Here's a fun question: what to wear to an holiday office party? We have six ideas below, all great whether it's for your holiday company party, your SO's office party, or some other holiday networking party.

As a general rule, pick two from the categories below and mix with regular workwear, unless you are 100% sure cocktail attire (or black tie!) is appropriate. A good clue: if the party is on a workday and all employees are invited (not just management types), take our suggestions here. 

As always, I suggest young businesswomen avoid showing cleavage, as well as what I'll call “unexpected” skin (think cutout dresses, etc). Even bare arms may not be appropriate — know your office!) You should also be wary of anything requiring a special bra.

We're shared some of our top picks for your holiday office party below…

{related: all our best tips on holiday business etiquette}

{related: here are some fancy but easy updos for the office or beyond}

Festive Blazer

Hunting for festive blazers for 2023/24? Stay tuned for a bigger roundup, but on the affordable side we like J.Crew Factory and Loft — and this Eliza J one is almost always in stock. On the more expensive side, check Reiss, Paige, and L'Agence. (Love this green iridescent houndstooth from L'Agence, also!)

I've always loved a festive blazer. Not only can you maintain a maximum of professionalism, but I often find that a layered look is the best way to dress for the holiday office party: party blazer + statement necklace, or party blazer + bright work dress, for example. You can also use your festive blazer to extend the life of your weekend clothes and wear things that wouldn't normally be appropriate to wear to work.

For example, a jumpsuit, a heavily sequined top, or even something like a leather skirt or a lace top that requires a strapless bra — all of these things look great beneath a festive blazer.

You'll be surprised how often you wear it, and how many years you'll get wear out of it — your own holiday parties, your SO's holiday parties, vague networking events, even “desk to dinner” events where you really don't feel like donning a dress or anything sparkly. Personally I've always preferred the structure of a blazer, but a sparkly cardigan can also work here.

{related: what to wear to a business cocktail party}

Polished Party Skirts

A party skirt is one of the easiest things to find and wear, but be wary of spending too much money on it — it will be memorable, and because it kind of is your outfit, it's going to be hard to wear it again year after year.

Keep the hem length appropriate for the office, and note that the fancier (and less office-appropriate) the skirt feels, the more subdued your top and shoes should be. Note that some skirts straddle the line between office and party — they're less festive, but more versatile (and you can pair them with something else sparkly on top).

Some Recent Picks for Party Skirts To Wear to Your Office Holiday Party

Below are some of our favorite polished party skirts as of Oct. 2022 – we've primarily avoided miniskirts because they show a lot of leg, which isn't appropriate for every office party — but know yourself and your office. (As someone who's only 5'4″, also, I find that a lot of “mini” skirts are almost knee-length on me.)

{related: the best semi-formal attire for business events}

Selected Sequins, Lace, and Leather

Sequins, lace, and leather aren't usually office-appropriate — we've talked specifically about lace at the office and leather skirts at the office before.

But when deciding what to wear to your office holiday party, you can break some of these rules, provided that you're not going all out.

Example: a sweater with a few sequins on it, or even a sheer sequined camisole (worn with an opaque black camisole beneath it) are fine, particularly when paired with a festive blazer or fuzzy cardigan.

But the all-sequin legging or all-sequin dress can be… well… a bit much for an office holiday party.

Some of Our Recent Favorite Office-Appropriate Sequins, Lace, Velvet and Leather

Note that regardless of how it's shown on the model, you should a) not wear a sheer top to an office party, and you probably should not wear a crop top or anything that exposes your belly. Depending on the office environment you may want to keep a cardigan, shawl, or shrug with you if your top exposes a lot of your arms, such as with a halter top.

{related: what not to wear to a black-tie affair for work}

Party Pants

Another great option: party pants. Paired with a regular work staple like a button-front or a cashmere sweater (ooh, or this DvF ballerina sweater), party pants are celebratory and happy, but not too crazy. Look for velvet, jacquard, limited sequins — and tuxedo pants or dramatically wide, flowy trousers can also be great for this kind of event.

For my $.02, I'd avoid any pant that makes people wonder if they're actually seeing skin (such as black lace underlaid with a beige satin), and in general, be wary of leather and of too-tight leggings.

Recent Picks for Festive-but-Professional Party Pants

Stay tuned for our favorite party pants to wear to holiday office parties in 2023!

Work-acceptable velvet pants can also work here!

