Formal Winter Outfits

Have a wedding or fancy holiday party coming up? Here are some great formal winter outfits to put together!

Dressing up can be easy in the summer, but when it comes to formal winter outfits, it’s hard to dress nice and warm. I’ve put together these formal winter looks if you’re headed to a fancy holiday parties or winter weddings!

Long sleeve velvet dress with short coat

This gorgeous long sleeve velvet dress is a simple showstopper, and it’s surprisingly warm! It also comes in a stunning deep purple color.

• If you’re going to be inside most of the time, you could stick with heels.
• If you’re going to be outside, a warm fur coat and heeled sock booties will keep you warm and still looking formal.

Extra tips for this outfit:

• If it’s super cold, you can wear leggings underneath a long dress for added warmth. No one will know!
• The neckline is a little low so I put a nude cami underneath. I’d recommend sticking with a nude cami or a lace cami…don’t put a white cami under there, it kills the formal look!
• With a lower v-neck like this, you can absolutely wear a necklace, but I love an open neckline and just wearing statement earrings instead.
• You can do a long coat, but make sure it has some shape. A long dress and a long coat can get really overwhelming for any figure — it’s just so much fabric. Instead, a shorter coat helps give you some shape while still staying warm.

Velvet Ruched Midi Dress with long coat

If you are petite or don’t want to do a full length dress,this ruched midi dress is a great option. It comes in navy, black, and green too!

• With a dress of this length or shape, I wouldn’t recommend sock booties because they’ll create a weird open space of leg between the boot and the dress. I’d stick to a heel or a dressy flat.

Others tips for this look

• With the shorter length of dress, you can more easily wear a longer coat. I chose one that cinched in at the waist for a little more shape (this coat is about 12 years old). A wrap style coat would also look great, or the fur coat I shared with the teal dress above.
• Again, with all the details happening on the dress with the ruching, you don’t want to compete too much with jewelry.  Stick to a pair of statement earrings and call it a day.

Lace Yoke Dress with fur shawl

If you don’t need a super warm dress, this lace yoke dress is stunning. And although it would look great with the shorter fur coat, a fur shawl is another layer option that feels super dressy.

I tried this dress on with a longer coat and it just didn’t work very well. I’d stick to a shawl or a shorter coat with the floor length dress.

Other tips for this look

• I wore pumps for this look, but you could absolutely wear heeled booties for a little more warmth underneath if the dress almost completely covers them.
• I wore a nude cap sleeve top underneath this dress to cover up under the lace. I shared a bunch of good options in this post.
• With the lace yoke neckline, a pair of earrings is best instead of a necklace that could compete with the lace.

A bunch of great dressy jackets for formal wear

A few other dresses I tried on with different outerwear

A few great formal dresses for winter weddings or formal events

All of the dresses I’m wearing above are linked below, plus a bunch of other great ones.

And if you need shoes for a winter event…

Here are a few good dressy shoes that you can wear with a formal dress. Some are dressy boots, others are just heels. All are good choices, depending on your weather and personal needs.

I hope that was helpful! I’ll be over on my Instagram stories today doing Get Dressed with Merrick about formal wear — don’t miss it! If you missed it in highlights, check out the video here:

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