November 24, 2025
Many of you are wondering what – if anything – you want to purchase to wear through this holiday season. I’m fortunate, in that I never have to do anything even remotely dressy at any point in the holidays…
But if this was my dilemma, and I wanted to treat myself to one REALLY nice item that I could keep and wear for the rest of my life, it might be this:
There are quite a few different colors that go well with red, but for this iteration, I’m starting with black, white, and accents of gold:
If you’re in a cold but dry spell, don’t forget that your white jeans are still fabulous in the late autumn…
sweater – J.Crew; earrings – Talbots; flannel shirt – Lands’ End; white jeans – Alex Mill; bag – Talbots; sneakers – adidas
If you are called-upon to show up with the full dressy thing working, a matching skirt is the easiest route. Make it taffeta, and you can’t miss!
sweater – J.Crew; earrings – Talbots; brooch – Holiday Lane; wristlet – Talbots; flats – Talbots; taffeta skirt – J.Crew
One of those after-work get togethers doesn’t require much more than sparkly earrings and a scarf in which green and red give you that festive feeling:
sweater – J.Crew; earrings – Little Sky Stone; scarf – Para Ruk; corduroy pants –L.L.Bean; tote bag – Rimini; boots – Blondo
Find the black skirt that you haven’t worn since last fall, and you’re all set. Pretty gold jewelry is all you need:
sweater – J.Crew; star earrings- The Met Store; pendant – The Met Store; bag – Lady Couture; boots – Donald Pliner; tights – J.Crew; wrap skirt – Nordstrom
Never discount the mileage you might get from a holiday-themed brooch! Talbots and Macy’s both have quite a few.
sweater – J.Crew; earrings – Belle de Mer; brooch – Holiday Lane; plaid turtleneck – Lands’ End; black chinos – Lands’ End; shoes – J.Crew
Velvet pants – even those styled like jeans – are inherently dressy! Add a simple shirt, a festive scarf, and some hairpins that make you look like you’re the gift… and red shoes!
sweater – J.Crew; red bow bobby pins – Anthropologie; oxford shirt – L.L.Bean; washed velvet pants – J.Crew; scarf – Ralu Fine Art; flats – Comfortview
When you pile all of these outfits and their accessories together – it’s only 10 pieces of clothing!
You, of course, wouldn’t need ALL of the jewelry, nor three pairs of black pants…
This wardrobe (well, sort of a wardrobe, right?) has the benefit of making it absolutely, positively impossible for you to dress badly. Everything goes together, and if your accessory choices are… quirky… just think of it as your own very personal style!
This would work just as well with navy… should I try that for us?
love,
Janice
p.s. Ten years ago, someone persuaded me to start a wardrobe with a Boucheron brooch!!! Not something that’s going to be in most of our accessory collections, but a fascinating idea…
Like this wardrobe? Save it to Pinterest.
I’m incredibly in love with this! I happen to love red…not just at Christmas, but all year round. However, red, to me, just equals Christmas. I cannot imagine Christmas without a good red sweater. Thank you for all of these marvelous ideas! I’m headed to Washington, DC, in about 10 days to celebrate my 60th birthday with my son and his family…and we’re going to make it a Christmas celebration too. The outfits you’ve picked here are ones I could easily adapt with pieces I already have to make the perfect travel capsule. Thank you so much…you’ve just done my packing planning for me!
Ellen, Happy Birthday! A little early….
I was thinking of you when I wrote this!
xoxo,
Janice
I love that…thank you, Janice. You will be seeing almost this very grouping in my photos from DC!
I also wear red year-round, so this works for me.
I would be in favour of navy, maybe with silver instead of gold?
I’d love to see the navy version (with silver jewelry), please,🙂
I like this wardrobe, and I would probably add a red cashmere cardigan to my suitcase for a little variety.
Question: does anyone know how well J Crew cashmere performs? I’m disillusioned with Lands End right now as I feel their quality has declined. I’m looking for another source, but my area doesn’t have an actual J Crew store nearby.
