Roses and red lips: a perfect combo for an Alice in Wonderland themed party? I think so. Plus, I’m happy with any excuse to wear my lovely Moschino dress.
Here’s a slightly less blurry look from the afternoon “dress rehearsal”. I literally picked my outfit 3 hours before the party – I’m that disorganized, or that efficient. Potayto, potahto.
afternoon trial run …
The party was super excellent. You can always count on nice decor (because we’re talking about the Hotel Mac here, and it’d be hard to make it look chintzy), but the organizers outdid themselves this year. I mean, just take a look:
showing us the way … or nottable centrepiecelove the attention to detail
The food was good, the alcohol free-flowing, and the company excellent. I didn’t win the annual draw for a trip to New York (boo!), but I did get to take home this cute centrepiece – that is a functioning pocket watch there!
party favour!
Hope you’re enjoying a lovely Christmas (party) season!
‘Tis the season for all things Christmassy, and I need you to know that I know that. I do. And I love Christmas. I do. Just … maybe not as much as your average blogger, if my blog feed is anything to go by. I don’t do a lot of home decorating, I have an old plastic tree, and I try to avoid cooking as much as possible. Most of all, I’ve grown to hate gift shopping. All of the people in my life, with the exception of the kids, are difficult to shop for; they exhaust my resourcefulness, and leave me with no desire or ideas for putting together gift guides for your edification. And, let’s face it, you don’t need my gift ideas anyway.
So, how can I bring some seasonal flavour to the blog? How about a walk down memory lane with the ghosts of Christmas parties past?
By way of background, let me start by saying that this year marks my 6th work Christmas party at my current firm. The event is always a classy affair at Edmonton’s ritziest joint, which makes it a perfect opportunity for dressing up. Alas, I always seem to end up wearing boring, expected black. Or pretty darn close to always.
Black is safe, of course, which is why I wore a plain, black Elie Tahari dress for my first Christmas party. This was in the pre-blog days, so I don’t have a full length picture of my outfit, but you can see the dress in the middle photo. I used a ginormous necklace as a bit of visual interest. (For the record, my cleavage looks more scandalous here than it really was. Honest.) Three years later, I re-wore the dress, substituting a different necklace (a nod to that year’s party theme, “Bollywood”). No one noticed.
Left, 2009; right, 2012 – same dress, different necklace
For my second Christmas party, I tried to get a little more fashiony, with red lips and a DIY-ed necklace. The dress was a literal last minute find – and how rare is it to actually find something at the last minute, amirite? The silhouette combined with the mushroomy colour made it feel like a fashion risk. Go figure.
2010: in retrospect, the shoes were a mistake
Ok, this was my least favourite Christmas party outfit ever. EVER. The party theme was Mad Men, and in principle, this should have worked wonderfully. But the dreaded first-time mom pixie cut was a drag, and I just ended up feeling dowdy. Let’s blame this one on postpartum hormones.
2011: my least favourite Xmas party outfit, ever
After wearing black again in 2012 (see above), I was all set for … more black last year. I had planned on wearing this dress, but then found this cream Tibi number. Y’all probably remember the story. The party theme was “Winter Wonderland”, so it seemed appropriate. I didn’t hate this outfit.
2013: hey, it’s not black!
Which brings us to 2014, and this year’s theme: Alice in Wonderland. Now, if you know anything about me, you know that I have a little bit of an obsession with AiW. So you can imagine how excited I was when I got the invite. I can’t wait to see how the organizers put it all together – it’s sure to look (and taste) amazing. However, picking an outfit was not easy; in fact, the theme made it harder, because Alice gives me all the ideas, and my budget is, like, “lol, nope”. Sigh. Stay tuned next week to see how it worked out.
And I hope you have a fabulous (and chic) holiday season!
Want to read more style confessions? Find them here, here, and here.
1. I’m a Judgy Judge Who Judges
Your style choices, that is.
Generally, I try to abide by a live-and-let-live philosophy: no judging people for any life choices that don’t directly impact others (without the latter’s consent). Basically, I’m like the ideal government. But, like the government, I’m not perfect. Sometimes, I judge.
Here are some of the things for which I will judge you (and your sartorial discernment):
Carrying a Michael Kors bag (extra judgment if it has that dangly MK medallion tag thing);
Enormous black-framed glasses (extra judgment if you have 20/20 vision)
Shooties (extra judgment if you refer to them as such)
Expensive t-shirts (extra judgment if they are grey, white, or black)
Aldo shoes (extra judgment if they have a 2-inch platform and you’re wearing them to work)
Instagramming your completely unremarkable brunch (extra judgment for every random object in the picture – lipstick, wallet, copy of The Goldfinch, Louboutins, etc.)
2. … And You Can Return the Favour
By judging mine, of course.
I have said before that I am, in many respects, a textbook “basic bitch”. Some of the things I like are deeply, inescapably trite. The sartorial equivalent of the Pumpkin Spice Latte. I am deeply at peace with this fact. (As I encourage you to be about your love of any items listed under #1 above).
Here are some things for which you can judge me:
Coveting a pair of Valentino Rockstuds (one day!)
Arm parties (when I remember)
Instagram selfies (I heart filters, and so do my wrinkles)
Matching all the colours (matchy matchy matchy)
J. Crew up the wazoo (hey, it rhymes!)
Ok, your turn: for what do you judge other people, and for what do you think you might be getting judged?
