Despairing about what to wear for your Christmas do? We met fashion stylist El Davies who shared her top tips to looking lush this party season.

THE Christmas party season is almost upon us and few of us are relishing the desperate dash to the High Street to find something to wear for the office do.

But personal stylist El Davies, from London-based Style Doctors, reckons with a little bit of knowledge and some imagination, it's easy to bypass the garish glitter and satin horrors and find the perfect outfit.

She performed her magic on five willing volunteers from The Mall in Blackburn and in the process shared the latest styling secrets.

Black fans will be thrilled to discover that this season black is, erm, the new black.

"Black is the key colour of the party season this year," said El.

"People always wear a lot of black in the evenings anyway, but it really is in fashion this year.

"Black is flattering and slimming, but it doesn't suit everyone," she continuted.

"But don't worry, there are plenty of ways round this.

"You can team it with another colour; perhaps wear a black skirt and a top in another of the season's strong key colours, purple or acid yellow.

"Another option is to wear a black dress with an open neckline and team it with a bright necklace.

"That way it's the colour of the necklace that bounces off your face, not the black.

"But if you're over 40 you might want to wear brown instead -it will be much softer on you."

If you're wearing separates in black there's the age-old problem of matching the shades, which is practically impossible, especially if the pieces are from different shops.

"One way to get over this is to make sure the pieces are in different fabric.

"Team a satin pencil skirt with a chiffon top," said El.

"That was it won't matter that the shades aren't exactly the same."

Metallics will also still be big this season, with grey and silver proving more popular than classic gold.

"Silver and gold shoes, bag and jewellery is a great way to bring an old black dress bang up to date.

But don't make the mistake of buying something with big bold patterns - those voluminous printed smocks we wore all summer long will be a thing of the past this winter.

"Keep away from prints," said El. "We had overkill on big bold colourful patterns in the summer and now they're passé.

"A key look for the winter season is 1940s glamour.

"Think sexy, think feminine, think Dita von Teese," said El.

"Waisted belts are still around to accentuate the waist and show off the feminine form.

"Cheeky flashes of colour in unexpected places are also big news."

As far as accessories go it's all about glamour.

"Clutch bags are more elegant for the evening, but if you really can't do without a strap go for a thin shoulder strap," said El.

"As for shoes, a heel is always good to elongate the leg but be realistic.

"If your heels are so high you're going to end up taking your shoes off by the end of the night you'll ruin the whole effect and might as well have come out in your slippers."

But before you automatically reach for your trusty pashmina to complete the look: stop.

"People think that a pashmina is ok for every occasion but it's not," said El.

"You are much better off wearing a fitted shrug or jacket in a delicate fabric."