If you’re stressing over what to wear to your next holiday party, the winning outfit might be right under… your Christmas tree.
You may not have noticed — because who pays any attention to the base of a tree that’s obscured by pine needles and presents — but a tree skirt, that bunched up pile of fabric, is an actual skirt that you can wear around your waist. This holiday season, folks are getting hip to the festive, stylin’ potential of the traditional Yuletide adornment, yanking the skirts out from under the tree and wrapping them around themselves instead. (Really embodying the holiday spirit). And they’re getting creative: beyond skirts, they’re wearing them as ponchos, and even tying them over their dogs’ shoulders as mini-capes. We’re in favor of this repurposing, because what real function does a Christmas tree skirt serve under the tree, anyway? Brief history: legend has it, once upon a time, in Germany, folks used to decorate their Christmas trees with actual candles (no idea how anyone survived that) and so a tree skirt was put in place to collect the dripping wax and aid in clean-up. Nowadays, they’re for the sake of decoration and to conceal the unsightly — gasp! — tree stand from view. But, our thinking is, if the fabric is nice enough to embellish the base of your Christmas tree, why disguise it underneath a dying pine, where it runs the risk of being spoiled by dirty tree water, or worse, pissed on by the family pet? Why not do your grandma, or your aunt, or your momma proud, honor the family holiday heirloom by wearing it out in the world, so others might marvel at her deft needlepoint and design? Also: When it comes to putting together a holiday lewk — who has the time. We say, f—k tradition; you need that skirt much more than your tree does.
Here are all the creative ways people — and even a few canines — are rockin’ the tree skirt this season:
Wowin’ their coworkers and pals at the holiday party:
That’s me, a couple years back, trendsetting in my Aunt Wendy’s handmade tree skirt.
And if you have the ambition—and the aptitude—you can actually do a whole DIY project and convert your tree skirt into an actual skirt, per this tutorial on Brit & Co. Maybe you just want to enjoy it, lowkey, at home:
tbh my fav part about putting up the Christmas tree is wearing the tree skirt as an actual skirt
— Hannah Montana (@taylor_hannah18) November 25, 2016
Especially if it’s NSFW:
Warm yourself, inside and out, by donning it as a poncho:
That awkward moment when you think that a poncho is cute but it’s actually a tree skirt.
— eLIZabeth (@NobertRed) November 25, 2016
My mom got mad that I bought a $65 tree skirt but now she’s going to be JEALOUS. pic.twitter.com/LNl0KjJUPC
— Tyler Coates (@tylercoates) December 2, 2016
Christmas meets “Little Red Riding Hood”:
Little Cindy Lou Hou, incarnate:
And we’ll let the dogs steal the show:
