What to Wear to Your Work Holiday Party

It’s office holiday party time again! Ahhh that magical time of year when you get to enjoy awkward conversations with coworkers you hardly know over a glass of bubbly!  To aid in your sartorial and mental preparation, I’m excited to unveil this year’s guide to office holiday party attire (at the bottom of this post) AND offer you a reprise of my very best topics of conversation for filling awkward silences when forced to chat with the dude in accounting that’s super proud of the weird action figure collection he keeps at his desk. Discuss the following:

1. the weather
2. all of the weird action figures at his desk
3. how cold it is outside
4. how cold it is inside
5. whether he expects to receive more weird action figures for Hanukkah or Christmas
6. this weather though…

If you reach the end of this list and your work friends haven’t saved you yet, just play dead.

A few weeks ago Rich and I attended a black tie event with business colleagues and I had the pleasure of wearing this beautiful Jill Stuart number (which is CRAZYYY on sale here right now).  I was actually lucky enough to find this gem on Rent the Runway , which is an amazing resource if you’re not looking to invest in an expensive gown.  For me, it was the perfect dress for the occasion: formal and festive, but not uncomfortably revealing in a professional environment.

DRESS: Jill Jill Stuart c/o Rent the Runway  |  COAT: Adrienne Landau c/o Rent the Runway  |  SHOES: Stuart Weitzman (similar here)  BAG: Franchi c/o Rent the Runway  |  EARRINGS: Jules Smith c/o Rent the Runway  |  LIPS: Nars (Bansar)

Whether you’re headed for a casual gathering over lunch with work buddies, a business formal gathering in your office building, a swanky cocktail party at a local venue, or a black tie event, I hope the below guide will help spark some ideas!  As you can see, it’s organized into four general categories: casual office party, business formal office party, professional cocktail party, and black tie event.   Keep in mind that many of the pieces in each category could crossover, depending on how you wear them.

As always, be careful about striking the right balance between festive and appropriate at these types of work events.  A sequined pencil skirt would certainly be odd for a party in your office where most are in holiday business attire (like the ensembles in this post or this post), but if it’s a formal cocktail party at an upscale venue, the sequins may add just the right festive touch to the otherwise professional pencil skirt silhouette.

Basically everything below is on sale during all of the Black Friday sales today, so be sure to snag your favorites today.  If you missed my shortlist of all the best Black Friday deals, check them out here!  And, in the spirit of crazy good sales, be sure to peruse the 2015 Holiday Memo this weekend before everything goes back to full price next week for the lead-up to Christmas!