5 Looks Any Guy Can Pull Off At Thanksgiving Dinner
Thanksgiving should be a time where there is no judgment being passed. You can pull off any look if you’re going home for the holidays. If you’re going to your significant other’s family’s place, then you’ll definitely be judged with extreme prejudice. There’s nothing worse than others thinking that they’re better than everyone. You have a few options, but your S. O. may not care and force you to come to a family gathering with their snobby, piece-of-crap, immediate family. Here are a few outfit ideas that you can get inspiration from to at least look put-together this Thanksgiving break!
1. Dressed-Down Extreme Casual
Sweatpants are what’s being worn at most Thanksgiving dinners. Most Thanksgivings will be hedonistic endeavors where we see how much food we can stuff down our gullets. Sweatpants and a t-shirt are the best items to concurrently wear while you stretch your stomach out. That elastic band will hide any preexisting gut that’s already there.
One of the biggest fashion no-no’s is wearing a trenchcoat with sweatpants. You’ll look like a grade-A sociopath if you do this. Sneakers or snow boots are the ideal forms of foot-cover that you’ll generally want (so close to Winter).
Please don’t wear flip-flops or sandals with sweatpants when going to a Thanksgiving dinner. You won’t be able to run around. You will either have to wear them indoors or go barefoot. This might disturb some people, depending on the quality of your feet.
2. Jeans With Nearly Any Shirt
Jeans are such a versatile material. You can wear any number of shirts with them. The only shirts that are really off-limits when it comes to jeans are overly dressy shirts. Ripped jeans? No. You’re going to a Thanksgiving dinner, not to a bar. Again, if it’s your own family, you could track dog doo-do0 through the door and everyone would just make you clean it up. You wouldn’t be asked to leave.
Now, let’s say you do this at your in-laws or in-laws-to-be. Jeans will still work, but you had better not track dog doo-doo through that door—especially if they don’t own a dog.
Jeans are going to give you the advantage of casualness. Nearly everyone can wear jeans. Unless the Thanksgiving dinner is being held at the Whitehouse, jeans are acceptable. Not everyone can pull off not-blue jeans. So, that might be an avenue that you wish to avoid. White jeans on a holiday centered around food? You’re off your rocker.
3. Khakis
Khakis are a great way to show everyone around you that you either hate wearing jeans because of some sensory issue (the dreaded cheap-sock seam dilemma)…or that you dressed up. These pants don’t match everything and therein lies the major indicator that they are dressy.
Khakis go well with polos and button-up shirts. They’re still more or less the same toughness of jean material, so if you decide to play a sport with all of the cousins, you’ll be able to not rip them.
There’s that whole issue surrounding the zip-off pant legs. Don’t buy those. Slim zippers are too fragile for pants. You will eventually be left with Frankenstein’s pants where one side is shorts and the other side is pants.
4. Chinos And A Dress Shirt
Chinos are an absolute treasure. They have thin fabric that makes them breathable when it’s hot. Conversely, you will freeze to death in a pair of chinos if you haven’t already gotten to the point of paradoxical stripping. If it’s hot inside—from an oven having been on for hours and hours—then these will be a godsend.
Button-ups and polos go well with chinos. T-shirts often look out of place when paired with chinos. They are considered both casual and business casual.
If you’re going to dinner at a blue-collar family’s house, then chinos are dressing up—unless everyone has their Sunday best on.
5. Sweater Over The Dress Shirt
Putting a sweater over your dress shirt makes you look vulnerable. Nobody minds talking to someone who looks like a nerd, prep, or tortured genius. Thanksgiving is where the tortured genius slightly overdresses for the occasion. You may wear a sweater over your dress shirt and tie. A trenchcoat is optional, though not required. You, at the very least, must generally be considered to be paranoid or eccentric. This ensemble requires that you carry a book or briefcase with you at all times.
This look may come off as looking like a yuppie, too, so know who you’ll be sitting in front of. Anyone can pull this look off, though, for the most part.
Anyone. Anyone? Anyone.
Shirts And Shoes
The easiest thing to wear for Thanksgiving is a t-shirt. T-shirts are the most versatile of all of the shirts. Some wear shorts or sweatpants with t-shirts, but jeans are the casual-normal.Â
The types of shoes that you can wear in a casual situation are limited by the types of casual situations that you must endure. Sandals and flip-flops are almost always a no. Not many can pull them off without looking like a tool or a lazy-Lloyd.
Derby shoes can be worn with casual and business-casual clothes. Apart from sneakers, derby shoes are the all-around catch-all for business casual. Crocs should be avoided unless you’re on your feet all day at work.
Final Thoughts
It doesn’t matter what you wear so much as your comfort level whilst wearing said clothing. If you want to err on the side of caution, wear plain, dark colors. Bright luminescent pink clothing items are only for those most comfortable in their own skin.
If your in-laws look down on you for not dressing up for the occasion, then they aren’t the nicest people. The types of clothes one wears to Thanksgiving dinner only matter to those who care about how people look as opposed to the content of someone’s character.
