Expressive party dresses

Since making her solo London Fashion Week debut last year, Nensi Dojaka has been a key player in the new wave of bodycon dressing. Think 00s cutouts, lingerie-like straps and no shortage of sheer. For AW22, she’s applying the same ethos, reinvented with sparkle. A highlight? This exclusive-to-Selfridges mini dress, which gives the effect of light hitting water – just the right amount of iridescence for dazzling on the dancefloor.

If you’re one to truly dig into the Christmas spirit, why not apply a more-is-more approach to your festive dressing, too? In the spirit of the era that did excess best, Rick Owens’ Diana dress remixes 80s proportions and supercharged sparkle, thrown off-kilter in typical Rick fashion. Walking that line between grunge and glamour that the designer treads so well, it’s the kind of dress that will make an impression for seasons to come.

For something unexpected, look no further than one of the industry’s freshest faces: Amber W. Smith. The CSM graduate and former athlete – whose inspiration includes traditional American football uniforms – combines structure and softness to create her unorthodox dresses. Structured binding holds glossy fringing in place to create this gold-flecked dress. Just wait until you see how it moves.

Flout the traditions of festive dressing with a burst of colour – and resulting instant dopamine hit. Alaïa’s Creaitve Director, Pieter Mulier, melds sheer fabrics, a form-fitting cut typical of the maison and a hit of citrussy orange for this maxi dress. Style it minimally with a geometric clutch, scant jewellery and razor-sharp heels.

If you’re forever searching for talking points to bring to the cocktail party, consider wearing one instead. From its much-coveted, sell-out blur dress to its hand-print gown, Loewe has mastered the art of the scene-stealing dress this year. This surreal take on festive velvet is no different. Thanks to the pumped-up print, it leaves little need for dramatic accessories.

Proving that black can also be frivolous, this Vaquera dress is ready to give your Christmas decorations a – tasteful – run for their money. Creative directors and self-proclaimed creators of ‘fashion fanfiction’ Patric DiCaprio and Bryn Taubensee have a typically outré approach to Christmassy glitz, covering this maxi dress in metallic fuzz. Tinsel-topped trees might have had their day, but we can’t say the same for our wardrobe choices.

If Barbiecore has been on your radar for a while, now’s the perfect moment to join the party. While there’s a plethora of pieces to choose from, Diesel’s caught our eye. As bodycon dresses and mini skirts are still very much riding high – literally and metaphorically – this style hits the right notes. The metallic shimmer is a bonus for this time of year, too.

Fans of Christmas classics will be keen to snap up this Self-Portrait midi. Ticking every box in the party playbook this season – think fishnet crystals, bejewelled bows and sparkle bags – Han Chong’s label has also mastered party dresses. Feeling non-committal? This is one of our rental dresses, meaning you can keep it for one night only (OK, four, 10 or 20 days) thanks to Selfridges Rental.

Sure, black dresses aren’t exactly ripping up the rulebook when it comes to party dressing, but if you’re an accessory magpie, they’re the perfect blank canvas for self-expression. This strappy midi by Reformation gets bonus points for being knitted (so you can ditch the heavy coat in favour of a more playful plus-one instead) – and the fact that it features in our Project Earth for Nature edit.

An unlikely muse has emerged in the past few seasons: mermaids. Beginning with Versace’s crystalline starfish, the look evolved with Fendi’s lettuce hems and was cemented with wet-look sequins shimmying down the AW22 runways at 16Arlington. For party season, look to Roberta Einer, who takes a softer approach to siren style with pastel mesh and subtle ruffles.