Silver Screen Dress Codes

Christmastime is a time for popcorn-popping, hot cocoa-drinking and movie-watching. In matching pyjamas, ideally. So, whilst you snuggle into the mess of blankets you’ve built precisely for your annual re-watch of Die Hard, we’ve gone ahead and collected sartorial inspiration from four classic holiday films. For the next time you emerge from your cosy cocoon, that is.

There are certainly enough characters in the anthology classic, Love Actually, to pick a sartorial muse, but there is one moment that stands out: the betrayal of the gold necklace. Hers in the film hangs low with a clunky heart pendant, but yours need not be quite as heavy with implication. Instead, save yourself the heartbreak and buy yourself your very own fine jewellery – and your very own Joni Mitchell orchestral album, too, whilst you’re at it.

Mark Darcy’s character-defining red-nosed moose – yes, moose, not reindeer – jumper aside, there’s much to be appreciated, from his suave Savile Row suiting to that famous last-scene overcoat. So, gents, ensure yours is big enough for two this holiday season. You never know when you might need to dash forth in snowfall, purchase your verbose partner a brand-new planner and make enough room for them in the lining of your outerwear for that final, movie-magic kiss.

Perhaps the most fantastical of all holiday films? The Holiday, and the idea of entrusting a total stranger your magnificent Los Angeles townhouse. But the lovelorn knows the only way past heartbreak is through, so if you do find yourself in a locale particularly sunny for Christmas, or particularly rainy for Christmas, or particularly unlike how you’d ordinarily spend Christmas, you’ll be glad for a wardrobe hero that works just that much harder than most.

And, finally, the lesson we all must learn from Mr Jack Skellington is that you may already be who you are meant to be. Meaning? Slide on those pinstripes – or your patchwork, or your big, big prints – with pride, and bring yourself (and nothing but yourself) into Christmastime and beyond. We’re so pleased you’re here.