I'm starting party season early with these dance floor worthy dresses

Party dresses you'll love

party dresses street style
(Image credit: Getty)

It's never too early to start searching for party dresses to invest in, so you're ready for when the invitations for office parties, Christmas dinners, winter weddings and festive tipples start coming in.

While we first started spotting the major party season trends on the autumn/winter catwalks back in February, designs have only just started landing on the virtual and physical shelves.

Red dresses were everywhere from Stella McCartney to Nensi Dojaka, and to prove my point, Kim Kardashian just wore a scarlet cut-out Balenciaga gown to celebrate her 43rd birthday. The hue happens to be associated with Christmas too, though it'll last beyond the festive season.

You'll never go wrong with a little black dress, and this season designers such as Saint Laurent, Ferragamo and Givenchy have zhuzhed up the timeless style by using sheer fabrics and adding ruching details.

Elevated tailoring and peplum silhouettes were also a fixture at the shows, and lend themselves well to party dressing, while the monochrome brigade will back this season's love-in with all things black, white and grey.

Of course, sequins will never go out of style, and 16Arlington, Ganni and Retrofete are always my go-to for 70s and 90s-inspired designs that I re-wear year after year.

I've made a conscious effort to include party dresses that stand out and tick off this season's trends while being timeless enough to be worn for seasons to come. However, if you're looking for a more sustainable alternative, I'm a big believer in renting party dresses from platforms like HURR and By Rotation. It's a great way to wear designer clothes you might not be able to afford normally, plus, you're guaranteed to never experience dress fatigue.

If you're looking to add to your forever wardrobe though, then keep scrolling.

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Penny Goldstone

Penny Goldstone is the Digital Fashion Editor at Marie Claire, covering everything from catwalk trends to royal fashion and the latest high street and Instagram must-haves.

Penny grew up in France and studied languages and law at the Sorbonne Nouvelle University in Paris before moving to the UK for her MA in multimedia journalism at Bournemouth University. She moved to the UK permanently and has never looked back (though she does go back regularly to stock up on cheese and wine).

Although she's always loved fashion - she used to create scrapbooks of her favourite trends and looks, including Sienna Miller and Kate Moss' boho phase - her first job was at MoneySavingExpert.com, sourcing the best deals for everything from restaurants to designer sales.

However she quit after two years to follow her true passion, fashion journalism, and after many years of internships and freelance stints at magazines including Red, Cosmopolitan, Stylist and Good Housekeeping, landed her dream job as the Digital Fashion Editor at Marie Claire UK.

Her favourite part of the job is discovering new brands and meeting designers, and travelling the world to attend events and fashion shows. Seeing her first Chanel runway IRL at Paris Fashion Week was a true pinch-me moment.