It's that time of the year again,

when there are countless parties for the holiday season: Thanksgiving parties, Friendsgiving parties, company parties, soirees, or Christmas parties. This time is a bit different from the past few years, as the world is actually open. People can travel and move about as they wish; people can gather around to have fun. It's all so exciting, and you want to be a part of it.

You have a new mindset, and you want to match that mindset with a new impression for the holiday season. Have you thought about how to dress to impress for your holiday parties this year? You want your fashion this season to be giving!

People are so used to seeing you in work clothes or in certain other ways, and you want to show you’re fabulous off the clock. But you ask yourself how you can get there. You don’t know how to start. However, you know you just have to get it right this holiday season. 

This can be a tricky thing for some, but we are going to break it down for you, whether you are male or female. We are going to get into the 3 steps we like to call “P.I.N. your fashion," a strategy Mikara uses with her current clients for attending multiple events in a short span of time.

Step 1.

PLAN: This part of fashion often gets overlooked, but planning is essential when you want to look good. It will allow you to prepare for a better turnout when you attend these events and get the reactions you’ve been desiring. Let’s get to some of the questions you can answer for the "plan" portion: 

1. Which parties are you going to be attending this holiday season? 

2. What are the dates for the parties you want to attend?

3. Why did you decide to go to these parties?

4. Which category do the parties' dress codes fall into?

• Casual or family-friendly

• Sophisticated 

• Holiday-theme

• Professional

• Upscale

Knowing where you are going, why you are going, and what the dress code is very imperative before getting into the next steps. Skipping this step can cause some confusion or backtracking, which should be avoided for maximum results.

Step 2.

IDENTIFY: It is important to find out whether any of the clothes in your closet fit the dress code of any of the parties you will be attending. This will eliminate any unneeded purchases that can turn into a one-off or unnecessary buy in your fashion system in the long run. 

You need to identify whether you have any special needs to cater to when it comes to your wardrobe. For instance, if you'll be standing a lot, you'll need to incorporate comfortable shoes into your outfit, or if you'll be moving around a lot, you need to get clothes that aren't too tight-fitting. 

Step 3.

NARROWING: Like the word suggests, narrowing is making a smaller selection of clothes available so the wearer can pick their outfits more easily and appropriately. While you may be tempted to carry several boxes of clothes while traveling to different places so you can have several options, it is not an effective way to dress for this season.

Narrowing can be difficult for some because people often have an attachment to clothes. However, this attachment doesn't serve you or anyone appropriately. If you cannot narrow your clothing choices down yourself, having a fashion professional or a trusted person inform and remind you to stay focused on the clothing selection that fits the parties you plan to attend is a great way to go about it. 

Another important thing here is to choose your colors wisely. While there are so many colors to choose from, certain colors are peculiar to the holiday season. The most recognizable holiday season colors to wear are red, green, navy, gold, silver, and white. From our observation and Mikara’s experience working in visual merchandising prior to officially going into business as an image consultant, a lot of the purchases in the months of November and December had these colors. 

Depending on how conservative or festive you want to be for the holiday season, try considering wearing one of these colors to be in the holiday spirit while making an impression.

Now that we've gotten the "P.I.N." portion out of the way to help you have a more organized thought process concerning your holiday fashion, you may still have some concerns about what to wear to the numerous parties you have to attend. 

You may be wondering how you still need help to visually map out what to wear, or you probably just need an inspirational look from our expertise—we've got you covered. Mikara and her team have put together a fashion illustration for men and women to get an idea of an impressive holiday outfit. 

For Her:

This is a concept based on one of Mikara’s clients who is going away for the holiday with her fiance. She is going for a sophisticated yet delicate look while on vacation. During her professional hours, she is always in uniform which makes her feel stuffy while working, but she wants a different feeling this period. 

Though she doesn’t have the full itinerary of everything she will be doing overseas, her significant other did advise her to dress beautifully. The look below is one of the types of looks we have curated for her "holiday getaway" outfits. 

Stepping away from the color black was a priority for this client, so we went with a gold or champagne color that suits her complexion very well. Since her undertones are warm, we paired the gold with an accent color, red. Her holiday getaway looks have a monochromatic effect to them since she loves the compliments she receives from her significant other when she wears them. 

For Him:

This is a concept based on Mikara’s new male client. He is a blue-collar professional who owns his own business and has been invited to a soiree. He likes to keep things "less complicated" (as he would say), but this time he's willing to try something new that’s not flashy. 

As he informed Mikara of the people who would be at this party and all the other details we went over in the P.I.N. your fashion strategy, we came to the conclusion that this was an upscale type of event. 

The black jacket that was selected for him has a paisley design imprinted on it with gold buttons, giving it minimal attention as he requested and the look was complemented with a red pocket square. 

Of course, going the classic route of black and white for men can never serve you wrong, but going for this distinctive jacket (after he gave Mikara the green light to try something different) will definitely impress others the way he wanted to. 

If you are interested in hiring Mikara Reid at MIIEN Consultancy for help defining or discovering your personal style or even curating holiday outfits for you, start today by clicking here.