Mulling Things Over

The Christmas season is well and truly upon us – shops have started staying open late, the Brown Thomas Christmas window has been unveiled and Christmas party invites have been popping into the mailbox. Along with the mulled wine and mince pies, comes the inevitable what-will-I-wear conundrum. In this Facebook age, it’s hard to get away with wearing the same dress to different parties because although there might be a diverse crowd at each bash, chances are they are all on Facebook and have seen the photos of you in the black dress with the red shoes already. Maybe I’m just being stupid and nobody notices what I wear in my various Facebook photos but I still feel the pressure to pull a few different OFs out of the bag for the festive season.

The high street is heaving with party dresses at this time of year but the thing is they all look kind of the same – satin or sparkly, above-the-knee, tight and a bit blah. I’ve seen lots of ladies in trousers on The Sartorialist recently and have got to thinking that perhaps that’s the way to go this Christmas. I did try trousers earlier in the year but abandoned the idea when the two pairs I tried on in Topshop just didn’t fit properly. That was during London Fashion Week and the canapés and free drink had combined to make me a bit too porky for the Tuxedo trousers I was desperately trying to stuff myself into. Disheartened, I returned to my smock dresses, tail between my legs. Three months on, I feel that perhaps it’s time to try the trousers again. I’m never going to abandon my wardrobe of dresses completely but it would be nice to seem nonchalantly sexy, like the chic Parisians below, in amidst the crowds of trussed up Christmas party goers.

Images from The Sartorialist