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If you’re hosting any events over the holidays, you need a fabulous dress that makes you look like the star of your part but you also need to be comfortable enough to take care of all the details of actually hosting a party. Worse, you may have already spent a ton of money on the party itself and may have a limited budget for your dress. In addition to these considerations, your dress needs to be simple so that you can toss it on after you’ve taken care of the food, cleaning, decorations, and other details before the party. While that’s a tall order, you can get the perfect hostessing dress by:

1) Considering appropriateness. If your party is for your office coworkers, make sure that you dress is formal and not too revealing. If your party is for group of friends, you may be able to get away with a dress that is sexier.

2) Playing with texture. Look for dress fabrics that are resilient, since you’ll likely be hugging, kissing, and moving around great deal as the hostess. You’ll want a fabric that can stand up to a lot and doesn’t stain easily when you’re preparing the meal or the appetizers. Fabrics such as velvet and silk are very touchable and make you look welcoming.

3) Going for short sleeves or sleeveless outfits. If you’re working over a hot stove or running around, you don’t want visible sweat stains. Look for breathable fabrics, and sleeves that won’t dangle over your food. Wear an apron over your dress when you’re preparing food, as well.

4) Looking for comfort. Avoid tight clothes, short hems, and low necklines. These will make it easy for you to get into embarrassing situations as you’re bending, serving, hugging, and moving around. A hostess moves around a great deal more than guests, so make sure that what you wear is comfortable and doesn’t reveal too much. Comfort should be the byword for shoes as well. Make sure you have shoes that are well broken in and have a low enough heel so that you won’t be in pain at the end of the night. As a hostess, you’ll spend most of the night on your feet, so think appropriate footwear.

Even if you spend hours picking out the perfect dresses, you need a lot more than super outfits to really pull off a formal or fun look. The total effect also takes:

1) Etiquette. No matter how you are dressed, being able to present yourself with poise, confidence, and grace are important. No one wants to deal with a slob who happens to be nicely dressed. Learn the basics about etiquette by reading up about it or contact a local image consultant for a quick workshop on poise.

2) Accessories. Shoes, purses, earrings and other accessories can really make party dresses your own, so spend as much time shopping for the little extras as you spend on your party dresses.

3) Makeup. Applying beautiful makeup is a wonderful way to make your face as stunning as your dress. If you need some ideas, YouTube superstar panacea81 is amazing. Her very detailed makeup tutorials online are all you need to get over any makeup fears you have. There is a reason why she is one of the stars of YouTube. Everything you’ve ever wanted to know about party makeup is here.

4) The walk. Tripping over your high heel shoes can ruin your dress and sink your confidence. Once again, YouTube comes to the rescue.