Style Guide: How to Win Approval from your Grandparents this Holiday Season

How to dress during the holidays so your conservative family doesn’t get upset.

Anneka deVries, Staff writer
November 29, 2021

Christmas is just around the corner, and for most of us, that means visiting our family. As much as we love our grandparents, most of them are at least a little conservative, even if they claim not to be, so you have to be really cautious with what you wear. Here is a holiday style guide so you don’t have to worry about what you should wear:

Tops

What not to do:

  1. Never ever wear a crop top or anything that shows your stomach, grandparents will ask you wear the second half of your shirt went.
  2. Try to avoid tank tops, but especially stay away from spaghetti straps, you will be judged disapprovingly.
  3. Don’t wear anything with words or symbols that they wont understand, they will ask you to explain it and I don’t think you want to explain what no cap means to the people who are still trying to learn how to do the floss.

What to do:

  1. Stick to full length shirts, if you happen to come across a shirt your grandparents gave to you, that would be a bonus.
  2. Wear a comfortable top, you will probably be sitting at the dinning table for hours so you don’t want to be wearing anything that irritates your skin.
  3. Wear Christmas colors if possible, this will make your grandparents quite happy.
(Made by Anneka deVries)                                                                                                 This illustration demonstrates an example of something should wear to a family event this upcoming break. It shows the colors, styles, and simplicity of the outfit so you don’t have to fret about what is an ok thing to wear.

Bottoms

What not to do:

  1. Don’t ever wear anything that has rips in it, you will get multiple comments about how you shouldn’t have gotten them full price.
  2. Don’t wear short shorts or anything that falls in that category, you will get an absurd amount of “those are really short are you sure you should be wearing them?” comments.
  3. Stay away from trendy jeans such as patched and baggy ones, your grandparents will repeatedly state how they don’t understand how this is considered fashion.

What to do:

  1. Try to stick with plain basic jeans or leggings instead of shorts, skirts, or anything with rips and style, this way, there is nothing for your family to complain about.
  2. Don’t wear tight bottoms, you will be eating lots of food and there is nothing worse then a bloated stomach being pressed against an already tight pair of pants.

 

(Made by Anneka deVries)                                                                                                This illustration demonstrates an example of something you should not wear to an upcoming family event. Most of our families have at least a couple of conservatives that would ruin the holiday mood with their comments about the “lack of clothing” and the “over the top jewelry.”

 

Accessories

What not to do:

  1. If you have any piercings other than the usual ear ones, I wouldn’t suggest wearing anything in them, especially nose rings, you are sure to get many disapproving glances.
  2. Don’t wear any excessive jewelry, again, you’ll get a lot of side glances and uncomfortable looks.
  3. Don’t wear winged eyeliner or a lot of blush, you will be asked why you put so much on and be given lessons on how to “properly do it.”

What to do:

  1. If you are going to wear earrings, wear simple ones or slightly fancy ones.
  2. For jewelry, wear just a simple necklace and a couple of rings, if you would like, but nothing that your grandparents might consider “over the top”.
  3. If you are planning to wear make up, it’s safest to go with a natural look.
  4. A winter themed scarf always goes great for holiday dinners, but also, be careful it isn’t too hot since we do live in Florida.
  5. You can also throw a cardigan or some type of sweater over top, as long at it goes with your outfit.