel inappropriate to wear jeans with Christmas, but a dark washed or black pair of jeans can be very sophisticated paired with a chic top and pumps. So don’t be too rigorous. Don’t forget to do the same thing with your jewelery. Maybe you won’t have to go over each pair of earrings, but it can be a good thing to check them out for earrings or necklaces you forgot you had.
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Now you know your options. Maybe one of the dresses or tops feels like a better option than all of the other clothes that are still on your bed, maybe not. When that is the case, see what you can combine it with. Do you have matching tights? Do you want to wear this top with a skirt or with pants? And which one looks nice together?
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Make different outfits and try them on. I found this nice necklace that had exactly the same colour as a pair of tights I almost forgot I had. I wanted to pair it with a L.B.D. and it turned out the necklace didn’t look nice with it. Shortening the necklace did the trick, but doing that a week before Christmas is better than stressing on the day itself. As for me personally, it gives me peace knowing (instead of thinking) I have a perfect outfit ready to wear.
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Pick your outfit for next Christmas.
- Perhaps you need more outfits for different parties. Don’t think you can wear a dress or pair of tights twice. The only thing you can wear twice are shoes and accessories. Clothes can get sweaty or smelly and tights can get ripped. You don’t want to stress because of that. Pick an outfits for every party. This way you know for sure you have something to wear. Unless there will be enough days in between to clean up your outfit.
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Pick out your jewellery.
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How will you be wearing your hair? Do you want it to wear it down or up? Which hair accessories will you use? Do you have a nice bow, rhinestone hair-clip(s) or headband? It’s Christmas! If you cannot go wild with accessories those days, when can you?
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Shoes. Very important. Those can make or break your outfit. Consider colour and heel. Is the party you’re attending a dinner party, than you can probably wear sky high heels. You won’t be walking a lot anyway. As long as you can come and go without falling and preferably walk elegant to and from the dinner table than rock that amazing pair of heels you never wear because they hurt so much. (You can put them off under the table, that gives possibilities…)
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Will you be walking a little more or stand for a while, choose shoes that are comfortable or promise yourself to keep smiling at all costs. You don’t want to ruin your appearance by your face showing how much you’re in pain.
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And as finishing touch: Nail polish is important If you’re like me, you have ten different colours already. So you probably won't need to buy one. If you don’t have one this is one of two items you might need to buy. The other is hair/skin spray-on sparkle. Choose a cheap nail polish in the right colour. It only needs to last for one evening and being ten times more expensive doesn’t usually mean it stays on ten times longer. Don’t splurge on this one, spend as little as necessary.
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If you’re going out of the house you need to carry a few things such as your wallet and cellphone. Don’t take a whole bunch of make-up with you, do your face up at home before you leave. The only thing you should carry is your lip-gloss, in case you'll be eating at the party. You don't want to worry the whole evening wondering whether your lips are sparkling enough or about having a good time with family and friends? Choose a nice bag that’s not too big. If you know your boyfriend will be dumping his wallet, phone, keys, etc. in your bag let that count by choosing a nice handbag or purse.
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Tip: Some toilet bags are really nice and don’t look like toilet bags at all. Maybe you have one you can use as your purse.
Tips
- Add something unexpected. How about a big bow in your hair? Or a nice flower? You have an outstanding belt that goes with your dress?
- Not only silver or gold (coloured) jewelery (or both) look chic. How about red? Or maybe green? Any colour you have different accessories in will do. Because they’re all one colour it makes your outfit look really polished while the jewelery should look like you just grabbed them together.
- If you don’t have an all black ensemble, maybe you have an all grey one, brown or white? Make sure the basic outfit is a neutral. You don't want to look like a circus clown.
- Jewelery: An all black ensemble with jewelery in one colour can be very chic. Pair an L.B.D. with black tights and black pumps or (chic) boots. For add a black cardigan. Now you add jewelery of only one colour. Don’t be afraid to wear multiple necklaces and bracelets. It makes your outfit festive.
- It can be very chic to spice up an outfit with one pop of colour. How about red tights with all other things of your outfit black? Or a red dress with all black around it. Only red shoes? Make sure it’s only one colour popping and not more. Again, you don’t want to look like a clown. You have to stand out for the right reasons.
Warnings
- You might want not be wearing the same outfit as last year. Though the same dress, does not mean you wear the same outfit. Pair it with different tights and jewelery and you look as good as new!
Things You'll Need
- Clothes in your closet