The first snowflakes have touched down, and that means you can officially start planning your holiday party outfits. Between dinners with the family, drinks with friends, and office soirées, 'tis the season to serve glamorous holiday 2018 looks. While some holiday trends never go out of style — here's looking at you, sequins — Zara's 2018 holiday dress collection refreshes seasonal standards, and throws in a few cutting-edge styles not often seen in party ready-to-wear lines.
Scrolling through the Zara holiday dress collection will make you even more excited to dress up this season. The first two pieces you'll spot, a slinky gold dress and a red slip dress both retailing at $69.90, are vintage-inspired, lingerie-style dresses. You probably already know that '90s slip dresses have become as much of a closet staple as a pair of jeans and a white tee, and Zara's dresses are complete with spaghetti straps and draped necklines.
Zara's lingerie-style trend doesn't just rely on '90s nostalgia, though — nor are these the same slip dresses already in your closet. Contemporary draping and architectural holiday party details solve the problem of the slip dress' shapelessness, elevating the inherently simple piece. Zara's metallic gold dress includes side ruching that enhances the glittery fabric's shine (and pulls focus to the hips), and the red slip dress has a fringe-trimmed matching belt for added structure.
The '90s aren't the only decade Zara draws inspiration from. The '80s are also at play in this dress collection and yes, that means shoulder pads are back. Since the '80s embraced details modernly seen as holiday party styles, like sequins and sheer layers, further incorporating the decade's shoulder-defining shapes feels natural. Angular dresses like this $99.90 belted menswear dress look right out of Grace Jones' closet, while this black and gold dress for $69.90 takes a more feminine approach to a similar silhouette by trading in the suit details for sequins.
Surprisingly, some of the prettiest party looks from the dress collection aren't dresses at all. Zara's matching two-piece sets make a case for wearing pants to holiday parties. The shape of the pants aren't overly fitted, too, making the chic sets perfect for office get-togethers: Zara's $49.90 velvet animal print pants have a wide, flowing leg fashioned from grayscale leopard print fabric that will catch the light as you move. Similarly, the $39.90 shiny velvet pants feature a relaxed, wide leg and velvet texture, but are accented with a jeweled tuxedo stripe.
Luckily, buying the co-ordinating tops is as inexpensive as Zara's party dresses, and you get the added bonus of being able to style the two pieces more freely in the future. The moody leopard pants' matching velvet animal print top only retails for $39.90, so the entire set will just cost you $89.90 — a low price for a luxe, fresh take on animal print that will last you well beyond party season.
Ready to dazzle all December? Below, the holiday season trends spotted at Zara with 12 glam pieces to shop.
