4 Holiday Dressing Rules, Straight From Sienna Miller

Admittedly, the fashion industry tends to have an obsession with It girls—the models, actresses, and social media stars who are currently buzzed about. As much as we love to follow along with what’s happening at the moment, few style stars keep that perennial It appeal going quite like Sienna Miller. She could have been dubbed the queen of boho everything in the early aughts, but the 34-year-old actress dressed much more classic, sleek, and tailored when we sat down with her this week. The occasion, of course, was to celebrate her ongoing partnership with Burberry, whose holiday campaign, The Tale of Thomas Burberry (much more like a major motion picture trailer than a straightforward fashion film), she appears in. But with holidays on the brain, we also took the time to tap her expertise on all things party style.

“These days when I go out, I pick my battles,” Miller tells us about her typical approach, citing Edie Sedgwick (naturally) as her ultimate party-girl inspiration. “I don’t go out too often, and when I do I want to have a really good time, and that probably involves some dancing. In which case, I would try to wear a high heel that has like a platform and won’t murder my feet. And also around the holidays, I get swept up in the festive things. I quite like sequins, and Christmas is the one time of the year where you can go for a little bit of the sparkly front, which I don’t normally do.”

To further distill Miller’s innate cool-girl style, serious fashion know-how, and more-is-sometimes-more attitude to festive-wear, we asked her to walk us through some of our favorite party looks she’s worn and give us the tips behind them so we can master for ourselves.

Read on for four key rules that Miller swears by.

Keep it a touch scruffy

On Sienna Miller: Burberry dress and jacket.

"I alway think that if you’re wearing a scruffy pair of jeans, an old jumper, and a T-shirt, if you put a chic, tailored coat on top, it works. And vice versa. If you’re wearing a super-glam dress, wear a cool beaten-up old jacket. Somehow the juxtaposition of those things makes you look more effortless instead of being super glam or super scruffy. This was an amazing custom-made jacket. I asked them to make a jacket with leather studs all over it [for the 2013 Met Gala], which I love the look of, but it weighed about 150 pounds. It was like agony to wear, but it was worth it because it’s such a beautiful jacket."

Shop Similar Styles: Zara Metallic Leather Jacket ($149); Reformation Silk Maxi Dress ($300).

Go full Man Repeller

On Sienna Miller: Prada top, pants, and belt.

"This is new Prada so I don’t care. Straight boys were looking at me like What are you wearing? I personally love it. Pajamas I would live in anyway. Ostrich feathers, great. I think anything with the Prada label in it is wearable and really cool. And as I get older, I can go a little further on the wacky front. I do see myself going full wacky older lady and being 60 in full couture, mad hats, and I can imagine discovering mad creativity."

Shop Similar Styles: Fleur Du Mal Silk Pajama Jumpsuit ($595); Brother Vellies Galaxy Tufted Dhara Sandal ($715).

Go sparkly or go home

On Sienna Miller: Burberry dress.

"I love that fabric, it feels really vintage. I actually have worn this dress in the summer, but I think come Christmas I’ll definitely bring that dress out again, except maybe I’d wear it with a sparkly shoe and you can add a little more sparkle to it. It would look great with a thick, tweedy Burberry coat on top."

Shop Similar Styles: Burberry Metallic Polka Dot Long-Sleeved Silk Dress ($1395); Rochas Sequin-Embellished Block-Heel Pumps ($541).

Use what you’ve got

On Sienna Miller: Chanel jacket and bag.

"I didn’t want to wear anything too done. I think if you’re going to wear leather shorts, you’ve got to dress it down, so I just had an old white T-shirt and a Chanel coat, which was cool. And those boots are like cheap old things I’ve had for ages."

Shop Similar Styles: Tory Burch Marisol Jacket ($595); Mango Cotton T-Shirt ($16).

Have a party-dressing tip of our own? Share it in the comments, and shop more of the Burberry holiday collection, available now.