Thanksgiving outfits: a fox motif sweater with an ivory tie neck blouse and dark jeans, and a camel corduroy shirt dress with a tartan scarf, pie in hand

Why Your Christmas Dress Is Tartan Reading What to Wear to Thanksgiving: Outfit Ideas for Every Kind of Family Dinner 2 minutes

By Diana MacKellarOct 27, 2026

What to Wear to Thanksgiving: Outfit Ideas for Every Kind of Family Dinner

So... how dressed up are we getting? A guide to dressing for whichever family you're dealing with.

Every family has a Thanksgiving dress code, although I've yet to meet one that will put it in writing. Someone says, "Oh, just wear something casual," and apparently, we're all supposed to understand whether that means jeans on the sofa or a proper dress for a dining room with place cards.

At one house, the football game is already on when you arrive, and everyone is helping themselves to appetizers in the kitchen. At another, the silver has been polished, the napkins have been folded into shapes that defy explanation, and someone is waiting by the front door to make sure the annual family photograph happens before anyone spills gravy down their shirt.

So, before you start deciding what to wear to Thanksgiving, we have one very important question.

What kind of family are we dealing with?

We've divided Thanksgiving outfits into three categories, and our new Thanksgiving Collection has something for each. Consider this our unofficial holiday dress code handbook. We probably should have written one years ago.

Couch casual Thanksgiving outfits: navy cardigan with rust wide leg pants at the car, and a brown fair isle cardigan with jeans and a printed scarf

Level One

Couch Casual

The television is on. Jeans are encouraged. Shoes are negotiable.

This is the Thanksgiving where the door is unlocked, someone tells you to make yourself at home, and there's a very good chance you'll be asked to taste the dressing before you've even put your handbag down.

Shop Thanksgiving Outfits

Our Nothing To Explain Dark Wash Straight Leg Jeans are made for this kind of afternoon. We'd pair them with the Harvest Bloom Ivory Floral Embroidered Cardigan, which has the prettiest floral embroidery, a rust-colored ruffled collar, and little tie details at the cuffs. It's a sweater with enough going on that you don't need to give much thought to anything else.

If you're the person who ends up making three trips to the car, checking on the children outside, and running back into the house because someone forgot the ice, the At Your Pace Tan Cotton Embroidered Jacket is another good choice. It's cotton, has lovely ivory embroidery, and can be zipped off when the kitchen gets warm.

The goal is to look nice while remaining fully capable of taking an accidental nap after dessert. Some traditions deserve our respect.

Dark wash straight leg jeans featuring a high-rise waist, five-pocket design, zipper button closure, and subtle fading.

Nothing To Explain Dark Wash Straight Leg Jeans

Button-up ivory cardigan featuring puffed sleeves, rust accents, and embroidered floral details on the front.

Harvest Bloom Ivory Floral Embroidered Cardigan

Tan cotton jacket featuring intricate ivory floral embroidery, a front zip closure, long sleeves, and a relaxed cropped fit.

At Your Pace Tan Cotton Embroidered Jacket

Tall faux leather boots feature a softly squared toe, sturdy block heel, slim platform sole, and structured full-length shaft.

Tall Order Brown Faux Leather Knee High Boots

Thanksgiving family photo outfits: ivory tie neck blouse under a fox sweater with dark jeans, a camel corduroy shirt dress, and a tartan plaid jacket with jeans

Level Two

Cute Enough for Photos

Someone has announced that we're getting "one good family picture." Good luck, everyone.

This Thanksgiving is slightly more complicated. Nobody expects you to wear an evening gown, but your aunt has hired a photographer, your mother has already decided where everyone should stand, and somebody's husband is going to complain about the whole production before you've taken a single picture.

We'd wear a dress.

Shop the corduroy shirt dress

The In a Garden State Chocolate Brown & Light Blue Floral Cotton Midi Dress would be one of our first choices. The oversized blue flowers are beautiful against the chocolate background, and its puff sleeves and softly flared skirt make it especially good for a fall family gathering.

