What to wear for Valentine's Day

The question of what to wear for Valentine's Day can very much depend on both the weather and the formality of your plans, i.e. bare legs are not a good idea if you live in a place where February is quite cold and a cocktail dress isn't the best choice for a cozy dinner at home with your sweetheart. However, I can give you a general rule of thumb, which is to keep things feminine and romantic with a hint of sexiness. This holiday is all about romantic love after all, so if there was ever a time to wear a red dress with white lace trim and pearls, this is totally it.

As a kid, you may have worn red and pink together for Valentine's Day, and now you might be thinking to yourself that the combination is immature, even costume-y, but I invite you to think again. When done well, red and pink can look quite lovely together. For example, I give you Natalie Portman's Viktor and Rolph dress at the Golden Globes and this look from Loewe's spring 2011 collection.

However, if you still aren't convinced, I do urge you to consider wearing red or pink, even if you won't wear them together. And if your really in the Valentine's Day mood, you might even consider something with a heart motif, like this cute slip dress from Urban Outfitters.

Or, you might be interested in wearing something with roses, such as this top from Forever 21 that I wore last Valentine's Day.

(note the heart tights)

Or this red dress with roses or this white bodice with rosebuds

Or you could really go all out with something like this open-heart blouse from the window display at one of my favorite vintage shops, The Mustard Seed.

The heart shape is actually cut out of the blouse to show a cheeky bit of flesh.

By the way, look what was on the mannequin outside the door when I stopped by The Mustard Seed the other day.

My New Year's Eve dress, that I got at Anne Taylor for like a zillion percent off!

(She'd even styled it with a black leather jacket as I had.)

Anyway, if your wondering what I'll be wearing this year, I'm considering this pink polka dot chiffon dress that I bought while at The Mustard Seed.

(better pictures of it to come

Whatever you choose to wear yourself, the important thing is to have fun expressing yourself and getting in the holiday mood.