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Style Theory: What to wear to a Christmas party?? If you are like me you will want to wear 'the party dress' but calm the whole party look down with some dressed down accessories to ground your look. Partywear can be scary, it can conjure up images of sparkles, sequins, heels and fur stoles all.at.once - this strikes fear in me, I like to be dressed up with a heavy balance of dressed down.
Debenhams asked me to style up a few of their AW16 partywear styles, a mix of designers at Debenhams and some high street brands available at Debenhams online. The dresses and jumpsuits are gorgeous and just needed a little toughening up with biker jackets and boots to bring them into my comfort zone and make me feel completely party ready...
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| Dress - Preen/Edition @Debenhams £75 (20% off now £60) Leather Biker Jacket-Nine by Savannah Miller @Debenhams £250 (30% off now£175) Shoes - Faith @Debenhams £55 |
It is so lovely be able to have a Preen dress in your wardrobe with a high street price tag. This dress is pure velvet luxury, it has a ruched front (great for hiding a tummy) and ruched at the back - to create the illusion of a Kim K butt! It can be worn with or without the straps, whichever suits better, I wore without and the sweetheart neckline is super flattering, it is kind of Nigella Lawson at Christmas which I love!!
The leather jacket - Nine by Savannah Miller is the best I have ever tried on, it is quite a heavy leather that keeps you warm and feels really substantial. It fits perfectly, a neat but comfortable fit that is both flattering and works perfectly to toughen up this season's dresses. I can imagine this look with a pair of Chloe Susanna-esque boots as well as these dainty leopard mix heels..so many options and not a spangle in sight!
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| Dress - Butterfly by Matthew Williamson @Debenhams £250 (20% off now £200) Boots - J by Jasper Conran @Debenhams £75 Clutch bag - Wallis £25 |
The colours on this heavily embroidered dress are beautifully eyecatching, It is fairly pricey but the detail is beautiful. I am, albeit very recently, into the boot/dress combo, granted it is not as flattering on legs as high heels but I think it gives the look an edge, a more dressed down A/W16 vibe.
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| Jumpsuit - Red Herring £45 Shoes - Faith @Debenhams £55 |
Pyjama dressing gets my vote this season, there is literally nothing as comfortable, what is better than going to a Christmas party in your pjs?! And this jumpsuit is a pretty gorgeous take on the pyjama trend, fits slightly on the small side (I sized up one size) the tapered trousers are super flattering, pair with heels to dress up and party till late..
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| Dress - Red Herring @Debenhams £59 - avail online soon Boots - J by Jasper Conran @Debenhams £75 Jacket - Nine by Savannah Miller @Debenhams £65 (30% off making it £45) |
Super duper sparkly, you cannot get more Christmas than a pink sequin dress, throw a khaki jacket over the top to ground the look and add a pair of dark red boots to add depth and voila a laid back party outfit...
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| Dress - Principles by Ben De Lisi £60 (20% off now £48) Shoes - Faith pink court heels £39 |
A classic red dress, that flatters and is incredibly easy to wear. I paired it with pink court shoes to clash the colours and add some extra interest, add fine gold jewellery for a simple but showstopping look at a reasonable price.
Photos by Victoria Metaxas
Which is your favourite look, do you go bold when it comes to partywear or are you like me and prefer to dress it down a little? As always I would love to hear your thoughts and comments, until next time Fran xxx
This blogpost was written in collaboration with Debenhams, all styling and opinions are my own
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