It’s that special time again where we all get a chance to go to more parties than usual and have the chance to really get dressed up! Here are my 5 top tips to looking fabulous at your Christmas parties!

Be aware of colour:

It’s so easy and so standard to opt for a little black dress for a Christmas party but unless black really suits you then you will fade into the background. Even if it does look great on you why not try something different to really stand out in the crowd. When choosing a new dress consider what you natural colouring is, if you have light hair and light eyes avoid black, try on lighter colours or soft silver or gold. If your colouring has a yellow warm base to it then gold will be more flattering than silver, which is best for a cool pinky based skin tone. If you have depth to your colouring for example very dark hair then stronger colours will be really striking.

The other thing to assess in the mirror is if you can really take bright colours, if your colouring is quite soft then that fire engine red or shocking pink dress will over whelm you. People will see the dress first before they see you, and you don’t want that when you have made such an effort to do your hair and make up!


A word of warning......shiny fabrics will attract light and make an area look bigger, so avoid light shiny metallic’s on any area you don’t want to draw attention to!

Make sure you have a perfect fit:

When buying an outfit ensure it fits you correctly, anything too tight will make you look bigger. Hanging loose and not fitting properly will instantly loose you style points and it will just look like you are borrowing someone else’s clothes. It also might even make you look bigger than you really are if you are not showing off the best parts of your figure correctly!

Suck in any bulges with clever underwear:

If Trinny and Susannah have not drummed this into you by now then hopefully I will! Wearing the correct bra is crucial; it can change your whole shape. If you don’t have much of a bust then a padded bra can give you shape and if you do then you need one to provide uplift and give a smooth line to your shape, rather than digging in and creating double breasts or squashing you. Some dresses you might find you can’t wear a bra with but it’s worth trying on some strapless ones so you still feel supported and shapely.

Pants of Steel! There are lots of fantastic support pants out there to hold wobbly bits in and give you a great curvaceous shape. You can find ones that hold your bum in or actually give you one, hold that stomach in and even ones that do all of it. Check out M&S and department stores such as John Lewis for a good range of styles. Spanx is a good make to go for. There is no need any more to go out worrying about love handles, wobbly tummies or saggy bums!

Prepare Prepare Prepare!

By the time it gets to the Christmas party time of the year we usually have not exposed our flesh for a good few months, and with the summer we have just had it might have been even longer! So to get your skin ready for exposure so you feel fabulous prepare by exfoliating your body to get rid of dead skin cells and feel lovely and smooth. De-fuzz in whichever way you prefer and then perhaps you might like to put on a bit of fake tan or there are some great shimmer lotions around you can apply on the night to leave you all sparkly and seductive! MAC does amazing loose glitter, perfect for dramatic party eyes or sprinkling over your body to add sparkle!

Lastly your hair; a deep conditioner left on the night before for at least an hour and some good serum on the day will ensure your hair is silky smooth and de frizzed! I recommend Kiehl’s hair serum and also Keraste hair products. If you like to have straight hair their Oleo Relax range has straightening oils in it which work miracles! They also have a curly hair range too.

Shoes

Lastly I can’t finish this with out mentioning shoes, one quick way of feeling fabulous is having a great pair of shoes. No matter how concerned you might be about certain areas of your body a gorgeous pair of shoes will always finish off an outfit and can really stand out. I recommend going for a pair that is a different colour from your dress for high impact. There are some fantastic glitter or embellished shoes around these days which are great fun for Christmas parties especially if you are opting for a simple black dress.