My Perfect Holiday Look: New Year’s Day Open House

It’s the morning after the big party we know and love as New Year’s Eve. The calendar has flipped over, which means it’s time to start the year with a fresh look and spring in your step. For many, January 1 is a day devoted to recovery and crafting New Year's resolutions, but for me, it’s all about family and friends, marking the occasion with a delicious brunch and engaging conversation. This inevitably means that, despite the aching party feet and budding headache, I must look my best and ring in 2014 as I mean to go on.

Playing hostess and looking fashionable at home requires a careful balance between comfort and glamour. While I would never greet guests at the door in an old raglan sweat, I think Rag & Bone’s cozy cable knit pullover, teamed with a crisp white (and incredibly versatile) Burberry shirt, does just the trick in looking effortlessly cool and at ease. “Oh, these chic Bec & Bridge plum pants?” I’ll respond as guests compliment my sleek silhouette, unaware that I’m really wearing the soft-stretch bottoms in order to eat more bagels than is humanly acceptable.

Of course, no party can be without a little bit of pizazz and sparkle, which is why I would team any perfect New Year’s Day ensemble with a statement necklace from White House/Black Market and come-hither cocktail ring from Topshop. Since I love to be the hostess with the mostest, flats are a must to tend to guests at home, albeit with the sequin coating of Joe’s Jeans Jace stylish slip-ons.

And what about luminous makeup? Well, despite staying up until the early hours of the morning to ring in the New Year, I want my eyes to look bright and awake. A nude lip, light dusting of blush and versatile eye shadow palette like Urban Decay’s Vice 2 collection provides me with endless color combinations and, more importantly, will stay put until visitors say their goodbyes.

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