Night Glamour in Hotel Europe, for the Year Sartorial Grand Finale

As we are getting ready to send this year and meet the new one, it’s time to dress up again and celebrate in vain. Night Glamour: The tone for this end of the year Big Night and the festive season was already set by the Met Gala Party in May in New York, inspired by the opulence and excess of the Guided Age. At least that’s how I feel about it. Most of the parties I’ve been at this season, have been ruled by gorgeous sparkling dresses, long gowns or short disco style LBDs and of course high heels. 

So today’s menu is an inspiration what to wear this Christmas and New Year’s Eve. 

The theme is not the past, not the future, but the NOW. 

In Collaboration with Vestibule, Hotel Europe and Mums in Heels.

Photography Elisa Hutter

You may have never thought of the relation between fashion and real life, but there is a connection that runs deep. The Night Glamour I am talking about today seems to be the perfect match to the times we live in. 

In the last year you may have felt a little misled and even manipulated or lost in the information coming from outside. You’ve probably arrived at the same understanding as me, that no matter how well informed we are, we still know so little about the world. That can make you (and me) feel sad, helpless and desperate about the state of the world and how little we can control and influence in life. 

This is what brings me to today’s topic of Night Glamour Outfits

When you suddenly realise it’s only you and your little world where you can make a change and have influence, you start to appreciate more everything you have, the relationships you’ve built, your health and wellbeing, your family, and your work. And despite the news and the outside world, you feel you have to honour and celebrate your own journey and achievements. 

And what better way to do it but dressed in a glamorous dress, sparkling and glowing in the night! 

No being afraid of attention. On the contrary, wanting to be seen and applauded, cause confidence comes from knowing you matter in your own world, little or big, depends on your personal lence….just like Alice in Wonderland. 

Here comes my Alice in Wonderland and the three life lessons I’ve  learned from this story: 

My reality is different than yours 

I never wanted to be like everyone else. Not as a child and certainly not as an adult. May be there was a brief moment in my adolescence when I felt the less attention that was paid to me, the better. However, I won’t pretend that I’m just like everybody else because I’m not, and I don’t pretend that my daughter or son are just like everyone else because they are not. I want to be true to myself and this for them too.

When people judge others as “weird” because they aren’t “normal,” I remind them that normal is a relative term, and my reality is just different from theirs. As individuals, it’s our responsibility to create our reality and not worry about whether other people think. 

Blue Sparkle Set by In the Mood for Love, available at VESTIBULE Zurich

Existence Is a Lifetime of Adventures

Another lesson from Alice in Wonderland that makes me celebrate this year even with more intention, zest and joy all the mountains I’ve climbed and all the magical lands I’ve been to. The adventures sometimes await for you faraway and sometimes they are just around the corner. Embrace the variety of life and look at it with a curious eye, without thinking you know it all. Life has its ways to surprise you! It is also full of twists, turns, surprises, disappointments, and so much more.

For my second look I chose a fabulous blazer with unexpected cut detail from A.L.C., VESTIBULE. I’ve always had a weakness for a great cut blazers. They are a staple in my wardrobe whether I war them with skirts or trousers or jeans. Imagine how versatile this one is, but more than anything I love the sexy confidence it exudes. The brand owner Andrea Lieberman, who launched her brand in 2009 says about her work:

“We exist to make women feel confident, strong, sexy and elegant, and believe in the inherent style and power of women.”

I’ve chosen this amazing Forte Forte maxi skirt, available once again at VESTIBULE, because it speaks femininity, timelessness and limitless glamour. This look is an example of how darkness and light can exist in perfect harmony, that they balance each other as masculinity and humbleness are balanced with femininity and glamour.

Be a Wildflower Rather Than a Wallflower

My third and final Night Glamour outfit carries many messages but first of all, in case you’ve been living under a rock in the last one year, you would know that the cut-out black dress is now officially a wardrobe essential. There is no better choice for a wild flower but wearing a cut out black dress. It’s edgy, it’s risqué and quite a statement. It is a dress that invites you to have fun and to dream of the impossible.

Another thing I love about this dress is that it challenges your internal dialogue: “too short, too young, too much“. But let me reply to you with another quote from Alice in Wonderland: “You used to be much more muchier…..You’ve lost your muchness“. So no matter what happened to steal your muchness, remember every day can be a new beginning.

“The narrative power of clothes is truly felt only when the wearer is the protagonist”, Forte Forte

and you can be a different person tomorrow too.Whether you choose to continue being the person you were yesterday or work to be a better person
tomorrow is pretty much up to you.