Holiday Dresses & Styling Tips For Mature Women

Happy Holidays! The month of December is filled with all kinds of parties, work-related events, special dinners out with friends, romantic date nights, and family gatherings. Many women will need a fashionable holiday party or cocktail dress. It is very important to know how to accessorize and style them.

Three simple rules I look for in a dress for a mature woman, (I will turn 60 this month). These rules work for me and I hope they will be of help to you as well.

1. I always like to have a dress that hits right at the knee, or anywhere from there and on down to the floor.

2. I also like long sleeves or 3/4 length sleeves the best as they look more flattering on most mature women. This can hide the dreaded “chicken wing” arms that come with aging.

3. My favorite look is to show just a little bit of shoulder because this is the one part of the body that gravity hasn’t taken down.  I also think it looks classier than a low cut dress does on mature women. Sometimes our decolletage can be a quick give away to our age as this is delicate skin that wrinkles easily. The four dresses I recently wore below follow the guidelines I just discussed. By the way, all of these dresses from Venus were under $40.00 and one was only $30.00! In addition, you can save 20% with my coupon code!  Use SANDYX20 and save an additional 20% off your order now through 12/14/2018

IMG_3926 2.jpeg

An emerald green off the shoulder dress with bell sleeve detail. I wore this out to date night with my hubby at a nice restaurant and then we were off to the Pacific Symphony in Orange County for a Christmas Concert.

This dress is very simple, so I chose a statement necklace and a small less noticeable earring to compliment the necklace and not compete with the necklace. The oof the shoulder look is ideal for a statement necklace if the dress is simple. My philosophy is to choose one thing to stand out and then let everything else play a back seat to the main attraction. I finished the look with an almost nude/golden sparkly pair of heels with some modern strappy details. I will link the dress and shoes below for you. At Venus, use code SANDYX20 and save an additional 20% off your order now and through 12/14/2018

Green Off the shoulder dress https://www.venus.com/viewproduct.aspx 

Kelly & Kate gold heels https://www.dsw.com/en/us/product/kelly-and-katie-sevama-pump/439088

IMG_3821 2

A cream & navy off the shoulder lace midi dress. I wore this to a late night performance of The Nutcracker and out to dinner with friends.

This dress has a lot going on with the busy lace pattern, long sleeves, and ruffled off the shoulder color. Because this dress has so much going on, I let it be the focus and did not over-accessorize. I just added a simple pair of rhinestone and pearl earrings, no necklace, because of all the focus at the top of the dress, and a strappy, sparkly pair of heels that played to the longer length of the dress. This extra long length brought the eye down to put the focus on the strappy shoes as the featured backup accessory. I will link the dress and the shoes below for your convenience. Any pearl or dressy earring will due. At Venus, use code SANDYX20 and save an additional 20% off your order now and through 12/14/2018

Navy & cream lace dress https://www.venus.com/viewproduct.aspx

Silver rhinestone sandals https://www.dsw.com/en/us/product/nina-ryba-sandal/419371

IMG_3812

A black cocktail off the shoulder party dress with sleeve detail. I wore this to the Festival of Lights at the Historic Mission Inn in Riverside, and then to a late dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, Mario’s Place.

Sleeve detailing is very on trend this season, so when I saw this it caught my eye as an alternative to the ever popular little black dress. This dress is my favorite length of dress for mature women. As we age our knees start to show the signs of aging, so just below the knee can be very flattering. I still wear dresses that hit just at the knee or just above, but I really do think this just below the knee length is my best look. I minimally accessorized with just a large white and ringtone statement earring and no other jewelry because of the fancy sleeves. I gave it just a little punch with the black rockstar heels that have a touch of a jewelry type feel. Lastly, I paired it my black Chanel handbag for just a touch of elegance. The earrings, shoes, and handbag were all this dress needed to finish off the look. I will link the dress, shoes, and some similar handbags for your convenience below. At Venus, use code SANDYX20 and save an additional 20% off your order now and through 12/14/2018

Black off the shoulder dress https://www.venus.com/viewproduct.aspx

Valentino rockstud heels https://indi.com/p/9g8v7/9gkcs

Rockstud dupe heels for less https://www.dsw.com/en/us/product/mix-no.-6-liraven-pump/433555

IMG_3905

A pink long sleeve lace dress with a tulip bottom hem. This dress was all about two popular trends: the soft blush pink color, and lace. This look was for a daytime semi-formal holiday wedding. I chose to style this dress with a blush and rose gold necklace, a bracelet and earring set that was a gift from the bride, I thought it would be a nice touch to have her see me wearing it on her special day. This was more jewelry that I might normally wear, but because it all matched and was in similar color to the dress it worked. I just wore a sparkly golden/nude pair of heels to keep in line with the semi-formal dress attire. I will also link this dress and shoes below for you. At Venus, use code SANDYX20 and save an additional 20% off your order now and through 12/14/2018

Pink blush lace dress https://www.venus.com/viewproduct.aspx

Kelly & Kate gold heels https://www.dsw.com/en/us/product/kelly-and-katie-sevama-pump/439088

 

I hope this has given you some tips, and ideas as you plan for all your holiday events. May God bless you this Christmas and New Year!

Sandy

 

 

 

 

 

 

Published by

ontrend50

59-year-old​ retired interior designer. Wife, mother, and grandmother. Taking advantage of my knowledge of design, and using it to promote fashion for middle aged women over 40 and over 50!

2 thoughts on “Holiday Dresses & Styling Tips For Mature Women

Leave a Reply