Guwahati, Oct. 28 -- By the second week of December, the invitations tend to outnumber the outfits. There is the office get-together, the Christmas Eve dinner, a long family lunch, and a friend who has booked a table for 8.30 PM. Rather than buying something new for each event, build a few festive outfits for women that move easily between plans. Here is what is worth wearing this year, and how to make it feel like you.

This year's women's Christmas fashion leans warm and rich rather than loud. Velvet is back in collections, and the colours are deeper than the usual tinsel palette: bottle green and plum for candlelit dinners, scarlet red for the classic note, and chocolate brown as a softer alternative to black. Cobalt blue and ochre bri...