Call off the search, Nicola Coughlan has just worn the only look that matters for Christmas 2025. A bold statement? Perhaps. But this outfit is, quite simply, so right for this particular time of year that any other attempt will surely pale in comparison.
For the press night of The Playboy Of The Western World, Coughlan side-stepped a sequinned column frock or whip-smart tailoring, choosing, instead, a custom-made cable-knit dress by Colin Burke. Explaining the choice on Instagram, her stylist, Aimee Croysdill, said: "All of Nicola's costumes are made using traditional Irish techniques and fabrics so we wanted to also honour the play by doing the same for this look. The incredible Colin Burke custom hand-knit and crochet[ed] the dress in the west of Ireland using the finest Donegal Aran Tweed yarns and traditional Aran stitchwork."
Coughlan's cable-knit defied the notion that sweater dresses aren't capable of greatness (cosiness, yes, but not greatness). Well, Burke's sculpted version, with its crochet sleeves that hugged the wrist and puffed at the elbow, wasn't just great but really great, especially with some genius styling moves courtesy of Croysdill, who contrasted its cosy texture with optic white tights and sharply-pointed court pumps for a look that was the hue of brandy-infused butter (and just as perfectly balanced).
Want to channel the same mood over Christmas? Coughlan's dress might be custom-made but you can still use it as inspiration, following her lead when it comes to footwear and hosiery.
Shop The Best Cream Cable-Knit Dresses
With puffed sleeves, a cinched waist and cute bobble details, Karen Millen's cable-knit dress gives a little extra.
Elongated and stylishly oversized, H&M's cable-knit dress is the answer if you want to look chic but feel cosy.
Short, sweet and slightly roomy in proportion, Eric Bompard's dress could be styled with shearling-lined knee-high boots.
Cream with a slight turtleneck, this cable-knit is so comfortable, you probably won't take it off until 2026.
Abercrombie & Fitch's cable-knit is styled with a plaid shirt knotted around the waist on its website, a cool flex that will appeal to fans of a dressed-down Christmas Day.
