FESTIVE DRESSING WITH SÉZANE

How is it mid-December already with only 8 days until Christmas? I don’t know about you, but I’m in full festive swing over here in Paris. The Christmas lights in the streets are on, trees are up and cafés are serving chocolat chaud. So to wrap up my collaboration with Sézane this year, I thought what better way to celebrate it and the end of 2019, than with an edit of a few of my favourite items to see you through the holiday season and into the new year. Items that as the French would do it, aren’t too festive - it’s rare that you’ll find a Parisian donning a Christmas jumper – so these are items that you can wear for any event during the winter months. And with longevity in mind, I’ve purposely chosen pieces that won’t loose their sparkle after one wear and can be stored away until next year, when they will look just as new and in style.

And so to find said key pieces that have a longer shelf life, I spent an afternoon in L’Appartement Sézane last week trying on a multitude of dresses, tops, trousers, blazers and accessories to find outfits that will suit whichever fancy occasion you’re going to in the next few weeks.

LA PETITE ROBE / ‘THE LITTLE DRESS’

It’s a no-brainer, but a dress is the simplest way to make you look like you’ve made an effort. If you’re anything like me, it’s unlikely you often wear dresses throughout the winter months, mainly because pants and denim are better at keeping any cold drafts out. But that’s not to say I don’t like wearing them and this season’s festivities offer the perfect excuse. So I’m currently taking every opportunity to don red lippy and something a little more fancy. In recent years I’ve become a fervent fan of the mid-length dress. Not only is it versatile, saves you from showing off a little too much skin if that’s not your thing and it can be sexed up with some statement jewellery. This long-sleeved style is perfect for colder weather and it has the epitome of that je ne sais quoi element that I look for when I want to dress more French – i.e. an open back which adds an unexpected seductive twist to an otherwise more demure look.

LE HAUT FESTIF / ‘THE PARTY TOP’

Ah the trusty ‘going out’ top, which this season (in my fashion vocabulary anyway), has graduated to the ‘party top’. If you’re a denim girl (*raises arm*), then this one is for you. The best way to elevate jeans – a Parisian staple – so you can take them from day to evening is with a cute top. Or as I recommend for this colder weather season, a long-sleeved number or a blouse. This berry red velvet one immediately caught my eye – not only because I feel like I’m wearing a very comfy pyjama top and who doesn’t like to also be comfortable on a night out? But it’s also incredibly flattering, due to its slinky material quality and tie waist, which looks great over a pair of high-waisted jeans. I sized up to give it that slightly oversized look that I feel looks better with these type of silhouettes.

LE (NON) SMOKING / ‘THE SEXY SUIT’

This timeless ensemble was first made famous by Yves Saint Laurent, whose now iconic ‘le Smoking’ tuxedo suit was immortalised in a Helmut Newton image. It went on to not only define a fashion movement – the turn towards a more masculine power dressing, but also an era where women started wearing the trousers in and out of the boardroom. And today there’s not a look more Parisian than the black suit, which has been worn by many a Parisian it-girl, namely perhaps Paris’s most famous it-girl, Caroline de Maigret. Incidentally it has be given a new life by Saint Laurent’s latest collection. So for my third look, I thought there was no better option that the ‘le Smoking’ or in my case, ‘le (non) Smoking’ as this is a timeless outfit that you can wear all year. Again I sized up with the jacket that accentuates my shoulders and waist. For extra French-ness wearing nothing but a lacy bra underneath, slightly tousled hair and a bold red lip.

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Created in collaboration with Sézane. Special thanks for Prince de Galles Hotel for the use of their suite.

Photos by Haleigh Walsworth, edited by Marissa Cox.