New Year's Eve Outfits: What to Wear When the Ball Drops

On Dec 31, 1907, a seven-hundred-pound ball of iron and wood slid down the flagpole atop One Times Square at midnight, and New York had a new tradition. Publisher Adolph Ochs arranged it to replace fireworks that had been banned, and the crowd around it was already dressed for the occasion: waiters in the nearby lobster palaces wore battery-powered top hats with 1908 spelled out in tiny light bulbs. So the night has had a dress code from day one, and the code was light.

 

That is the whole idea behind New Year's Eve outfits. You are dressing for a countdown, so the clothes should catch the room. I would build the night around one loud surface and keep everything else quiet: sequins, metallic, velvet or feathers, one at a time. It is also mid-October, which is the right moment to start looking, while sizes and colors are still full.

 

Start with the sequin dresses, because that is where most people land. I would take the black Simkhai Benson on wide straps for a square neckline that works with a blazer over it, and the gold Rotate with long sleeves and a twisted, gathered waist when I want coverage without losing the shine. The Roland Mouret midi in gold is the one for a seated dinner, and the Magda Butrym in silver is a slim column that needs nothing added. The Là Fuori Maris has a beaded flower hem that makes the gold feel a little wild, and the strapless HELSI in silver is the short, party-until-two option.

 

Before you commit to any of them, sit down in it, lift both arms and turn your head. Run a hand along the inside seams too: sequins should be backed by lining, not scratching skin. If you cannot get through a full dance song without tugging, pick another one.

A shiny top is the easiest way to dress up what is already in your closet. The Isabel Marant Helga is a boxy silver sequin tee with short sleeves and a round neck, so it behaves like a T-shirt that happens to glitter. I would wear it with straight black trousers and flat boots. The sleeveless Simonmiller Shirley in Satellite Silver is looser still, and the Ramy Brook Lexi sweater tank covers itself in gray and black sequins for a quieter shine.

 

For a sleeker line, the Isabel Marant Étoile Lou is a fitted, high-neck, long-sleeve top in silver and black sequins, and the Ganni metallic top in crinkled gold has the same high neck with a softer, foil-like finish. The Donna Karan New York halter in champagne gathers high at the neck and drapes loose, and the Veronica Beard mock neck is a sleeveless silver knit. The Roberto Cavalli halterneck bodysuit is the daring one: liquid gold, a cross-over front and a keyhole cutout. I would match it with a long black skirt.

 

The fitting-room test: lift your arms overhead and check the hem. A shiny top that rides up reads as a mistake by midnight. Crinkled and knit finishes forgive a bit more than rigid sequins, so check the shoulder seams and the neckline against a mirror in bright light.

 

What I would skip: a metallic top and a sequin bottom in two different golds. Pick one shiny piece and let the rest be matte.

Picture her walking into a loft party in the second week of December, coat over one arm, in something that looks like it has a story. That is the work velvet and feathers do. The Vivienne Westwood Sunday is a burgundy velvet minidress with a draped cowl neck and a full skirt, and I would wear it with black tights and low boots when the weather is bad. The Amanda Uprichard Abigail is a red velvet minidress with short sleeves and a flared skirt, simpler and easier to move in.

 

For a longer line, the Reiss Dasha is a strapless burgundy velvet midi with a ruched bodice, and it asks for very little jewelry. Feathers are where the night gets playful. The Taller Marmo Vegas Disco has a gold trapeze shape with a black feather-trimmed hem and sleeves, the David Koma cocktail dress has feathers on the bust and shoulders in black, and the House of CB Fionula is a strapless black midi with a fluffy feather hem. Smaller doses come from the Blumarine red crepe crop top with feathers at the hem and the La DoubleJ La Scala velvet top with a pale blue feather hem, which I would wear with plain black trousers.

 

Test the pieces before you buy them. Velvet shows pressure marks, so hang it overnight and check the nap in daylight. Feather trim should feel firmly stitched at the hem, with no shedding when you run a hand through it.

 

What I would skip: feathers in a crowded bar where everyone is carrying a drink.

Auld Lang Syne is a poem Robert Burns wrote in 1788, and Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians played it on a 1929 radio broadcast that made it the sound of the night. Neither one asks you to wear a dress. If you would rather not, sequin pants and skirts are the answer, and the right pair does the job of a dress with more ways to wear it again in January.

 

For pants, the Isabel Marant Todiz is a silver, high-rise skinny with a long slim leg, and the Alexandre Vauthier is black, high-rise and slightly flared. I would put either under a plain black bodysuit. The Anne Klein pull-on wide-leg has a high Hollywood waist in black sequins, and the Vince Camuto wide-leg is the burgundy version. A pull-on waist is easy to sit in, and wide legs mean you can add tights or a thermal layer underneath.

 

Skirts split into long and short. The Christopher Esber Opaline is a silver midi with a slightly sheer, layered finish, which I would wear with a fine knit. The Rabanne miniskirt in gold has large mirrored paillette discs that move like chainmail, the Guizio is a low-rise silver paillette mini, and the Show Me Your Mumu Vera skort in burgundy sequins wraps asymmetrically over built-in shorts.

 

The fitting test is the sit: lower yourself onto a hard chair and check that the sequins do not catch the fabric underneath. Look at the lining along the thigh too.

 

What I would skip: a sequin bottom with a sequin top. One shine at a time.

A quick weather check shapes everything here. NOAA lists the normal December 31 temperature in New York at a high of 40 degrees and a low of 28, and the 1907 crowd needed winter coats against 20-mph winds. So the shoes and bag are the part you will carry from a car to a door, and they should be easy to manage in gloves.

 

The Jimmy Choo Love pumps are silver glitter with a pointed toe, a sheer embroidered upper and a stiletto heel, the most dressed-up of the set. The Aquazzura Crystal Bubble is a gold metallic slingback sandal with a crystal ornament on the strap, and the Loeffler Randall Mareka has gold straps knotted over the vamp on a slim stiletto. The Jeffrey Campbell Alluria is a gold d'Orsay sandal with a crystal-set heel. Wear any of them with sheer tights if the cold requires, and break them in at home first.

 

For bags, the Judith Leiber Couture Gemma is a champagne crystal clutch with a chunky chain-link handle, and the Simkhai Morgan is a woven rhinestone box clutch in silver. The Loeffler Randall Ember is a gold diamante-mesh frame clutch, and the Lizzie Fortunato Gala is a gold sequin-disc drawstring bag on a twisted rope strap that holds more than it looks.

 

Check the clasp opens and shuts with one hand, and that the strap length lets it sit under your arm in a coat.

 

What I would skip: crystal on both the shoes and the bag in different tones.

I would pick the one loud piece first, a sequin dress, a velvet and feather number, or sequin pants, and let everything else stay black, gold or silver. Then comes the shoe, tried on at home with the exact tights you will wear, and last the bag, sized for a phone, a lipstick and a house key.

 

In Italy and Spain they wear red underwear, bras or socks for luck, and in Spain it has to be new. I would take the hint and keep one red thing hidden. The ball is going down either way, so you might as well look good at midnight.