This week’s question was posed by our Friday Fox: “Do you dress in any particular color or style for holidays or special days?”
Back when I taught elementary school students, I would try to wear holiday-associated colors at various times of the year. I had school spirit shirts, an orange pumpkin t-shirt for Halloween, fall colors to wear during November, and so on. I often made vests for specific holidays, because that was an economical way of adding to my wardrobe – especially if I purchased the fabric on clearance after the holiday and did my sewing in preparation for the following year.
Now that I’m semi-retired and work with college students, I pay far less attention to my wardrobe. I’ve never been particularly interested in shopping for clothes. I dress for comfort, the weather, and the requirements or expectations of the event I’m attending. I’ve found that my personal heating system seems to have changed, so I no longer wear sweatshirts or sweaters (except for one white and one black cardigan) because I just get too hot. I have two pairs of jeans, three dress slacks – khaki, navy, and black, and enough shirts to get me through a couple of weeks. I have black clothes to wear at concerts, and a few dresses for special occasions. And that’s pretty much it. After our awful experience clearing out my mom’s house and moving her three times in just over a year, my brothers and I have devoted ourselves to getting rid of things we don’t need, and my closets are finally starting to thank me for my efforts. Hopefully, things will be easier for our kids when we’re ready to move.
If I’m going to give a nod to the holidays through what I’m wearing, it’s going to be with accessories. I have a few necklaces and scarves with holiday prints, because those are easy to store. But I often forget to pull them out and use them unless I’m reminded. Since the usual attire for band and orchestra concerts is all black, we’ll often decide to add a splash of holiday color at some of our performances. I can manage that. But truthfully, I’ve never been one to put a lot of time into planning my wardrobe. I just have too many things to worry about, and clothing choice ranks far down on my list of priorities. Here are pictures from two of our recent concerts – one from Pumpkinfest, and one from our Christmas concert. I actually remembered to wear my scarves at both performances this year!
How about you? Do you plan your clothing choices around the holidays?
Angela Schroeder
Patricia Kiyono
Elaine Cantrell
Jeff Salter
Joselyn
Tonette Joyce
Four Foxes, One Hound 
Hmmm. I like your idea of making a vest to be the accent piece for a particular holiday… presumably over something you could wear year-round.
As far as thermostats go, I think my personal “stat” is also changing. I used to sleep under blankets, but now I hardly use more than a sheet.
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I imagine if you lived up here, you might want more than a sheet! But I no longer need a thick comforter, thanks to the temps my hubby insists on maintaining. Yes, an accent piece with year-round clothing definitely makes things easier!
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I have noticed that change in me, too, Jeff.I used to be cold in the winter at night no matter where I lived,but no more.I have questioned around and it seems that being on blood pressure meds makes a change that way.
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Love the blog. It’s what I’m doing, too. Reducing. I’ve been wearing a basic uniform for comfort and ease of wear for years. Simplicity rules.
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Reducing certainly does make things simpler! I’ve been trying really hard to institute a house rule: for each new thing that enters our house, two things need to leave. Hubby’s not cooperating, but I try to find ways to make some of his stuff disappear. Last year, our accountant was amazed at the number of receipts I had from donations. Just wait until this year’s visit! Thanks so much for stopping in, Diana.
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I have been coordinating my wardrobe as well, with mostly what I wear in a few basic colors,slack and sometimes skirts, and the tops a coordinating color.
Gotta love sale material, but vests are not my thing;I never carried them off well. More on Friday.
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I’m pretty short and stout for vests, but it was an easy and inexpensive way to acknowledge the holidays and seasons – and my students weren’t critical. I haven’t worn a vest since I retired from full time teaching.
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Dress for the holidays? Not really, but I do dress for the occasion. Especially when I’m at any event held for books or authors. Since becoming an author, I like to look like one. That means no torn jeans or baggy t-shirt or sweatshirt.
Artists have been known to wear outlandish clothing and have their hair sometimes look as if they’d stuck their finger in an electrical outlet, but I believe authors should look respectable, accomplished. If I’m going to a dinner, I like to dress appropriately for the place where the dinner is held. If a casual party, I’ll dress down, but always with a neat appearance. At an author/book meeting or social, I dress in feminine business attire.
Holiday dressing has never been my style, although I might wear a particular color outfit connected with the season.
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Yes, my wardrobe acknowledgement to a holiday would be in color choices. And I agree that a professional, neat appearance is important when I want to be taken seriously – which is most of the time. Thanks for weighing in!
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Thank you, Patricia. I’ve seen many an author show up to these events wearing old jeans and a t-shirt or even torn and ragged jeans and a wrinkled shirt handing off their shoulders. When I’m at home working on my WIP I might be in extremely comfortable clothing, but not in public. Okay. End of rant. LOL
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It sounds like we shop in similar ways.
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Holiday themed vests sound cute! Accessories are definitely a nice way to add a little fun to your wardrobe.
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They take up a lot less room in my closet, too!
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