Thanksgiving Outfits You Can Actually Eat In

The best Thanksgiving outfit is dressed enough for photographs and forgiving enough to eat in. That means a soft waist rather than a stiff one, one nice layer you can take off when the kitchen heats up, and shoes you can stand in for three hours. Below are seven outfits, split by whether you are hosting, arriving as a guest, or doing Friendsgiving, plus the two mistakes that turn up every year.

The one rule: no rigid waistband

Everything else is preference. This is not.

A structured waistband that fits perfectly at two o'clock will not fit at five, and the whole afternoon becomes a low-level negotiation with your trousers. The fix is not a bigger size, it is a different kind of waist: elasticated, drawstring, wrap, or a dress that skims rather than nips.

The pieces that do this well are a knit dress, a slip skirt, wide-leg trousers with a soft waist, a wrap dress, and a pinafore. All of them look considered and none of them punish you.

If you are hosting

You will be standing for five hours, opening an oven, and being photographed with no warning.

1. Fine knit dress, flat boots, apron

A midi knit dress is the single best hosting garment. It looks finished in every photo, it moves, and it survives an apron over the top. Add opaque tights if the house runs cold.

2. Wide-leg trousers, tucked fine knit, flat mules

Trousers you can cook in without worrying about the hem, and a top thin enough that you are not overheating by the time the oven has been on for three hours.

3. Dark jeans, silk or satin shell, cardigan

The most casual of the three and the easiest to rescue if something spills. The satin top does the dressing-up, the cardigan comes off when the kitchen wins.

Keep the sleeves either short or easy to push up. Long, loose sleeves and a hot oven is the combination every host regrets.

If you are a guest

You will be sitting, mostly, in a house that is warmer than yours.

4. Midi skirt, tucked knit, ankle boots

The safest guest outfit there is. A midi skirt sits well seated, the tuck gives it shape, and the boots handle the walk from the car.

5. Burgundy or wine knit dress, tights, boots

The colour does the work. Wine, plum and forest green all read as autumn without the obvious rust-and-orange route everyone else takes. What colours go with burgundy if you want to build outwards from a piece you own.

6. Corduroy or velvet trousers, cream knit, loafers

Texture rather than colour. Corduroy and velvet photograph as dressed-up even when the shape is simple, and both sit comfortably for a long meal.

A guest outfit needs one more thing than a host outfit: an outer layer that can live in a pile on someone's bed for four hours and still be wearable. Leave the good wool coat at home if the pile is likely.

Friendsgiving

7. Jeans, satin or lace-trimmed top, blazer, boots

Friendsgiving is usually later, louder, and more likely to move somewhere else afterwards. Jeans plus one dressier top plus a blazer covers all three, and the blazer comes off without changing the outfit.

Picking between these is much faster when you can see them side by side rather than in your head. If your clothes are already photographed into Wdrobe, you can build all seven from what you own and keep the two you like.

Two mistakes that repeat every year

Wearing something brand new. Thanksgiving is a long day with food on it. A first outing for an unworn garment means you spend the day discovering that it itches, rides up, or shows everything. Wear something proven and save the new thing for December.

Dressing for the photos instead of the day. The photos happen in about four minutes total. The other five hours involve sitting, carrying dishes and being cold on a porch. Dress for the five hours; the photos take care of themselves if the fit is right.

Colours that read Thanksgiving without the cliché

Cream, camel, forest green, burgundy, plum, chocolate brown and charcoal. Rust and burnt orange work too, but they are what everyone else is wearing, so they photograph as a set rather than as you.

Black is completely fine, whatever anyone says about autumn. Add one warm accessory, cognac boots or a gold cuff, and it stops reading as a night out.

Frequently asked questions

What should you wear to Thanksgiving dinner?

A soft-waisted outfit you can eat in: a fine knit midi dress, or wide-leg trousers with a tucked knit. Add boots you can stand in and one layer you can remove when the kitchen heats up.

What should ladies wear to Thanksgiving if they are hosting?

A knit midi dress with flat boots, worn under an apron. It photographs as finished, it moves while you cook, and it does not have a waistband that stops working by the time you sit down.

Can you wear jeans to Thanksgiving?

Yes, at almost every Thanksgiving. Dark straight or wide-leg jeans with a satin top or a fine knit and boots reads as dressed, not casual. Save lighter, distressed denim for Friendsgiving.

What colours should you wear for Thanksgiving?

Cream, camel, burgundy, plum, forest green and chocolate brown all read autumnal without being the rust-and-orange outfit half the table is wearing. Black works with one warm accessory.

Once the day itself is sorted, the next question is usually the December run of parties, and holiday party outfit ideas covers those. For the layer on top, fall layering outfits has the combinations.

You now know what shape the outfit should be. You still cannot remember whether the wine knit dress came back from the dry cleaner, or which boots go with it. Wdrobe keeps your wardrobe on your phone so the Thanksgiving outfit is decided on the Tuesday, not at eleven on the Thursday. Build it from what you already own.