The Christmas break is the one time of year when the fashion rule book is gleefully torn up and thrown out of the window. The party season is thankfully over so you can stop stressing about the dress-versus-jumpsuit dilemma, control pants and cramming flats in your tiny clutch so you don’t have to wear your murderous heels on the night bus home.
As millions of us travel home (as in ‘home’ where you grew up, not the place you actually, y’know, live most of the time), it’s as if every single style rule we’ve supposedly learned is forgotten as the suburban stations rush past the train window. Modern-goth-minimalism is out, elasticated waistbands are in. It’s brilliant. So here are the seven fashion moments that only happen when you’re home for Christmas. We’re not saying they’re chic (quite the opposite in fact), or that you’ll necessarily be snapping any #OOTD selfies for your Insta followers’ enjoyment - but they’re festive, comfy and FUN.
N.B. We are not even going to mention onesies. So, so wrong.
Shopping mum’s wardrobe
Its easy to see how it happens - you're bored, slightly sozzled*, The Sound of Music is droning away in the overheated lounge, so you wander upstairs, glass of Advocaat in hand, averting your eyes from awkward school photos on the 'wall of fame' and before you know it you're rummaging through your mum's wardrobe, enthusiastically pulling out 'amazing vintage pieces' (ie clothes from the ‘90s that she still wears quite happily) which you could DEFINITELY style into some devastatingly chic, ironic, retro New Year's Eve ensemble. Stop. Step away from the stirrup pants.
Your teenage mistakes
"Daaaaad, please can I go in the attic?" He grumblingly lets down the lethal trapdoor which resembles an Indiana Jones boobytrap and you clamber up the rickety ladder to get all misty-eyed over suitcases filled with your old clothes. Could you repurpose that argyle tank top which seemed so Cher-from-Clueless when you bought it? That highly flammable grey polyester school jumper could totally double as last season Prada, right? And band t-shirts! So many band t-shirts! Bonus points for them being authentic rather than the faux-vintage-rock-tees sold in Toppers, but that’s only because no-one in their right mind would pretend to like Linkin Park. Wear in bed, not in public.
Dressing like a Christmas tree
Red jumper, green skirt, green tights, brown boots oh and don't forget the tinsel earrings and a lavish coating of Claire’s glitter hairspray, obvs. You look ridiculous, but you're happy (that’s ‘happy’ as in ‘possibly still drunk’.) Taking sartorial inspiration from the Christmas tree will probably never make it into the pages of a glossy fashion mag, but who cares? This is a particularly good look for a Boxing Day walk - cosy, colourful and comfortable - just the thing for lifting the spirits in the post-Christmas-comedown.
Read More: The Ultimate Pyjama Guide: Every Pair You Possibly Need For Christmas
Nightwear As Daywear (not in a sexy way)
One of the greatest joys of the festive season lies in changing from night time PJs into different 'day time jammies' - preferably brand new fleecy ones sporting cartoon animals, chosen by your mum, opened on Christmas Day and put on immediately. God bless the elasticated waistband. It’s the gift that keeps on giving.
Sparkly top, skinny jeans and heels:
It doesn't matter if you spend the rest of the year working a Celine-esque minimalist look or sporting neon Jeremy Scott style cartoon brights, on Christmas Eve in the pub you will be wearing: a sparkly top, skinny jeans and heels. Just like you have for the past five years. This is because you will be eyeballing your old school nemesis across the bar and quite frankly it’s the only fashion language that witch understands. If you can't beat 'em and all that. And in a way it’s quite nice to stop worrying about looking ‘on trend’ and instead just wear something that might not be earth-shatteringly cool, but just looks...nice.
Properly fluffy slippers
Not cool Moroccan ones with mirror embellishments, or the posh ones you ‘liberated’ from that boutique hotel’s spa, but big, fat, fluffy novelty slippers, Maybe Garfield ones, or to continue the festive theme, ones sporting reindeer antlers.
A football shirt
The only way to bond with taciturn uncles and sullen teenage cousins is to drag out your old football shirt and settle down to the watch the Boxing Day match in their company. No-one will actually speak to each other, you understand, but the spirit of Christmas will be alive and well as you silently munch After Eights and watch the box.
*Christmas is the only time of year it's acceptable, nay, compulsory to use words like 'sozzled'
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.