Velvet for the Holidays? Say Less—30 Luxe Buys to Elevate Your Winter Wardrobe

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(Image credit: @elizagracehuber; PICTURED: Liberowe Velvet Peplum Jacket ($2200))

Unlike spring/summer or fall/winter—fashion seasons that see significant shifts year after year as trends change and designers test out new creative concepts—holiday collections don't often jump around or change significantly from one December to the next. There are always a few Fair Isle sweaters, some sequins, and, of course, lots and lots of velvet. It's a tradition I personally back 100%, specifically in regard to velvet.

The undeniably holiday-friendly fabric does evoke some images of my childhood, but when everyone and their sisters wear the same red or black velvet fit-and-flare dress this time of year, it also makes me immediately think of pure luxury. The clothes, shoes, and accessories outfitted with the textured material in 2023 are even more lavish than those that usually bubble up in my consciousness whenever the first signs of colder weather show face. Think bold-shouldered blazers and pencil skirts at Saint Laurent, dark-romance slip dresses at Rodarte, and body-con, well, everything at Alaïa.

Below, shop the single most luxurious holiday-fashion trend of the year.

This post was published at an earlier date and has since been updated.

Senior Fashion Editor

Eliza Huber is a New York City–based fashion editor who specializes in trend reporting, brand discovery, and celebrity style. She joined Who What Wear in 2021 after almost four years on the fashion editorial team at Refinery29, the job she took after graduating with a marketing degree from the University of Iowa. She has since launched two monthly columns, Let's Get a Room and Ways to Wear; profiled the likes of Dakota Fanning, Diane Kruger, Katie Holmes, and Sabrina Carpenter for WWW's monthly cover features; and reported on everything from the relationship between Formula One and fashion to the top trends from fashion month, season after season. Eliza now lives on the Upper West Side and spends her free time researching F1 fashion imagery for her side Instagram accounts @thepinnacleoffashion and @f1paddockfits, running in Central Park, and scouring eBay for '90s Prada and '80s Yves Saint Laurent.