Dress Code

Tonight is Christmas Eve and even though I have a small house with limited seating, my annual party has a dress code. I don’t expect ball gowns and tuxedos but I do expect a little upgrade dressing. No jeans. I love that my daughter’s boyfriend has already called for a wardrobe check. For myself, I try to select something festive and pretty. Tartan is meant for Christmas Eve and I have a floor length skirt. But I wore that last year. Of course, no one will remember except the photo album but this year I can’t help thinking how nice something sparkly would be to mirror the stars that will be dotting tonight’s clear and cold winter sky.

Christmas dressing in the past was always resplendent. Somehow the pine green shantung silk shirtdresses of the 50’s were lost along the way. So too, the wide shouldered dresses and suits of the 40’s that gave Christmas Eve its importance and significance. But tonight, I just want special for a special night. I hope I will see some chic cashmere separates, perhaps a beaded sweater or charmeuse blouse in a lovely jewel tone.

In my favorite Christmas film, Since You Went Away, Claudette Colbert’s character Anne Hilton entertains her eclectic war-time company in a green Dacron dress and large brooch. Her daughters wear velvets in green and red. All wear heels. They look lovely and fine, even though the year without Pop, who is missing in the Pacific, was painful and difficult. They showed up in finery befitting the holiday. And somehow, it speaks to hope and a better life ahead.

I am indeed hopeful that 2012 will be wonderful, and to show how much, I’ve decided that even if I don’t wear sparkles tonight, I just may grace myself with the prettiest and flirtiest crimson bow you will ever see.