In this post, I provide styling suggestions for ten different New Year’s Eve entertainments for different climate regions including an online family party. Read and see what to wear New Years Eve, where and when.
- Why to Adapt Your New Year’s Eve Look to Your Plans
- What to Wear New Years Eve to the Theater or Opera
- Attending a Semi-Formal Cocktail Party
- NYE Dance Party Outfit Ideas
- New Year’s Eve Dinner at a Winter Resort
- Celebrating at a Sports-bar
- New Year’s Eve Looks for on The Town
- Party at a Tropical Resort
- Video Night with Family or Friends
- New Year’s Eve Zoom-meeting with Family
- Wrapping Up What To Wear New Years Eve
- Happy New Year
Disclosure: This post has affiliate links to cover the costs of blogging.
Why to Adapt Your New Year’s Eve Look to Your Plans
As I discuss in my style book How to Dress for Success in Midlife, what to wear on New Year’s Eve depends foremost on your plans. This means where you will you go, what transportation you will use, who will be your company, and of course, and what is in the weather forecast. To get the idea, just imagine wearing a strapless long evening gown with a little faux fur stole and strappy 4 inches (10 cm) heels in a blizzard in Chicago. It’s a perfect recipe to start the New Year with a cold even when it is only four blocks to the opera. Take a cab!
Adapt your New Year's Eve outfit to where you go. #NewYearsEve Click To Tweet
What to Wear New Years Eve to the Theater or Opera
The opera and theater are your chance to dress up in an evening gown. Accessorize with cover-up, bold drop earrings, clutch and fancy sandals. In cold places like New York, add a long faux fur coat, and a hat for the commute. Wear boots, and swap them for your evening sandals or pumps at the coat clerk’s.
Attending a Semi-Formal Dance or Cocktail Party
Semi-formal dances and cocktail parties on NYE ask for at least prom or cocktail dresses, respectively. Go for a solid color midi-version, and style with statement costume jewelry and a crystal-embellished clutch or sandals. Not both. Alternatively, go for a sequin dress or a lace dress with crystals. Satin sandals or a satin clutch are great finishing touches.
NYE Dance Party Outfit Ideas
This event is a tricky one. When the party is at a Western bar, roadhouse or dance place, what to wear to a NYE party differs strongly. Your best bet is to check whether there is a dress code. If not, go for a notch up of what is worn typically at dances at that place.
Another hint for what to wear is the kind of music that is announced. For a Latin dance music, a fancy dress, and showing skin strategically is in order. When Swing dance is announced, a retro 1950s dress is fine. When music of a special decade is advertised, a piece from that decade styled modern is a safe option. Country and Western music permits jeans and a T-shirt. Try a graphic Tee with dark blue jeans, and a leopard print jacket for a casual, but stylish look.
When the dress code is festive attire a cocktail dress with lots of accessories is in order. If it’s a private party, ask the host whether there is a theme. Even if not, doing so gives you an idea of what the hostess has in mind.
New Year’s Eve Dinner at a Winter Resort
Many winter resorts have dinning rooms with an open fire. You never know where the hostess will seat you for dinner. Close to the fire it may be comfortable or even too hot. Far away, it may be too chilly for a cocktail dress. To stay on the safe side and not freeze, wear a lace top under your lace cocktail dress as is shown in the left photo below. An alternative would be a nice stole or cover-up like in the right photo below.
Do you want more outfit suggestions for various dressing situations? Then my style recipe book “How to Dress for Success in Midlife” is right for you. Buy it now.
New Year’s Eve Looks for on The Town
The photos below give suggestions for outfits created for walking from one bar to the next when you live some where down south. Take a coat and you have what to wear in cold, wet weather. Add a down coat or shearling and you are good to stay warm at below freezing temperatures. Take a big bag that holds the shoes you want to wear sitting at the bar. Just leave the boots with your coat at the coat clerk’s, if there is one. Otherwise, place the boots under the table.
Recall wet boots – no matter whether due to sweating or wet weather – cause cold feet when you go outside.
Celebrating at a Sports-bar
The next photos give inspiration for spending the evening celebrating in a sports bar. The long sleeves, buttoned shirt and tights are not overly exposing skin to the cold and the views, and the posh golden shorts are festive, but go well with the more relaxed sport theme of the location.
Party at a Tropical Vacation Resort
A black floral asymmetric hem dress is sultry and cannot be mistaken as your beach dress. Put on some silver or leopard high heels and you are ready for an Argentine Tango with the “macho” of your choice ;). Well, you can’t go wrong with a LBD.
See these great outfit inspirations for various New Year's Eve occasions. #NewYearsEve Click To Tweet
Video Night with Family or Friends
Chic PJs or loungewear or leggings with a cozy sweater are perfect for a family video night or a stay-at-home date-night outfit. When close friends come over, an upscale version of the leggings with sweater version or fancy athleisure wear are fine for a casual video night. It’s a chance to wear those sequin leggings or that sequin top. But keep the look in the glam casual or posh casual, but comfortable ballpark. Depending on the number of guest you might sit on a pillow on the floor. Plus, you don’t want to out-dress the host(ess).
Tip: Ask whether you can bring finger-food or a dish. If so, you are sure there will be food you like and you are in better control of what you eat and the calories you take in.
New Year’s Eve Zoom-meeting with Family
When a video meeting with family is on the schedule, avoid tops that are busy like small floral prints, hounds tooth, pinpoints, small stripes, sequins, herring-bone, snake or leopard print or even polka dots. They lead to drizzly patterns on the screen. It is unpleasant to look at. This is especially true when you or another party in the meeting has a low bandwidth. You can wear these print and patterns as bottoms like in the outfit inspiration. When you go for a printed item on top, make sure the print is large like in the scarf.
It’s a virtual NYE, not a Halloween party!
In addition, recall it’s sort of dressing for family reunion, even though it’s just virtual. But someone might hit the recording button or take a screenshot.
When you plan to use a festive background make sure you don’t wear anything green. The software will otherwise not be able to create a correct background. You don’t want to have a spooky screen where only your hands, neck and face show. Also resist the idea to use a firework as background. It also can come across as drizzle.
Avoid a firework background or green sweater.
Wrapping Up What To Wear New Years Eve
To be best dressed for NYE take your plans, the weather forecast, the way of commute to and from the place, and the dress code for the locations or activities in mind. If no dress code is given by the event itself, dress-up a notch from what is typically worn for the activity and/or at the place. Check whether there is a dress theme of what to wear for New Years Eve.
Happy New Year
What are you planning to do on the last day of the year? Are you throwing a party or go out? Have you made some resolutions? What are they?
Celebrate safely.
Is dressing your best on your resolution list? Then register for my Newsletter to know about new posts, how tos and special style subjects. I’d highly appreciate it if you take the time to sign up and ask your friends to sign up too!!
Photos: G. Kramm
© 2013-2022 Nicole Mölders | All rights reserved
