For Christmas romance with a no-compromise approach to style, there’s no better destination than the Big Apple.

TO DO: Skating in Central Park, hanging out by the big Christmas tree at the Rockefeller Center and generally looking atmospheric amidst the crowds of tourists, street steam and impressive Holiday lights, you really will feel like you’re in the movies. Fun sure, but it’s also a little cheesy, non? There is a solution and it comes from a native brand…

THE STYLE: Marc by Marc Jacobs perfectly straddles the smart casual gap with its incredibly desirable remakes of menswear staples. The leather donkey-yoked hoodie transforms a casual basic into a luxurious hero piece with an all-black anti-festive edge that goes against the grain of patterned knits. Likewise, the sleek leather jacket. Its slim silhouette and modernist feel is the perfect cure for Christmas novelties. Bright bags, minimalist Oxfords and graphic T-shirts all bring a future friendly dose of I heart NY charm, which will easily outlast the season.

SO: Now you can fling yourself into the season with abandon, particularly as much of the city stays open for business on the big day itself. Museums, shows and restaurants all function on the 25th, while the subway puts on a nostalgia special, with a vintage train, decorated for the Holiday. Unlike you.

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Roaring fires, country pubs and a bracing air? Sounds like the perfect pitch for a ruddy cheeked cuddle-fuelled Chrimbo.

TO DO: It’s not difficult. Explore, eat, cosy up to loved ones and light the fire. But most importantly of all get in your outdoors-gear and go for a walk – it’s not just exercise, it’s about parading your stylish outfit too.

THE STYLE: There is plenty of mileage in the country look right now, but it can look a little hackneyed if a city worker’s urban retreat goes for full-on waxed cottons. We say modernise it. Switch your coloured moleskins for bright jeans, tweak your checks with the oversized proportions and amped colors of a Burberry Brit explosion and extend that brogue’s lifespan cycle with a boot silhouette. Trade up your country tweed with a padded version and pop on a bright backpack. The result? Country ready and clichés ditched.

SO: Escape to the country in a style that will still have currency when you return to the city. Dales and Moors to Cotswolds and Cairngorms, take your pick.

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Surely the ultimate Christmas destination, Lapland is potentially the pinnacle of seasonal clichés.

TO DO: Your list should include the following: looking up (in the hope of spying the dramatic colours of the Aurora Borealis), sitting down (for a spot of tobogganing) and hanging around (until February for the Jokkmokk great Winter market, which stretches back to 1602).

THE STYLE: However you approach it, your sartorial demands need not compromise function for style. Go for a clean lined look that turns up the tog number with thick knits and a heavy duty outer layer. We say there’s no need to go Nordic, instead look for a neutral knit, perfect with your denim and a fitting foil for your hired hi-vis snow gear. A shawl collar will be becoming when you grow out your snow stubble, so go for luxe greys like the Vince tweed and cable versions or an arctic cream, like Acne or Rag & Bone’s. Of course you’ll need some serious warmth. Think parka, and go for the Penfield expedition coat, A.P.C. snow parka or Belstaff’s down filled version. All minimal. All seriously toasty.

SO: Embrace the cliché. Lapland is, after all, home to Santa’s Village (where he can be found year round, in case you were wondering), reindeer parks and a snow village. Yes, a whole village made out of the stuff. And for the less sedate, Lapland is a hotbed of hikers, giving you every reason to wear your new boots. Any excuse…

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