If you’re like me, you probably left your Christmas Eve party in the early hours of the morning, which means that when you eventually stumble blindly out of bed today, on Christmas Day, you’re going to have a hangover as big as the Himalayas and more regrets than you’ve had hot dinners this year alone.
From my extensive research in this field, this does not only make for a very grumpy person devoid of the cheer that meeting other creatures on this particular day demands, but it will also mean that you’ll pay very little attention to what you’re going to wear for the six-hour eating fest which is about to befall you. I learned how important it is to plan this particular day’s outfit at my own expense.
Picture this: Christmas Day, 2007. I must have been around 19 at the time and it was the first Christmas where I would be having lunch with my then boyfriend’s family rather than my own and without really thinking it through, I decided to wear a relatively short dress (to be fair, it didn’t look that short on the hanger).
Into the room I confidently strode, a full metre taller than everyone else, with my ex desperately trying to pull down my dress from the back
I coupled my thumping headache and short black dress with killer heels and into the room I confidently strode, a full metre taller than everyone else, with my ex desperately trying to pull down my dress from the back and a cold realisation slowly setting in that maybe this wasn’t my finest sartorial hour.
The moral of that story was a simple one: when it comes to Christmas and all activities where you think you might not be able to take your time to get ready, plan well ahead and try to foresee which problems a prospective outfit might give rise to. If you’re going to a big Christmas lunch, don’t wear a tight dress which is literally going to showcase your food baby for the whole world to see and make you look like one of those netted porks you see at the butcher’s.
If you know you’re going to spend hours on your feet, don’t wear skyscraper heels. And yes, if you’re meeting your boyfriend’s extended family for the first time, you might not want to look like an extra from Dancing with the Stars that never made it home last night. When it comes to Christmas, it truly is a case of comfort being key.
So if you’re reading this before getting ready, please, please, please drop that lycra dress and reach for something a little more forgiving. May your Christmas be merry and your visa cards and bellies be full!