Another favorite is the With Every Turn Chocolate Brown Knit Bodice Tiered Midi Dress. The fitted knit top gives way to a flowing, layered skirt, so it has the comfort of a knit with the appearance of a dress you made an actual effort to choose.

And if you're more comfortable in jeans, we'd suggest the Forever Falling Brown Floral Bow Blouse with dark denim. The bow neckline, ruffles, and floral print are plenty dressy for a family photo, without requiring you to negotiate a new relationship with heels.

The camel corduroy shirt dress at the table above is our Just Like Old Times Camel Corduroy Mini Shirt Dress, and it will survive both the photograph and the pie.

Chocolate midi dress featuring oversized light blue blooms, short puff sleeves, a defined waist, and gently flared skirt.

In a Garden State Chocolate Brown & Light Blue Floral Midi Dress

Model wearing a chocolate brown tiered maxi dress with a wide belt, styled with a cream knit cardigan and ankle boots.

With Every Turn Chocolate Brown Knit Bodice Tiered Midi Dress

Full-length front view of flowy brown blouse with multi floral pattern, ruffled front, and blouson sleeves.

Forever Falling Brown Floral Bow Blouse

Golden camel corduroy mini dress with a pointed collar, long sleeves, full button front, and flared skirt.

Just Like Old Times Camel Corduroy Mini Shirt Dress

A Word About Matching the Family

Please don't make everyone wear the same plaid shirt.

Start with one outfit you love, choose two colors from it, and let the rest of the family interpret them. If you're wearing the chocolate-and-blue floral dress, someone else can wear navy, another person can wear ivory, and the person who refuses to participate can probably be persuaded to wear jeans.

You'll look like a family without resembling the cast of a department store Christmas commercial.

And remember, if you get one photograph where everyone is looking at the camera and nobody is crying, you have succeeded. Print it immediately.

Dressy Thanksgiving outfits: emerald velvet strapless maxi dress with a taupe faux fur jacket and a burgundy floral mock neck midi dress at a lakeside table

Level Three

The Good China Came Out

There are place cards. Someone has ironed the tablecloth. You're expected to notice.

There are families who genuinely enjoy dressing for dinner, and we rather appreciate them. The dining room is lovely, the flowers have been arranged, and your grandmother has brought out dishes that apparently cost more than the table they're sitting on.

This is your opportunity to wear something beautiful.

Shop the velvet maxi dress

For a dressy Thanksgiving dinner, the With Every Turn Chocolate Brown Midi Dress works with gold earrings and a pair of heels.

And if your family takes the occasion somewhere closer to formal eveningwear, the Just One More Dance Emerald Green Velvet Bodice Maxi Dress certainly understands the assignment. Its fitted strapless velvet bodice and flowing skirt deserve a room with candlelight, proper glassware, and at least one person who knows which fork is for the salad.

Somewhere between the two sit the I Was Hoping You’d Ask Brown Lace Trim Satin Midi Dress and the All Nicely Arranged Burgundy Satin Midi Dress, which are exactly as dressy as a place card requires. Add the A Flair for Fabulous Taupe Faux Fur Jacket for the walk from the car.

We're also fond of dresses that have somewhere else to go after Thanksgiving. An emerald evening dress that works again for a December party is a considerably easier purchase to justify.

Whether you can actually see the person sitting across from you past the floral centerpiece is another matter entirely.

Rich emerald velvet maxi dress with a fitted boned bodice and softly curved strapless neckline.

Just One More Dance Emerald Green Velvet Bodice Maxi Dress

Brown satin midi dress featuring tonal scalloped lace along the scoop neckline and empire waist.

I Was Hoping You'd Ask Brown Lace Trim Satin Midi Dress

Long-sleeve cardigan dress with tonal buttons and a flowing satin midi skirt.

