Christmas Outfits for Women That Get Compliments

If you live in wide jeans and sneakers, most Christmas outfits for women look like they were made for someone else. The dinner, the office party and the market all ask for something festive. You can have that and still recognize yourself in the photos, and it comes down to one simple rule.

I’ve gone through far more Christmas pins than I’d admit at dinner and kept the ones that still look like a real person’s. One festive piece is enough to make it Christmas, and everything else can stay the way you always wear it.

What Makes an Outfit Look Like Christmas?

Good Christmas outfits for women start with a single signal, because that’s how your eye reads Christmas. It can be a color like red or burgundy. It can be a texture like velvet or satin, or a pattern like plaid.

I call it the one-signal rule. One signal says you dressed for the day, and two still look festive. Once you’re wearing three, the outfit starts to look like a costume, and that’s the moment people ask if you’re going to a themed party.

Red is the strongest of the three. In five experiments, psychologists Andrew Elliot and Daniela Niesta found that men rated the same woman as more attractive when she was shown in red. That’s a lot of effect from one color, so a single red knit already does everything a Christmas outfit needs.

You’ll see it in almost every look below. About half of the sixty Christmas outfits I saved this year lean on one red or burgundy knit. Nearly all of them pair it with something plain. I’m sure you’ve guessed the plain part, because it’s usually denim.

Christmas Outfits for Women in Jeans

Jeans are fine. They just have to be the one plain thing in the outfit. The top carries the festive part, and the denim keeps it looking like you.

For dinner, I’d go darker. A dark rinse or black wash reads dressier than light blue, and it hides the gravy on your knee. Light washes stay in the daytime looks, like a shopping trip or the walk to a friend’s place.

1) A Red Knit With Dark Straight Jeans

In a cropped red knit at the coffee bar, you’d fit into a family brunch and a Christmas market without changing. Dark straight jeans and suede platform boots keep everything else calm. The red does the rest.

2) A Burgundy Sweatshirt Over Light Baggy Jeans

Matcha in hand and the sleeves pulled over your fingers, this is the most relaxed way into the season. A burgundy sweatshirt sits over light, low baggy jeans that pool over grey sneakers.

It’s a daytime outfit. For the dinner itself, swap the sweatshirt for a knit and the jeans for a dark pair.

3) A Long Red Scarf With a Red Cap

Here the color sits in the accessories. A long red scarf and a red cap go over a navy jacket and dark jeans, with red sneakers to finish it.

Same red three times still counts as one signal, because your eye reads it as one color. If you don’t own a red sweater, this is the cheapest way to get into Christmas.

4) A Burgundy Knit With Dark Wide Jeans

A white tee peeks out under a burgundy knit. The dark raw wide jeans have a seam down the front, and that seam makes the whole outfit look sharp. I’d wear this to a nice restaurant, and I don’t think you’d get a single look for the jeans.

The downside of jeans is how they read in a room full of dresses. At a formal Christmas party they can look underdressed, even dark ones. Keep them for the family dinner and the daytime, and save the next sections for the evening.

Why Burgundy Beats Santa Red

Bright red head to toe looks borrowed from Santa. Burgundy and cherry red look chosen, and they work just as well for a grown-up dinner as for a night out.

There’s a trick in these three Christmas outfits for women. Each of them pairs burgundy with grey, and grey is what makes burgundy look expensive. Black works too, but grey keeps it soft.

5) A Burgundy Sweater With Grey Baggy Jeans

Sunglasses stay on in the middle of winter. A burgundy oversized knit covers the hips, with grey baggy jeans and brown loafers below. You could wear it the whole Christmas week.

6) A Fuzzy Burgundy Knit With a Grey Pleated Mini

This fuzzy burgundy knit sits over a grey pleated mini. Black knee boots show a strip of white sock at the top. The grey keeps the burgundy from looking too sweet, and the boots get you through a short walk to the party.

7) A Burgundy Knit, a White Tee and Grey Jeans

A white tee goes under the burgundy knit, with grey wide jeans over brown clogs. The white edge at the neck brightens the dark color right next to your face. If you’re buying one basic for the holidays, I’d make it this tee.

Burgundy has one catch. On its own it can read more like fall than Christmas. If you want it more festive, add one light or shiny thing, like the white tee here, a silver earring or a cream bag. Green works with the same rule, and you’ll see it at the party.

Plaid, Tights and Knee Boots

Plaid is the one pattern that says Christmas without trying, which is why it shows up in so many Christmas outfits for women.