I’ve not had a Lands End cashmere. I have one really nice cashmere sweater from Macy’s so everything gets compared to that. I used to have a number of J Crew also – they are a little thinner (to me) and I always went up a size, but then I like my things loose. It’s been a few years since I bought J Crew, so all of that might have changed by now.
Sheila, thanks for your reply.
This capsule is similar to mine. Over the years, I’ve collected clothes for Christmas gatherings including a similar cable-knit sweater but with sparkly threads woven in. Other sparkly items are two turtlenecks, one in red, one in charcoal gray, and a boat neck sweater in cream. Also, a holly print turtleneck; an insulated vest in a plaid similar to the turtleneck shown; a casual fleece sweatshirt with three seasonal patchworks; and the obligatory tacky, knit Christmas vest. By adding black pants or skirt to any of these and having solid-colored turtlenecks in this palette, and I’m good to go. I’ve also shopped post-season sales (miss you, Kmart!) for inexpensive holiday jewelry. Always fun to bring out all these items for the holidays.
Love the throwback capsule inspired by the Boucheron brooch. Combining bold blue and green with black and white is palette that works for me.
It’s a Christmas capsule wardrobe! If this was in navy with green, plus silver accessories, I’d do it in a heartbeat. I love that Boucheron brooch.
Yes, please! Would be a beautiful combination.
This is very fun! This weekend I am going to pull out my Christmas clothing. Just a few things in red and green that I wear around the holidays. One is a red cardigan that was my grandmas and I always remember her as I wear it. :) I did just pick up a holiday brooch with a cute red pickup and a tree in the back. I was thinking of putting it on my camel coat. I found a fox one at the same time that I thought I could put on after the holidays were over.
I was tickled to see this post. I recently thrifted a similar red sweater in wool instead of cashmere. There were lots of good ideas that I will be able to use. I had optimistically hoped that you meant you would show other renditions of this post with different colors that go with the red sweater. It will be fun to see differently colored sweaters as the main focus too.
Possibly because red has always been my favorite color, I don’t think “Christmas” when I see it! Red is always good! Love this.
This is marvellous!! I love the happy and festive feeling of this mini wardrobe but it’s not in-your-face. (If that makes sense.)
Yes, please – bring on the navy version! I’m curious to see how you keep it firmly in December rather than July 1st or Bastille Day. Certain colour combinations instantly remind us of certain things or events.
Like other reader who’ve commented, I love red year round.
I’m going to put in a plug for those Blondo boots. I bought them in the Java espresso color. They sold out fast in that color. But the thing is, they’re very comfortable and they look amazing with trousers, jeans and skirts with tights.
This really is the perfect capsule for all winter.
Oh! And I forgot to mention that red is beautiful with my browns and tans and ivory.
Ooh emerald green or cobalt blue with silver would be great to see
Love! Love! Love! Could wear this all December long.
Love these wardrobe ideas. But the majority of my comments refer to the look back. I have always loved that wardrobe with the blue and green, printed it out and modified it last year for Christmas in LA with my children. “ . . . doesn’t ever wear lavish clothes, mostly things that are readily available… Clever enough to realize that she can have jewelry (and clothes) that make her heart sing without missing a rent payment“ seems like a description of me. Here are my modifications to the wardrobe. Green emerald sweater coat substituted for the black park. White sparkle turtleneck substituted for the white sparkle cardigan. Omitted one pair of black pants. Omitted the ankle boots. Added a white ruffle neck blouse. Added blue, green and magenta plaid turtleneck. Jewelry was very similar, but I do have emerald earrings. A crystal Christmas tree brooch was also added. I received many compliments from strangers and family. it was a fun and festive wardrobe. Thank you for the inspiration.
twlyt3,
Your wardrobe sounds amazing.
This makes me so happy! I have a more casual and quirky Christmas Capsule but this is inspiration for some dressier options. Love it! :)
Another vote for festive outfits in blue, green, and silver.
Beige also goes well with the lovely red sweater. Very pretty outfits.