Christmas Night In & Striking Gold

Dressing up is a bit of a chore for me.I don't like the whole shebang with the makeup, the heels and the sparkly dress. I find it hard work and beneath the glamour, you're cold and uncomfortable. And when you've eaten, you bloat. Lovely.

But I had the annual Mums Christmas Get Together last weekend. A night in with a Chinese takeaway and a bottle of grape'o vino. And I was in a bit of a quandary over what to wear and then bingo! We struck gold.

I dug out my black French Connection Berrie dress so named because it has da da dah ..... berries on it. I picked it up in the post Christmas sales when it had been reduced from £67 down to £52. Big savings. Not. But £15 is £15 and it's better in my pocket than someone elses. And as I'd been hunting it down, for once when I saw it, I bought it. No snoozing, no losing this time. This is what I call one of my curtsey rather than a take a bow dresses. Bend over in this one and everyone will be choking on their canapes.

French Connection Berrie Dress (old)

So far - looks more day than night.

Black opaques are an essential with the dress. And the boots? These are the Jigsaw Poppy boots which I hankered after for so long. I played the waiting game and scored them in the summer sale - woop woop! What you might not be able to make out in the photos below is that the boots have a hidden platform in the front which makes them that much more comfortable and still keeps them streamlined. This was their first outing and I'm pretty pleased with them.

Jigsaw Poppy Boots SS12

What - these old things?

L my friend was agog that it had taken me so long to wear them but that's pretty much what I'm like - I buy, I hoard, I stroke it, put it back in my wardrobe and then a couple of months down the line (or even years in the case of my Mulberry bag), I finally get it out and decide to wear/use it. It also means you can legitimately use the phrase "What? This old thing?".

And striking gold? I did this in my Hobbs NW3 cardigan.

It's like a gold spray paint job on top of a black cardi.

Perks up the dress a bit and makes it more nighttime.

I think that topped the dress off nicely - a nod to the Christmas spirit with the gold which also helps take it in to the evening. I didn't go overboard - I wasn't out on the razz, I didn't need sparkles and sequins (phew) and I felt neither underdressed or overdressed (which I am usually). The cardigan was a Christmas present last year and I like the fact that it's a dirty metallic (the grunge factor comes to the fore yet again) and you can work it with a dress like the above or with a tee and jeans as below. To be honest - it's the perfect Christmas cardigan but one which can be worn all year round.

Happier in this than the dress.

So which outfit would you have gone for? I personally prefer the jeans one but sometimes you've just got to take yourself out of your comfort zone and stick on a dress ... all in the name of Christmas.

So, are you in dresses, sparkles, jeans or velvet this year? If I had my own way, I'd be in a pair of joggy bots.

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Just a thought.

For the DIY'ers out there. It might actually be possible to do this with an old black cardigan and a can of gold spray paint providing you don't keel over from the fumes first. Just a thought. I dare you!