What to wear on New Year's Eve depends almost entirely on one thing: whether you will be outside at midnight. A restaurant booking, a house party and a street countdown need three different outfits, and the mistake almost everyone makes is dressing for the room and forgetting the twenty minutes in the cold. Below are outfits for all three, plus how to wear sparkle without looking like a decoration.
The metal accessory usually comes down to silver or gold, and your skin tone settles it before the dress does. Our Wdrobe app reads your undertone from a selfie, so you can find out whether you run warm or cool before you choose.
Answer the coat question first
Every other decision follows from it.
- Restaurant or a booked venue: the coat comes off at the door and never comes back until you leave. Dress entirely for the room.
- House party: the coat lives on a bed. Same, but the shoes matter more because you will stand all night.
- Outside at midnight, fireworks, a street, a garden: the coat is part of the outfit, and it is in every photograph. Choose it first.
That last case is the one people plan for worst. A strapless dress and a cropped jacket is a photograph of someone who is cold.
Three outfits for the room
1. Black slip dress, sheer tights, heels, one silver or gold cuff
The one that has never failed. Add one metal and stop. What colours go with silver if you want to build the rest of the outfit around the metal.
2. Sequin skirt, plain fine knit, ankle boots
The best way to wear sequins. One sparkling piece, everything else matte and plain. A knit on top is what keeps it from reading as a costume.
3. Velvet blazer, satin shell, straight trousers, heeled boots
For a restaurant or anywhere with a table. Velvet photographs well in low light, which is where you will be all evening.
Two outfits for outside at midnight
4. Long wool coat, knit midi dress, fleece-lined tights, knee-high boots
Dressed and genuinely warm. Lined tights are the whole trick, and the knee-high boots mean no gap at the hem.
The coat ruins more New Year outfits than anything else. Whatever you wear will be seen with it for half the night. Include the coat when you plan.
5. Long puffer or padded coat, satin trousers, fine knit, flat boots
For a street countdown or a firework display. Satin trousers do the dressing-up, the coat does the warmth, and flat boots mean you can actually get home.
Sparkle without looking like a decoration
The rule: one shiny thing. Sequins, metallics, satin and glitter are all the same category, and they should appear once.
| Works | Does not work |
|---|---|
| Sequin skirt, plain knit, plain boots | Sequin top, metallic skirt, glitter heels |
| Black dress, one gold cuff | Gold dress, gold bag, gold jewellery, gold shoes |
| Satin trousers, matte knit | Satin trousers, satin shirt, satin bag |
| Velvet blazer, plain everything | Velvet, sequins and satin in one outfit |
Texture counts as sparkle in low light. Velvet, satin and sequins all catch light, so pick one of the three.
Working out whether your one sparkling piece actually goes with the plain things you own is the part that takes twenty minutes in front of a mirror. Build it on screen in Wdrobe instead, and have it settled a week early.
The practical part
Shoes. You will stand for five or six hours and walk at the end of them. Heels are fine if they are proven heels. New Year's Eve is the single worst night of the year to wear a shoe for the first time, because taxis are impossible and you will walk further than planned.
Bags. Small and across the body. You will be holding a drink, a phone and possibly a sparkler.
Transport. If you are walking home, that decides the coat and the shoes, whatever the outfit was going to be.
Frequently asked questions
What should you wear on New Year's Eve?
A black slip dress with tights and one metallic accessory covers almost every setting. If you will be outside at midnight, build the outfit around a warm coat and flat boots instead, since the coat is what appears in the photographs.
What should ladies wear on New Year's Eve if it is cold?
A knit midi dress with fleece-lined tights, knee-high boots and a long wool coat, or satin trousers with a fine knit under a padded coat. Both read as dressed up and both survive twenty minutes outdoors at midnight.
How do you wear sequins without looking over the top?
Wear one sequinned piece and keep everything else matte and plain. A sequin skirt with a plain knit and plain boots reads as considered; sequins plus metallics plus glitter shoes reads as a theme.
What colours are best for New Year's Eve?
Black is the default and the easiest. Silver and cool metallics suit it, and deep colours such as emerald, wine and navy photograph better in low light than bright ones. See what colours go with gold for the warmer route.
For the December run-up, holiday party outfit ideas covers the office and friend parties, and little black dress outfits covers the other nights the same dress has to do.
Knowing the formula does not tell you whether your sequin skirt and your good knit actually work together, or whether the coat ruins both. Wdrobe puts the whole outfit on screen, coat included, so the thirty-first is decided well before the thirty-first. Build it now, while the shops still have what you are missing.
