Every store is screaming at you to buy a party dress – or dancing shoes, or a velvet suit – but I beg to differ
I
am all in favour of getting the festive season started as early as possible. I get an actual physical thrill out of booking my Christmas food delivery slot in September, and the morning after Halloween I fire the starting gun on mince pie season. I know it makes me sound deranged and/or six years old, but I just absolutely love everything about Christmas. I’m here for all of it and I want it now.
But fashion? That’s my one holdout. At this time of year every store is screaming at you to buy a party dress – or dancing shoes, or a velvet suit – but I beg to differ.
The magpie instinct has a lot to answer for. Holiday season fashion is a tantalising pick’n’mix of sparkle and shine, and as the nights get longer and darker, we can’t help being drawn to their light. Then there’s the unedifying fact that the festive season creates a sense that it is perfectly OK to spend more than you have on things you don’t need, so long as it’s in the spirit of Christmas. Add to that the exciting but exhausting prospect that December is full of social commitments, and there is a tendency to panic that we have nothing to wear. The first wave of partywear is designed to dazzle you into submission at this vulnerable moment.