A plaid mini with tights and knee boots has been the most copied Christmas outfit for a few years now. Plaid already counts as your signal, so the sweater on top can stay plain.

Tights are the part most people get wrong. A sheer pair at 20 to 40 denier looks dressy indoors. For anything outside, I’d go for 60 to 100 denier, which looks almost opaque and keeps you a lot warmer.

8) A Bear Sweater, a Pleated Mini and Combat Boots

Against a red phone box in London, a burgundy bear sweater goes over a beige pleated mini. Ralph Lauren put the Polo Bear on a sweater for the first time in 1991. It’s been a Christmas favorite ever since, and the black combat boots stop it from looking too preppy on you.

9) A Cream Cable Knit With a Brown Plaid Mini

A cream cable knit turtleneck goes over a brown plaid mini. The brown knee boots show a fold of white sock. Brown plaid is softer than red, and you’ll wear it with black, cream and denim long after Christmas.

10) A Burgundy Cardigan With Gold Buttons

This one skips the plaid and still works. The burgundy cardigan has gold buttons, and they give it just enough shine for a party. A dark pleated mini and brown knee boots do the rest.

11) An Off-Shoulder Knit, a Plaid Mini and Slouchy Boots

A cream off-shoulder knit meets a plaid mini and brown slouchy boots. The bare shoulders make the knit dressy enough for an evening. Slouchy boots keep it relaxed, so you won’t feel overdressed at a friend’s place.

The obvious drawback is the cold. A mini with sheer tights is an indoor outfit. If you have to wait for a train or stand outside, switch to thick tights or go to the market section further down.

What to Wear to a Christmas Party

At night, shine wins.

For a party, the best Christmas outfits for women all have some. Under string lights and candles, matte cotton disappears, and velvet, satin and sequins catch the light every time you move. I explain the same effect in my guide to what color to wear on New Year’s Eve, and it works for a Christmas party too.

A party dress can take two signals at once, like red velvet. Then everything around it should be black or neutral. Black tights and simple shoes keep the dress the main thing.

12) A Red Velvet Mini Dress With Bows

A red velvet mini dress has a corset top and little bows on the straps. Simone Rocha, whose London shows have kept the bow in fashion for years, made this kind of detail look grown-up. With sheer black tights, it’s a dress you can wear to dinner first and dance in later.

13) A Red Dress With a White Bow and Faux Fur

Snow sits on the branches behind a red strapless dress with an oversized white bow. A cream faux fur jacket hangs over the shoulders. It’s the most festive look here. Keep your jewelry to one string of pearls.

14) A Green Sequin Mini With Sheer Tights

If you don’t wear red, this is your answer. A deep green sequin mini dress goes with sheer black tights and metallic heels. Green is the second Christmas color, and sequins turn it almost silver in the light.

15) A Burgundy Velvet Strapless Mini

An old painting hangs behind a burgundy velvet strapless mini, worn with sheer tights and black pointed heels. Burgundy velvet looks almost black in dim light. If you’re not sure about the dress code, it’s the safest party dress here.

Velvet and sequins have their downsides. Velvet crushes during a long dinner and shows marks where your bag rubs. Sequins scratch the inside of your arms and catch on knit coats. For a work party, I’d keep one shiny piece and wear it with trousers or a long skirt.

Satin Skirt Outfits for Christmas Dinner

A satin skirt under a big knit sweater is the most comfortable way to look dressed for Christmas. The skirt brings the shine and the sweater keeps you warm. You can sit through a three-hour dinner without thinking about your outfit once.

Of all the Christmas outfits for women here, it’s also the one that works best for a work party. A midi satin skirt is long enough for the office and still catches the light when the music starts.

16) A Red Knit With a Cream Satin Skirt

There’s a wreath on the door, a chunky red knit and a cream satin midi skirt. Red and cream look like Christmas without a single Christmas print. This one works for dinner with the family, and I think you’d like how light the cream feels in a dark room.

17) An Oatmeal Knit With a Cream Satin Maxi

An oversized oatmeal knit goes over a cream satin maxi skirt and black boots. There’s no Christmas color here. The satin is the only signal, and it’s enough, so you can wear the whole thing again in March.

18) A Grey Knit With a Black Satin Skirt

A soft grey knit sits over a black satin midi skirt and black ankle boots. It’s the easiest version for a work party. Nobody will look twice at it in the office, and it still looks different from what you wore on Monday.

Satin has two problems. It shows every crease, so hang the skirt up the night before. Cream satin also shows every drop of red wine, so if the dinner is a messy one, the black skirt is the smarter choice.

