Thanksgiving Dresses for Women

A Thanksgiving dress has a job most dresses never get: sitting through a four-hour dinner. So it should know how to sit. A midi that falls past the knee, long sleeves for a drafty dining room, a waist with some forgiveness in it. And colors borrowed from the table itself: bordeaux, rust, a navy as dark as cold coffee.

Thanksgiving Midi Dresses

There’s a reason the midi keeps showing up at American tables in late November. It’s a sensible length, which sounds dull until you need it. It covers the knee when you sit, moves when you get up for the fourth time to check the oven, and looks right with boots, which is what most of us are wearing by then anyway. Look for a fitted waist and a skirt that flares a little. Parisian women have trusted that shape for decades, mostly without bothering to talk about it.

More fall midi dresses

Colors for Thanksgiving

The palette almost writes itself, and that’s maybe the trouble. Orange turns into costume very fast. Better to take the deeper notes: bordeaux, a burnt rust, camel, forest green, navy. Black is fine too, and very French, as long as something warm sits near the face. Gold at the ear. A camel coat over the back of the chair.

Dressy or Relaxed: Choosing for Your Dinner

Family Dinner at Home

At home, where the dog has opinions and someone’s aunt has already taken over the kitchen, choose something soft and a little plain. A simple cut, flats or low boots. You want to carry a platter without thinking about your hem.

Friendsgiving or Dinner Out

A restaurant, or a friend’s apartment with candles and slightly too many people, earns a bit more effort. Velvet in bordeaux has a low glow by candlelight that almost nothing else manages. Tweed works. Silk works, if the room is warm. Heeled boots if you’re walking.

How to Wear Your Thanksgiving Dress

November weather in most of the country isn’t up for negotiation. A sleeveless dress becomes a cold-weather dress with a tweed jacket over it, or a trench, or a cardigan thrown on in that way that looks careless and isn’t. Then tights, then boots. For looks built around knitwear, skirts and trousers, see our Thanksgiving outfit ideas.

What should a woman wear to Thanksgiving dinner?

Something she can sit in for hours and still like at dessert. For most dinners that means a dress with sleeves, or a jacket on top, a midi length and a waist that doesn't argue with the second helping. Take your cue from the host: a candlelit table deserves a little more than a kitchen one.

What kind of dress is appropriate for Thanksgiving?

Almost any dress that looks like it knows it's November. Velvet, tweed, silk with some weight to it. Long sleeves or a good layer, a hem at the calf or lower. The only real mistake is dressing for July, or for New Year's Eve, a month too early.

Can you wear a sweater dress for Thanksgiving?

Yes, and it may be the most honest choice at the table. A knit dress with tights and boots is warm and quiet and easy. For a dressier evening, add gold jewelry, or a belt, and that's about it. Don't overthink wool

What colors are good for a Thanksgiving dress?

The deep ones. Bordeaux, rust, camel, chocolate, forest green, navy, colors that look like they came off the table or out of the woods. Black works too, with something warm near the face. Pumpkin orange is harder than it looks; leave it to the pie.