If You Truly HATE Wearing Dresses For Events And Holiday Stuff, These 3 Outfit Templates Will Solve Everything
It can be done.
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by Audie Metcalf
We hate to tell you this, but we’re officially in “oh god what am I gonna wear for all these dumb work parties and events and dinners and holiday things because I hate wearing dresses plus I don’t even like any of my dresses so then it’s maybe skirts but skirts also feel weirdly cloistered because what goes with fancy skirts and then gross what shoes do I wear with skirts and forget it I’m not going” season.
So this year, we decided to come up with a solution, once and for all.
Three alternatives to dresses and skirts, all comfortable, all chic, so you’ll both feel like yourself, while also secretly being the most effortlessly best-dressed person in the room.
Let’s dive in.
1. The Velvet Suit
Reign Blazer* and Marlow Trouser*
A suit is, well, perfect. There is almost no semi or formal event on this earth where a gorgeously cut suit isn’t the right thing to wear. The key, of course, is finding the perfect one. Black feels a little bit too boring to us, but you don’t want something patterned or too wild because then you won’t feel right wearing it constantly because it’s all too much. We dieeeeeee for this one from Paige because we first set out to find a suit that REALLY fits, and that usually starts with the pants. Paige makes the best-fitting jeans known to (wo)man, and they all make your butt look out of this world so we assumed these trousers would fit similarly and … we were right. See the full suit from the front, the side, and behind.
It’s a bit of a splurge, but for a full suit we feel like there is no better investment. We will also be wearing the pants separately with a crisp, white button down, and the blazer with jeans. Endless possibilities. And this luscious aubergine velvet? Deceased.
Use the code CANDIDLY15 to get 15% off.
* Gifted products included
2. The Sparkly Shirt
Vilma Top*
We’ll be honest with you. We miss the trend of the going-out top. The going-out top meant you could basically ignore everything else you’re wearing, and if you had a gorgeous, star-of-the-show top, you were golden. This sparkly (but chic and tasteful) top* is like the grown-up version of the going-out top. Also, we recently wrote a whole thing about tops you don’t need to tuck in. Because we realized wearing a tucked-in top makes us very agitated and annoyed throughout the day—the endless adjusting! The stuffing back into the pants! And so, since that revelation, we have been specially looking for tops and shirts that are zero-tuck-required. Should we play a drinking game with how many times we’ve said the word top? Actually let’s not. It’s the middle of the day and we can’t handle it. Here it is on a real person—pay close attention to how the cinched waist gives a lovely shape while the peplum brilliantly disguises the extra pooch we’ll be getting once we tuck into the manifold creamy dips and tiny toasts at all of our soirées:
Use the code CANDIDLY15 to get 15% off.
* Gifted products included
3. The Fancy Jeans
Yes, those are the jeans I’m wearing with the sparkly shirt. But they needed their own category because a fancy jean is such a good way to look gorgeously put together but for the MOST “non dressy” of all of us. These jeans almost look like leather, but if you think we’re wriggling into some soul-sucking pair of leather pants, you don’t know us very well. They have something called a luxe covering so they almost gleam in the sunlight. They are, of course, the beloved Paige jeans we mentioned before that look spectacular on ALL bodies and make everyone’s butt look pert and juicy and perfect. Evidence here. We’re pairing it leopard boots* and a leopard cardi* because a double leopard felt like the right amount of “extra” as the kids say (actually no one says that anymore) but it could be paired with any black top for a full monochrome moment, of course including the sparkly number* above. The fit of these jeans just cannot be overstated. They are close to magic.
Use the code CANDIDLY15 to get 15% off.
* Gifted products included
Oh, and Ps: Here is a live shot of me fully eating it when trying to pose for this photo. So to those who think my job is without risk … I’ll be icing a bruise the exact same aubergine as this suit later this eve.
Audie Metcalf is the Editor-in-chief of The Candidly, and lives in LA with her family. You can find more of her articles here.
At The Candidly, we try a lot of stuff so you don’t have to. We only recommend things we truly love, and that we think you’ll love, too. All products are chosen independently by our creative team, and all details reflect the price and availability of products at the time of publication. If you buy something we link to, The Candidly may earn a commission.
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