The holidays are a time for celebration — and this year, we all deserve a toast. Not just for the big achievements, like landing a new job or getting married or sending your kid off to school, but also for the everyday wins: being a better friend, treating yourself with kindness, saying “no” to extra stress and “yes” to your favorite croissants.

Finding joy and growth in a challenging year is an accomplishment in itself, and for that, we say bring on the festivities. Here, we’ve asked three of our colleagues at Vox Media to reflect on the lessons they’ve learned in 2021, the holiday plans ahead of them, and the J.Crew looks they’re wearing this season to feel like their best selves. After all, just because we might be once again socializing safely and reigniting some of the traditions we had to avoid last year doesn’t mean we have to dress like we’re emerging from a time capsule from before the pandemic. We’ve changed, and our wardrobes have, too.

Whether we’re traveling to see family, hosting a holiday party at home, or capping off the year with some peace and quiet, here’s how we’re dressing to celebrate all that we’ve become.

Laura Delarato, Creative Director

What I’m most looking forward to celebrating this year:
I wrote a book! It’s called My Pleasure, and it’s coming out in the spring. It’s a combination of body image advocacy, loving your body, and how that influences sex education. The idea is that if you can find a way to stop being at war with your body, then you can have this excellent sex life and excellent life thereafter. Because it all connects back to you caring about who you are.

The most valuable lesson 2021 has taught me:
I’ve been trying to learn to not cause myself more stress. All through 2020, and I was working my nine to five job, and then also writing a book and freelancing. And in 2021, I had a lot of personal things happen. I lost my grandmother, who was my best friend. I lost a friend of mine. And I had a real striking moment of thinking, ‘Are you going to look back and just look at how hard you work on things, or are you going to enjoy life?’ I decided I want to remember at least a year in which I didn’t cause myself stress by trying to find stability. Because if the last two years of our lives have told us anything, it’s that stability isn’t guaranteed.

An accomplishment I’m proud of outside of work:
I took the year to really understand what it meant to be Italian. I’m about 98% Italian, but my whole life I’ve always been really distant from that part of me. I don’t really look like anyone in my family. I have very light skin and light eyes and light hair, and when I walk into the family reunion, it straight-up looks like the Sopranos and I stick out like the sorest, sorest thumb. So this year, I learned how to make homemade pasta and tried to create spaces and places and things in my life that my Italian grandmother would’ve loved. She would have a glass of wine every day, enjoy fruit, wear simple things, have gaudy jewelry, and be great to her friends. And I’ve been trying to adopt some of that this year.

How I’m celebrating the holidays:
For Christmas, every year since my great-great-great grandfather came from Italy, the Santa Claus of the family dresses up in a Santa suit and we do grab-bag gifts. It’s always tiny dollar store gifts and things that are homemade, because when they came over, they had nothing. So we’ve kept that tradition going every single year. We also dress up in these costumes — Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, Elf — and walk around the Bronx saying hi to neighborhood families. It’s very silly.

Why I chose this J.Crew look:
This outfit really nails who I am. I’m a New Yorker on the go — I’ve got to look cool, got to look chic — throw a little goth fall in there, and that’s me. I don’t know if I’ll wear it with my reindeer costume, because it’s just too nice. But I would wear it on a really nice evening out. I think the last year has really shown us that all of our time matters. And what’s stopping everyone from dressing up and feeling as good as they can?

Cortne Bonilla, Branded Content Editor

What I’m most looking forward to celebrating this year:
I’m really, really, really looking forward to more hugs, more gatherings, and spending the holidays in person with my family. I live near some of them, but I have a huge family and we’re spread out all over the globe. There were so many special events I missed (even if I was able to watch via Zoom) that deserve a re-celebration in real-time.

The most valuable lesson 2021 has taught me:
I always knew this deep down but it really hit home for me during the past two years of constant ups and downs: we are not our job, our relationships status, or our greatest accomplishments. We are not even our worst failures. We are all ever-growing, learning, and changing. I think it was so vital for me to realize the importance of being alone with yourself, learning who you are when all that is stripped away.

One thing I’m proud of this year:
I used to write a lot of poetry and fiction. Since I write for a living, I let that fun and freeing hobby dwindle with deadlines and 9-5s. This year, though, I started writing again for pleasure, and reading more too! As a child, I spent hours sitting on the floor at any bookstore I could find, head buried in romance and fantasy. I am so glad I brought that back into my daily routine. We (my boyfriend and I) also adopted a rescue Yorkie named Basil. I learned what loving something through countless difficulties is like.

How I’m celebrating the holidays:
By actually going out! I will be hosting some celebrations with friends and family and then traveling to see my family down south. For Christmas, we plan on renting a beautiful cabin with a heated pool for everyone to enjoy, rather than spending our money on gifts.

Where I’m wearing my J.Crew look:
You can never go wrong with a well-structured blazer, perfectly-fitted denim, and a cute shoe. I’ll wear it to both dinners and holiday parties. It’s a great transitional look that doesn’t oppose my usual neutral palate.

Julia Kramer, Branded Content Editor

What I’m most looking forward to celebrating this year:

I feel like time got away from me very quickly during the first year of the pandemic. All of a sudden I was like, ‘Wow, we’ve been doing this thing for how many months?’ And so I think in 2021, I refocused and started picking back up hobbies and reading more and spending more time with my friends. I’ve been trying to be more intentional with the time that I spend. Also, I started a new job this year, which was exciting, and I feel like things are moving forward in really positive ways for myself. That’s been where my head has been at lately.

One lesson I learned in 2021:

I’ve always been someone who, when I try something, if I’m not immediately good at it, I’m like, ‘I don’t want to do this anymore.’ And this year I learned I can do things just because I enjoy them. I don’t necessarily have to be good at them. I started picking back up pottery and ceramics, and I am terrible at it. No one wants the pots that I bake on their mantel. They are not going on anyone’s Instagram feed. But it’s so fun and therapeutic and just the perfect way to relax.

How I’m spending the holidays:

I’ll be in the city. I’m a pretty low-key holiday celebrator. I enjoy them, but growing up, my family always had pretty mellow celebrations, and I’ve adopted that now as an adult. I usually just use that time to relax and be present. There’s a certain stillness in the city during that time, especially if you get lucky and there’s some snow. This year, I’m probably going to be spending those days doing some of my favorite things, like walking around, getting a croissant, sitting in the park reading — little tiny, enjoyable things.

Why I chose this J.Crew look:

When I pick out outfits, I like for them to look effortlessly put-together and a little chic, but I also don’t want to be super cookie-cutter. I like there to be a little bit of an edge to it. So I really like this suit because the jacket and the pants are so well-tailored, but then the cashmere tank underneath gives you a little bit of skin. Plus, when I roll up the sleeves of the blazer, you can see my tattoos. The pointed-toe flats aren’t something I would usually immediately gravitate toward, but the texture of the rhinestones pulled everything together.