My Christmas fashion formula? Make it all about your party skirt

What if the fairy didn’t go at the top of the Christmas tree? What if you switched things up this year, and had the sparkle closer to the ground?

Put the ladder back. I’m not talking about rearranging your Christmas tree, I’m talking about rearranging your Christmas outfit. The best festive dressing formulas are equal parts glamour and ease, which is why we end up falling back on jeans and a nice top. No-nonsense below the waist, front-loaded with fun up top. But if you flip this around – a jazzy skirt with a sensible jumper – this elevates your outfit in two important ways.

Most importantly, it makes it warmer. Unless the party you are going to has a dancefloor, it is wise to err on the side of cosy at this time of year. You are unlikely to have the best night of your life if you spend the whole evening sitting on a radiator. Where jeans and a nice top lets us down as a formula, I find, is that for it to look sufficiently glam it requires displaying quite a bit of skin – and there is nothing chic about goosebumps, people.

And second, the topsy-turvy option feels original. Most outfits put the focus near the top of your body. This could be a low-cut top with jeans, or a pussybow blouse with a skirt suit, or a dress with a sweetheart neckline, or a trouser suit with a tie. All of those looks draw the eye upward. There are good reasons for this. It is always handy to remind people to look at your face when they talk to you rather than anywhere else. And if you are going to spend your day behind a desk or your evening seated at a dinner table then a dazzling bottom half will have no one to dazzle.

But any gathering not mapped out by a formal table placement – from going to the pub to a mince pie pop-in with friends – is an opportunity for turning your outfit on its head. You will find that even people who don’t always notice clothes will comment on what you are wearing, even if they don’t quite know what has grabbed their attention. There is an impact that comes from subverting our subliminal expectations of where you put your sparkle. You get more bang for your buck if you wear it on your skirt rather than on your top, because it feels that bit extra.

This is an excellent party formula for nights when you are not in the mood to pull out all the stops. OK, it’s not black tie, but a sweater and a fancy skirt is an unusual combination, so no one can accuse you of not making an effort. For the same reason, it is a good one to have in your back pocket for evenings when you aren’t quite sure what level of dressiness is expected. Because it doesn’t play by the rules it can pass for cocktail, or for casual.

I’m not going to give you any shopping suggestions here, because I honestly think we’ve all had enough of buying stuff for a bit, and also because this is the kind of style recipe that can be tweaked to use up whatever is in your store cupboard. (Always my favourite kind of recipe.) But I am going to offer styling suggestions.

Start with the skirt, looking for something with texture, not just colour. Sequins, fringe, feathers or high-shine leather will all work. Your skirt doesn’t have to be a skirt, by the way: the beauty of wearing it with a jumper is that what looks like a skirt can in fact be a dress. Try it out with your most eyecatching knits first – a cream sequin skirt with a leopard print sweater? Why not! – and work your way down until you find a combination that gels. Accessories are optional. But if you feel topsy turvy, go pull a cracker. At this time of year, everything looks better with a paper hat.

Hair and make up: Sophie Higginson using Hair by Sam McKnight and Charlotte Tilbury Styling assistant: Sam Deaman. Model: Claudia at Milk. Jumper, £320, Alemais; skirt, £55, Next; boots, £119, Zara; earrings, £189, Missoma; necklace, £168, Edge of Ember