Lisa Rinna’s Unapologetic Guide To Surviving Holiday Party Season

This holiday season, Lisa Rinna is trading Beverly Hills for Manhattan. And she’s *very* excited. “It’s going to be our first Christmas in New York,” she gushes over Zoom.

With a new ZIP code comes a whole new set of holiday plans, which so far include watching the Thanksgiving Day parade from her apartment and leaning into her signature main-character dressing — but for the winter chill. “You feel more elevated here for Christmas than you do on the West Coast. We have 80-degree Christmases in L.A.,” says the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum, who’s tapped to star in the upcoming Off-Broadway revival of Neil Simon’s Rumors from Jan. 9 through Feb. 28. “New York just makes you want to up the ante.”

Rinna is already ahead of schedule. In her new campaign for Express, “Holiday, Hamlin Style,” launching today, she test-drives festive classics like high-shine sequins, glamorous Santa-red gowns, and cozy knits. The shoot was a full family affair, featuring her husband, Harry Hamlin; daughter Delilah Belle Hamlin; and Delilah’s boyfriend, Mick Maio. “To get to work with your family, pinch me,” she says of the shoot. She’s especially thrilled about sharing the lens with her partner: “A couple of weeks ago, I was like, ‘We need to make Harry into a supermodel now.’ Everybody else is. I literally put that out in the universe.”

Naturally, working alongside her loved ones sparked a little holiday nostalgia. The project took her back to her own traditions, particularly matching with her family in Christmas sweaters. (As true Bravo fans know, Rinna loves a matching moment — whether they’re in red flannel pajamas or Santa hats.) It even inspired a possible outfit idea for this year.

Ahead, the reality-TV icon shares her one foolproof holiday ’fit, her secret to tricking everyone into matching, and how to navigate awkward party small talk (and when to deploy the perfect Irish exit).

How To Feel Festive In 2 Seconds

Holiday dressing practically comes with its own maximalist dress code — think sequins; velvets; bows; and enough reds, greens, and metallic golds to make you look like you’re twinning with the tree. But according to Rinna, getting into the holiday spirit doesn’t require a head-to-toe disco ball look. All it takes is a cozy knit to pull off an instant seasonal vibe shift.

“When I was with Delilah, we were wearing the sweaters — laughing and dancing around,” she says of her favorite piece from the campaign. “You put on a Christmas sweater — a cute one — and it makes you feel like Christmas.”

How To Get Your Entire Crew To Match

With a household full of working models — daughters Amelia and Delilah, plus husband Harry — getting everyone to agree on a single style aesthetic can be a challenge. But individual tastes go out the window in December.

“Because [the girls are] three years apart, I never matched them except for Christmas,” says Rinna, adding, “As long as it’s not really a really, really bad Christmas sweater — which is a funny idea actually now that I think about it — they’ll pretty much wear whatever I bring to the table.”

How To Guarantee A Major Style Moment

Finding a bold way to make a statement in the winter is easy. But if she had to pick her go-to festive uniform, it would be a sharp pantsuit. “I love a red suit, a green suit, a holiday-inspired gold suit,” she says. Her only rule? Make sure it fits right. “If it’s tailored properly, everybody looks great in it,” she promises.

On the flip side, there is one style choice she’d encourage everyone to ditch this season. “Unless it’s soft and cozy, anything that’s an uncomfortable fabric, we can retire it,” she says. Consider this your permission to permanently shelf any scratchy sequins or stiff velvets.

How To Trust Your Own Fashion Instincts

While Rinna is a legendary tastemaker, she’s no longer the only fashionista in the family. To say her daughters have an impact on her wardrobe would be an understatement. “A thousand bajillion percent,” she says of how much they inspire her.

Because her daughters have completely different styles — Delilah loves vintage, shopping for bold patterns and jewelry at flea markets; Amelia prefers classic, opting for more tomboyish choices and very few prints and accessories — Rinna has plenty of fresh mood board ideas to draw from.

But there’s a difference between borrowing ideas from her kids and asking them for validation. When it’s time to actually pull together a look, she shuts out the noise and trusts her own gut (and her stylist’s expertise). “I don’t ever show anybody [my outfits],” Rinna says. “I don’t think you need anybody’s opinion.”

How To Master The Party Exit Strategy

Between the endless small talk and the risk of bumping into a frenemy, holiday parties can be a lot. Luckily, Rinna has a straightforward approach to getting through them. Her first rule is basic: Know when to leave. And when you’re ready, you just... go. “I don’t say goodbye,” she says. “I just slip out.”

How To Survive The Social Drama

And if you bump into someone wearing the exact same ’fit? Embrace it. “I like to accidentally match with somebody else. I think that’s fun,” she says. What she won’t do, though, is suffer through an uncomfortable conversation just for the sake of being polite. She’d rather skip out on an event entirely than sit there faking niceties.

She also has one major rule passed down to her daughters: Keep it cute. “Don’t drink too much. Ever,” she explains. “Don’t get sloppy. Don’t get messy.”

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.