All Nicely Arranged Burgundy Knit Bodice Satin Midi Dress

Long sleeves and soft, multitone faux fur texture on the cropped taupe jacket.

A Flair for Fabulous Taupe Faux Fur Jacket

Layers

The Turkey Temperature Index

Cold outside. Eighty-seven degrees in the kitchen. Someone open a window!

Thanksgiving has its own weather system, and we don't believe the National Weather Service has fully investigated it.

It's cold when you arrive. By noon, the oven has been on for hours, there are twenty people in the kitchen, and someone has decided to light a fire because "it's such a chilly day." Your aunt is standing three feet from the stove insisting the house is perfectly comfortable while everyone else is quietly contemplating a move to the back porch.

Shop the faux fur jacket

This is why we believe in removable layers.

The Made For More Cream Knit Duster Cardigan is an easy addition to a fall outfit, and the On the Avenue Tan Cotton Belted Trench Coat is lovely when you're heading out into the cooler weather. A sherpa jacket does the same job with less ceremony, and The Glamour of It Chocolate Brown Faux Fur Jacket does it for people who intend to be photographed arriving.

Our one piece of advice? Make sure you like the outfit underneath the sweater, too.

Because the sweater is coming off. Possibly before the appetizers.

Model wearing a chocolate brown tiered dress with a wide gold-buckle belt and cream knit cardigan, holding an open book.

Made For More Cream Knit Duster Cardigan

Tan trench coat with a double-breasted front, notched lapels, storm flap, and removable tie belt.

On the Avenue Tan Cotton Belted Trench Coat

Plush chocolate brown faux fur jacket featuring a generous collar, long sleeves, and relaxed silhouette.

The Glamour of It Chocolate Brown Faux Fur Jacket

Beige faux sherpa jacket with burgundy whipstitch trim, a snap-button front, and two patch pockets.

Bound to Be Cozy Beige & Burgundy Sherpa Jacket

Before You Order Your Thanksgiving Outfit...

Thanksgiving has a funny way of feeling comfortably far away right up until someone starts asking what you're bringing. And since we're all shopping online, it's worth giving yourself enough time to order, try things on, and decide whether you're wearing the dress with boots or the one with heels.

Look at the calendar before you shop. If you have family photographs the weekend before Thanksgiving, that outfit needs to come first. If you're visiting three houses in one day, you may want to reconsider the shoes. And if you're hosting, we'd suggest choosing something that still looks good after a few hours of cooking, greeting guests, and locating the serving spoon you could have sworn was in the drawer.

The nicest thing about a great fall dress or sweater is that you don't have to reserve it for one Thursday in November. Wear it again to lunch, to church, to dinner, or simply because you happen to like it.

As for the Thanksgiving dress code, we can't promise your family will ever provide a clear answer. But we can help you find something lovely to wear.

And if someone tells you to "just wear whatever," we'd suggest asking one follow-up question.

"Are jeans allowed?"

You'll learn everything you need to know from the pause that follows.

Shop the Thanksgiving Collection

Thanksgiving Dress Code Questions

Can you wear jeans to Thanksgiving?

At most tables, yes. Dark wash denim with an embroidered cardigan or a bow blouse reads as dressed, not dressed down. If the good china is coming out, ask first. The pause will tell you everything.

What colors should you wear to Thanksgiving?

Chocolate brown, rust, burgundy, ivory and olive all look right next to a turkey and in the photograph afterward. Emerald is lovely for a dressier dinner. Start with one outfit you love and let the rest of the family work around it.

Should the whole family match for Thanksgiving photos?

Please don't. Choose two colors from one outfit and let everyone interpret them. You'll look like a family without resembling the cast of a department store Christmas commercial.

When should you order a Thanksgiving outfit?

Early enough to try it on and decide between boots and heels. If there are family photographs the weekend before Thanksgiving, that outfit comes first.