{related: how to do black tie on a budget}

Office-Appropriate Party Dresses and Jumpsuits

For my money, this is the hardest one to get right. Sometimes a bright dress or blouse feels festive but will feel like a snoozefest at the party itself. Sometimes a lace dress will feel ladylike and elegant, but other times it may feel like you've unwittingly gotten dressed for a wedding when you just have a step up from what you would normally wear to work.

A few notes in general: Watch your hem length, as well as cleavage. I wouldn't recommend a dress with bare shoulders (i.e., strapless) — layer it with something else like a cardigan or blazer, but if you end up taking that layer off, don't worry too much.

Sometimes a party dress can be worn to work; sometimes that's going to be harder.

Recent Picks for Jumpsuits and Party Dresses for Professional Settings

Some of our favorite jumpsuits and party dresses for professional settings include these as of Oct. 2022… depending on the event, you may also want to check out our latest favorite colorful sheath dresses (great for alumni events, or just get darker colors like navy).

{related: where do you draw the line between wedding wear and office-wear?}

Desk to Party: Cocktail Jewelry

It's true, statement necklaces aren't as popular as they once were — but I still say there's nothing better for an office holiday party, and no better way to instantly jazz up a regular work dress or the like. Add one other thing from this list and you're golden.

More Holiday Party Accessories

As of Dec. 2023, these are some of our latest favorite party shoes — also consider using shoe clips on some of your regular shoes if you're on a budget! These under $50 ones are best sellers at Amazon…

{related: here's our roundup of the best foldable flats}

How to Save on Holiday Party Attire for Office Parties

A general note: Rent the Runway is perfect for these kind of purchases, particularly if you have several parties to go to over a few days. (Or, hey, it's a perfect excuse to set up a date night or girls' night out if you don't have several parties.) Other great deals can be found at Nordstrom, Poshmark and more!

(Want $30 off your first Rent the Runway order? Here's our referral code.)

{related: what to wear to a black-tie dinner for a benefit}

Ladies, what are your favorite things to wear to office holiday parties? Have you seen any fashion gaffes with regard to office holiday party attire (or been victim to any gaffes yourself)? 

Stock photo via Pexels / cottonbro.

N.B. This post was originally written in 2015, but updated substantially in Oct. 2022.

The post What to Wear to a Holiday Office Party appeared first on Corporette.com.

Reader H wrote in with a question: should a baby shower at the office include games, or just cake? What about wedding showers at the office? Here's her question…

I have a question about celebrating life events in the office – specifically throwing coworkers wedding showers and baby showers during work time. Should these events be limited to eating cake, or is it appropriate to play games? What kind of gift should you get your coworker? Should you throw baby showers for men whose wives are pregnant? Is being involved with the planning and decorating for these things a major NGDGTCO no-no? I don't know if you've ever addressed this on your blog – I couldn't find a post that dealt with it – and I would love to get your $.02.

I have to say, my knee jerked as a reaction to this question far more than it normally does. Decorations? Games? Are you kidding me? Maybe I'm overreacting, but the more I've thought about it the more it just seems wildly inappropriate on every possible level.

(Update: And numerous commenters disagree with me, with lots having celebrated baby showers with coworkers, at least during lunchtime or at the end of the day. Which I guess just goes to show you — know your office!)

As I begin this post, let's remember that the purpose of a wedding shower or baby shower is to “shower” the recipient with gifts. For a wedding shower, only those invited to the wedding should be invited to the shower; as far as I know anyone can be invited to the baby shower.

So right off the bat, let's knock wedding showers off the list unless literally everyone in the entire office is invited to the wedding.

(And in case you are having a wedding shower in the office:  please, no games — leave the toilet paper dresses for family and friends only, not coworkers!)

(Updated images (blue and pink cupcakes and cake pops) via Stencil. Originally pictured: Baby shower balloon, originally uploaded to Flickr by Maddy's Musings.)

I still think an elaborate baby shower, on work time, is inappropriate. Let me assume, first, that the reader didn't actually mean a “shower” — she surely cannot have meant that she wanted to impose the duty on multiple coworkers to each buy a gift to shower the pregnant coworker with, to require them to go out of their way and pull out their wallets to give something to this person who they work with, through no choice of their own.

So I'm assuming that Reader H meant a ceremonial “we all chipped in $5-$10 and got you a gift before you go on maternity leave” kind of situation. In which case it isn't properly a shower, but it's a sweet idea. Celebrating with cake or even sparkling apple cider makes it a nice treat for the entire office.

