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Feather dresses are synonymous with the glamour of the 1920s and are best suited for festive or formal occasions. A less expected outfit choice for Christmas and New Year's than your classic velvet, lamé, or sparkling fabric — a feather dress adds opulence to any room you walk into, and we know how to style and where to shop the best on the market.
If you fancy a luxe feather dress for party season, then heed these genius styling hacks we learned from celebs. With feather dresses you usually want to keep your accessories on the cooler side — go for silver shoes and jewellery, or even clear or white heels. If the dress is from the sunset palette — pink, yellow, orange — you can try pale gold or black accessories depending on what complements your skin tone. Beauty-wise, the more stylish celebs keep their hair pulled back, either in an updo, chignon, or a sleek centre part to keep the excitement on the beautiful plumages. And when in doubt, always go super minimal with your makeup look and accessories to balance out the busyness of the dress.
Now, the tough part — most feathers used in the fashion industry are unethical; that's also the case with other animal-derived materials like leather, silk, cashmere, and alpaca. When shopping for a feather dress or feather-trimmed clothing item, we suggest taking a few seconds to check where the feathers are sourced. In our shopping edit, we've included many pieces from UK-based clothing brand Natalie & Alanna that uses ethical "marabou" feathers sourced in the UK that are a byproduct of the poultry (turkey) industry.
Although polyester is even worse for the environment than sustainably sourced animal feathers, high street brands like ASOS use synthetic polyester feathers for its affordable feather dresses. Designer brand 16Arlington has some of the prettiest midrange feather clothing on the market, but the brand uses 100 percent Ostrich feathers and doesn't offer much supply chain transparency on its website. Taller Malmo and Andrew Gn have more luxury price points, but list South Africa as the source for their Ostrich feathers. Other brands in the edit — Andreeva and Nadine Merabi — offer no information on what kind of feathers are used or where they are sourced. Keep reading for 13 outfit ideas for a festive feather dress and where to shop the best party dresses on the market.