Christmas Day Outfits for a Day With Family

Christmas Day at your parents’ house has its own weather. Pack for it. The living room is overheated, the oven has been on since morning, and the walk to the neighbors is cold. Layers you can take off are the answer, like a tee under the sweater or a shirt you can open.

Thanksgiving dinner a month earlier has the same overheated living room, which is why our Thanksgiving outfit ideas start with that tee.

This is also the day of the family photo. Solid colors and one pattern look good in it for years. Big logos and slogans tend to date it.

19) A Plaid Shirt Dress With Burgundy Tights

An oversized plaid shirt is worn as a dress here, with burgundy opaque tights and studded black flats. The tights carry the color. That’s a clever trick for a day you’ll spend mostly on the floor by the tree.

20) A Bear Sweater and a Plaid Scarf

The cream sweater has a little bear in a navy sweater on the front, and a plaid scarf goes over it. A Christmas sweater works when the motif is small. If you’ve ever worn a big reindeer print to dinner, you know the difference.

21) A Fair Isle Sweater With Cream Wide Trousers

A navy Fair Isle sweater goes with cream wide trousers. Fair Isle comes from a tiny island in Shetland. The future Edward VIII made it famous in the 1920s by wearing it on the golf course. It’s the Christmas sweater that you’ll still wear in February.

The catch on Christmas Day is the heat. A chunky Fair Isle in an overheated living room gets uncomfortable within an hour. Put a thin tee under it, and the knit can come off when the oven opens.

Christmas Market Outfits That Keep You Warm

A Christmas market is mostly standing still in the cold, and standing still is colder than walking. You line up for mulled wine, you wait for friends, and after an hour your feet are frozen.

For Christmas outfits for women at a market, the coat matters more than anything under it. A long coat or a thick jacket, a scarf, a hat or earmuffs and real gloves keep you there for the evening. The festive signal moves to the scarf, because that’s what shows in every photo.

22) A Dark Coat, a Plaid Scarf and a Tiny Tree

In white mittens with a little tree under one arm, you’re dressed for the whole market. A dark wool coat goes with a red plaid scarf and a red headband. The scarf is the signal and the coat keeps you warm. For a whole evening outside, I’d switch the sheer tights for thick ones.

23) A Leather Jacket With a Long Red Scarf

Lit shop windows glow behind a brown leather jacket, a navy cap and a very long red scarf. This is the streetwear way to do a market. The scarf does what a red sweater would do, and you can wear it every day until January.

24) A Cream Fleece Jacket With Big Mittens

It’s cream on cream at the market stall: a fleece jacket, a fringed scarf and white mittens. Cream looks festive in the snow. It’s also the color most likely to come home with a mulled-wine stain.

25) A Fluffy Bucket Hat and a Patterned Fleece

A fluffy white bucket hat tops a patterned fleece jacket and wide grey trousers. Nothing here is a Christmas color. It still looks like the season because of the textures, and the hat keeps your ears warm without flattening your hair.

The trade-off with warm market outfits is that nobody sees the outfit. A puffy layer hides everything under it. That’s why I’d always pick the scarf as your festive piece for the market.

A Leather Mini Skirt for Christmas Week

Between Christmas and New Year’s, the shine in Christmas outfits for women can move into daylight with a leather mini. Leather catches the light softly, so it looks dressed up at night and normal at lunch.

26) An Oatmeal Knit With a Burgundy Leather Mini

An oversized oatmeal knit meets a burgundy leather mini and tan slouchy boots. The burgundy leather is the signal, and the soft knit keeps it relaxed. Wear it to lunch, and it still works for a drink at night.

27) Brown Leather From Coat to Boots

A long brown leather coat goes over a brown turtleneck, a leather mini and knee boots, all in one color. It’s bold. If you want to try it, start with a skirt and boots in the same brown and add the coat later.

A real leather skirt is an investment, and faux leather can squeak and get warm at a long dinner. If you’re buying one, I’d choose a dark shade, which you’ll wear long after December.

Your Christmas Outfit, Start to Finish

Every outfit here follows the same idea. Pick one festive signal, like a burgundy knit, a plaid skirt, velvet or a red scarf, and keep the rest the way you normally dress.

If you’re only buying one piece this year, I’d make it a burgundy knit. It goes with your jeans for the family dinner, with a satin skirt for the party and under a coat at the market.

For the weeks after Christmas, we’ve collected more winter streetwear for women, with knits and coats that keep going until March.

And if you want more ideas for the evening, my fall date night outfits use the same trick of one shiny or dark piece.

Questions About Christmas Outfits for Women