A Hallmark Holiday: Style Essentials for Christmas Romance

by Kerri Cooke

Christmas isn’t Christmas unless you’ve watched at least one newly released Hallmark Christmas movie. An idealized version of Christmas is a formula all Christmas movies follow, but Hallmark Christmas movies utilize key plot tropes endlessly. The protagonists also share similar methods of dressing. It’s what makes the movies such a comfort. Want to be a Hallmark heroine? Here’s style advice on how to look and act like you’re on a quest to find your true love.

Pencil skirts and stilettos are so New York. You’ve just left the big city, are struggling with burnout and want to settle into a slower pace, if only for the next week you’re in that small town of yours you grew up in, i.e. Lake Charles.

Dressing like a Hallmark heroine is all about leaning into country fashion over big city fashion. Grab a ribbed sweater, preferably red as it’s not only a Christmas color but also Hallmark’s most popular holiday color, a pair of jeans, and black moto boots in case you’re roped into helping with ACTS Theatre’s production of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever: The Musical.

Don a Fair Isle sweater for baking gingerbread cookies at your friend’s house. The timeless pattern will match the festive baking dishes and be sure to impress the hunky neighbor who comes over to lend a hand and bring some red wine. Add a pair of khaki ankle boots to complete the picture.

You must be wearing a peacoat in red, green or white, and a matching beanie and gloves for that moment when you lock eyes with the single Realtor from opposite sides of the Prien Lake Park Christmas tree on one of the two frigid December days in Southwest Louisiana.

Louisiana wishes for snow every year. While we rarely see those soft, white flakes falling from the sky, don’t get caught on Christmas Eve at your childhood crush’s house without a red plaid button-down to match your dark wash jeans in case you have to sleep over due to the hazards of a wintry mix.

Visiting businesses such as Grant Christmas Tree Farm for holiday festivities? Beware the handsome handyman. He might just be your Christmas date. An ugly (but not too ugly) Christmas sweater is the perfect choice of attire to show off your fun side and holiday cheer. Slide on a pair of weatherproof boots to avoid any outdoor mishaps…

Don’t forget about the Christmas ball! Choose a slinky red, gold, or green gown with a pair of sparkling pumps to wow the town and the guy you may or may not have your eye on. Once he shows up in a full tuxedo, he will tell you how much he wants to spend the rest of his life with you. Cue your corporate boyfriend showing up at the party a minute too late and you give him the inevitable monologue: “You deserve someone who appreciates you for all that you are, and I’ve decided I’m not that person.”

You return to your childhood home, shrug on some Grinch pajamas, and miss your plane flight back to the big city.