That said, if you're the boss throwing this sort of thing, it's only a “treat” if it doesn't distract from the actual work that people need to do there. So the shorter the better — the last thing you want to do is require people to work later (or rush through that day's tasks) because of your little party. Let people get their cake, eat it, chat for a while, congratulate the lucky coworker, and then slink back to their office to work. Anything that assumes coworkers will definitely be there for more than 10-30 minutes is way, way out of line, at least on company time.

All of this, of course, assumes that Reader H is the boss or this is established office policy, with celebrations for birthdays. If this is NOT the case, I would step away from the cake (and balloons and games), and assume that the shower is happening on everyone's own time.

Readers, what are your thoughts? Have you ever celebrated a baby shower at the office? What would you think if you were invited to one during work hours?

The post It’s Raining Gifts: Wedding and Baby Showers at the Office appeared first on Corporette.com.

Reader L writes in today with a question on what to wear to her husband's holiday house party…

We’ve been invited to a Holiday Party, being hosted by the VP at my husband’s company. This is the first time that I’ll be meeting anyone that he works with (he just started at this location in July), and I’m very anxious to make a good impression (the VP is the highest-ranked person in the building). The party is at their home, and I have no idea what to wear – the invitation didn’t say! Do you have any advice for an outfit that would be appropriate for this occasion?

{related: our best tips on holiday business etiquette}

First:  Happy Holidays! Second, we really feel for you, because this situation could be extremely awkward. The dress code could be anywhere from “festive sweater with jeans” to “festive jacket with work attire” to “LBD” to (if the company is very large, the VP is very swanky, and only executives are invited) something even more than LBD.

What to Wear to a Holiday Work Party as a Plus-One

First, if your husband has any female friends in his company (either colleagues, or the significant other of a colleague), bug him until he asks one of them (unless you are also friends with them, in which case, ask yourself). Another option might be to call the VP's secretary directly (do not call the VP). Express your excitement for the invitation, and ask about the dress code for women.

If you really feel awkward about asking the secretary, ask a question about directions or something innocuous like that and then slide the question in near the end.

{related: plus-one style: dinner at your husband's boss's house}

A “safe” bet might be to wear a black shift dress, black hose and pumps, and a festive red or orange jacket or structured sweater — think velvet, silk shantung, etc.

(We would suggest avoiding embroidered sequins — you can always tuck a sparkly brooch or necklace in your pocket, and “trade up” or down as necessary once you've arrived and assessed the situation.)

In general, here are our rules of thumb for holiday parties.

1)  Is it a weeknight? Odds are, straight-from-work attire is fine (and expected).

2) Is support staff invited? In our experience, executives prefer to stay executive-like around their assistants (and their colleagues' assistants) — i.e., women prefer to remain in non-party dresses, men prefer to keep their suit and tie on, no one gets too drunk, etc.

3) Are spouses invited? This is a general clue that the executives are willing to loosen up a bit, and a more festive attire might be appropriate.

4) Are kids invited? If so, back away from anything too dressy, and prepare for the likelihood that a clown or something might be in attendance.

{related: what to wear to the boss's holiday party}

5) Avoid looking like somebody's date unless you actually are one. This is just our own experience: but if you're in a sparkly/strapless/lacy/sexy dress, and your date is a man in a suit, everyone is going to think the man works for the company and you are his date. This is all fine if, in fact, he does, and you are just his date/wife/spouse/guest for the evening. If you keep your attire out of the realm of “sexy” and firmly in the realm of “classy,” you reduce the odds of this happening.

6) When in doubt, ask someone who has gone before — preferably, someone who has been the same level as you. If in doubt, befriend the assistant to someone senior — such as in our reader's question, the VP's secretary — because he or she will have a better sense of decorum.

(No one wants a gaggle of new female hires showing up to an office-attire party in cocktail-party attire — it ends up looking like a group of girls going stag to their 8th grade prom and just ends up being embarrassing for everyone.)

Some Festive but Professional Outfits

If you DO want to stay on the professional, polished side, these are some of our latest favorites…

Festive Blazers for Work Parties

Because you're only a plus-one, you don't need to maintain as much “professional” cred as you would for a party at your own office… but if you ARE on the hunt, these are some of our favorite festive blazers.

Hunting for festive blazers for 2023/24? Stay tuned for a bigger roundup, but on the affordable side we like J.Crew Factory and Loft — and this Eliza J one is almost always in stock. On the more expensive side, check Reiss, Paige, and L'Agence. (Love this green iridescent houndstooth from L'Agence, also!)

Readers, what are your rules of thumb for holiday parties? Are your companies/firms having big ones this year?

The post What to Wear to a Holiday Work Party as a Plus-One appeared first on Corporette.com.