All tomorrow's parties

Bay Area designers and fashion mavens show us what to wear when the holidays hit.

By Kimberly Chun • Photos by Mirissa Neff

THE HOLIDAY PARTY season ... it either fills your lion heart (and witchy wardrobe) with greedy delight (shopping, at last, for yourself!) or causes you to quail with dread as you stare at the contents of your closet, hoping to find some dressy treasure that you'd overlooked. And that no one else remembers.

It would be perilously easy to let the eggnog go to your head and commit some major fashion faux pas. But who wants to brave the office holiday bash in a skimpy, come-hither, down-to-there chain-mail number? (Not to mention the Monday-morning, postparty hangover quarterbacking.) Why invite feline commentary like "Why, Miss Brooks, we had no idea you got implants over the summer!" Other questions: Is there such a thing as too formal – or too casual? Are $250 jeans really suitable for all occasions? Can a girl OD on velvet? When can that Krystle Carrington-style, bright-pink satin ball gown finally be put down in some '80s-era prom graveyard? When does a little black dress stop being classic and turn outright boring? And oh, the dilemma of the freakishly minuscule sequined evening bag: Can one ever be constructed to fit more than a few bucks, an ID, and a car (or bike) key inside? Was one ever designed for a chick who didn't require valet parking or a personal assistant?

In our never-ending quest for festive fashion, we sought out some Bay Area designers and shopkeepers in the know and asked them to style an outfit for a holiday soiree.

Golden girl

Longtime Mission District designer Dema Grim has a keen awareness of vintage fashion, a knack for contemporary palettes and cuts, and a fondness for pop culture. (How many other SF designers make music-industry musts like South by Southwest?) For the Bay Guardian, Grim put together a holiday ensemble, modeled by BG staffer Caitlin Van Dusen in her own boots, in au courant metallics that converts from sexy (thanks to the formfitting, almost '70s-style "Surplice" dress, $188) to office-party perfect (add on the retro-mod, boxy "Busty" jacket, $190). "The jacket morphed out of a shrunken prep school-style jacket à la Angus Young that I did a couple of seasons ago. This version is girlier, and I did it in velvet earlier in the fall and then decided to cut it in the metallic material for Holiday," Grim explains via e-mail from, naturally, All Tomorrow's Parties in England. As for the frock, she writes, "When I found the gold double-faced silk satin, it immediately wanted to be a '40s-style movie siren dress. (The fabric often tells me what it wants to be. That is the start of the design process in the world of Dema.)" The close-to-monochromatic hues lengthen and slenderize – and add a certain matchy formality to the separate pieces. And the "Call Number" necklace by Dirty Librarian Chains ($175) reads: I'm serious – about having fun. Dema, 1038 Valencia, SF. (415) 206-0500.

Deco dance

Erin Mahoney is obsessed. And the former ballet dancer and current avid member of the Art Deco Society and the modeling and dance group Deco Belles allows her fascinations to inform her work. The Potrero Hill designer assembled two seasonless, sensuous party outfits for herself (pictured here in front of the sewing machine belonging to her 93-year-old grandmother, who taught her to sew) and fellow Deco Belle and Art Deco Society member Kailan Neff (right). The old-fashioned pose goes along with her preferred era. "We like art deco so much, so we naturally exude that," says Mahoney, who wears her own "Technicolor" skirt ($380) and knit slip top ($140) as well as a "ChaChaCha" hat, by DeAnna Gibbons ($180). For Neff, Mahoney picked a silk "Tango" dress ($235) in a splashy pattern that's equal parts sexually liberated, '70s-era Diane von Furstenberg and Copa-friendly '40s pinup. "I like tropical prints because they're so flamboyant," she adds. Neff's horsehair headband ($65) adds a prim, neat touch. Erin Mahoney designs are available at RAG, 541 Octavia, SF. (415) 621-7718; Mingle, 1815 Union, SF. (415) 674-8811; Betsy Dee, 1322 Haight, SF. (415) 861-2527; and Paragraph, 654 Chenery, SF. (415) 239-7800. Mahoney will have a trunk show Sat/10-Sun/11, 3-7 p.m., at her studio, 1468 25th St., SF. Her clothing is also for sale in December and January at the Local Patron holiday store, featuring local designers and artists, 593 Valencia, SF. (415) 990-7847, www.erinmahoney.com.

Snow bird

There's no need to spend a fortune on a wild and woolly – or furry – holiday getup. Steamy tropicalia slink rubs noses with snow-bunny funk in the hands of Sunny Walker (right), owner of Mission District vintage store Painted Bird. Notable for its hip editing and reasonable prices, the barely seven-month-old shop already has a passionate following – thanks to Walker, who has the confident, practiced eye of a veteran clotheshorse with a rock 'n' roll swagger. Juxtaposing the extreme elements of beach- and winter wear, the Santa Cruz-raised store owner threw together an eclectic, eccentric holiday party outfit from the store's recycled merch on hand – with an eye toward "cold" Cali climes. "We spent our last winter in New York," says Walker, who worked in NYC at Beacon's Closet, a massive buy-sell-trade vintage warehouse, where she realized she could easily run her own operation. "It was freezing – you could forget about wearing a dress. We were living in triple layers of clothing and only stayed indoors for three months." Aiming for a "cute, boho, Nanook of the North look," perfect for Bay Area microclimates, Walker decked out her sister Terri (left) in a sateen tiered floral frock ($18.95), fur bonnet ($19.95), fur satchel ($19.95), feather garter ($6.95), celluloid feather necklace ($14.95), and brass cuffs ($8.95 each). "The floral dress has the Christmas colors going on," she explained via cell phone on her way to thrifting in Napa to stock her shop. "It's perfect for a Christmas barbecue with friends who decide not to go home and instead dress up and hang out with each other for the holidays." Painted Bird, 1201A Guerrero, SF. (415) 401-7027, www.paintedbird.org.

Bloom's night

Or you could just go ahead and spend a queen's ransom. Sometimes all it takes is one exquisite dress to make a holiday look – and that's the case with Colleen Quen's flower pom-pom strapless evening gown ($3,500). Inspired by violets – and by nature, as many of Quen's bridal and eveningwear couture creations are – the silk shantung dress is covered with handmade green and purple blossoms and comes with a matching cape. "It has a great spirit to it," says Quen, who sits on an aluminum "Mask" chair, designed by her husband, Rick Lee, who shares her atelier-studio space. "My pieces are so strong you don't have to do much with it," she continues. "It's not like you have to accessorize it a lot because it's so ornate. Just pull your hair back, very clean, and put on some great little earrings. What I like to celebrate is the natural beauty of a woman." Colleen Quen and Rick Lee's design gallery, 7 Heron, SF. (415) 551-0013, www.colleenquencouture.com.