5 Holiday Party Outfits for Every Kind of Bash

There’s a lot to juggle this time of year. Are you flying home for Thanksgiving? How many gifts are you on the hook for? Did you forget to RSVP to something important? And that’s before you even ask the real seasonal question: What the hell are you wearing through all of this? Naturally, here at GQ, we’re thinking about that part more than is probably healthy (it’s our job after all).

It’s the holiday season, baby—parties from the window to the wall. Work parties, friend parties, family obligations disguised as brunch, and of course, the Big One: New Year’s Eve. This leads to sartorial questions like: What does “creative black tie” actually mean? Who’s gonna be at the party? Will anyone notice if you outfit-repeat?

Lucky for you, your friendly neighborhood GQ Recommends squad has pooled our collective holiday scars and successes to serve up something useful and cut through the noise: five foolproof holiday party outfits to get you through the rest of Q4—no matter where you’re headed, or who might be lurking under the mistletoe.

6 Key Elements to an Excellent Holiday Party Outfit

The Dreaded Work Party

Work parties are funny, aren’t they? A company-mandated bit of Forced Fun that is either booked at a middling bar or—God forbid—held right there under the fluorescent glare of the office. Our advice is to dress for what it is: a chance to loosen up, but not too much. Go ahead and mingle, have a drink or two, chat with Doug in Accounts Payable. But don’t go full Dionysus in front of Upper Management (or, if you are Upper Management, your employees). You don’t want to hand your work nemesis ammunition, or give your boss a reason to rethink that promotion.

Clothing-wise, aim for the middle lane: blazer and shirt up top, maybe even a fun tie if you’re feeling festive, but still keeping it grounded with jeans and a soft sweater. We’d avoid sneakers here, so throw on some oxfords, loafers, or a dressier pair of boots. It’s the sweet spot between sociable and sensible—exactly where you want to be, at least until you and the rest of the cool kids peel off to an afters.

Buck Mason

Graduate Blazer

Paul Fredrick

Pinpoint Button-Down Collar Shirt

Naadam

Cashmere V-Neck Sweater

The New Year’s Bash

Hot take: dressing up for New Year’s is easy. Even if it’s just a house party, it’s one of the few nights you can get away with being a little overdressed. But if you’re lucky enough to wind up at a soirée, a shindig, a full-blown gala—so much the better. One way to have some fun with the whole “creative black tie” brief is to swap the classic tux jacket for a velvet smoking jacket (or, as the French say, le smoking). Go rich with the colour, or play it cool in a blackwatch tartan.

Down below, velvet slippers will loosen things up far more than laced-up patent Oxfords ever could. And when you add a bow tie (which will also look great untied, dangling from your collar after midnight) you’re locked in. New Year’s Eve rarely lives up to the hype, but a formal fit like this guarantees the pictures will look like it did.

J.Crew

Shawl-Collar Velvet Dinner Jacket

Suitsupply

Straight Leg Tuxedo Trousers

Morjas

Belgian Suede Loafers

Anglo Italian

Faille Silk Bow Tie

Proper Cloth

White Luxury Thomas Mason Broadcloth Shirt

The Hometown Reunion

Back home for the holidays and headed to the local for a few rounds of domestic? Time to remind your high school crush you’re thriving in the big city—just not so much that you can’t beat the “you’ve changed” allegations.

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