Is it just us or is Thanksgiving coming WAY too early this year? Perhaps all the excitement of the last month or so made it go by so fast. The election was a little over a week ago, Halloween seems like it was yesterday and the weather has been too all over the map for us to settle into the season of giving thanks. But let’s get in the spirit, shall we?

Some of us will be thankful for the beautiful meal we can lay out in front of our families—and those families will be just as thankful for the meal that we’ve lovingly prepared for them all day. Others will be thankful for the ability to cater a holiday meal to satisfy a party of twelve, including the preferences of sweet potato casserole AND mashed potatoes with giblet gravy. Still others will greet all guests arriving for Friendsgiving and whisk away to the kitchen favorite pumpkin pies, bowls of salad and plates of balsamic-glazed Brussels sprouts. But whether your meal is a party of two or a potluck, your table should be both dressed up for the occasion and make guests feel at home.

Here are MDG’s favorite dinner table accessories.

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The first day of fall ceremoniously shuts the drawer on linen shirts, tucks away swim trunks and flings flip flops to the back of closets—at least until we realize that it’s still a little too hot to go to such extremes. But while we stubbornly shake out the moth balls from our sweaters, what pattern are we seeing flash before our eyes? Plaid.

Plaid, the pattern of lumberjacks and haberdashers alike. We think of both campfire and pipe smoke, of scratchy wool coats and soft cashmere socks. But, you ask, can you mix plaids? How do I wear plaid without looking like Paul Bunyan? What if I want to look like Paul Bunyan? We at MDG have compiled our top tips for how to wear and mix plaid.

1) Choose patterns that vary in size or width. Try a teeny check print with a big plaid or a wide herringbone with small buffalo plaid.

2) Keep plaids in the same color family, i.e. grey, black and charcoal, or two plaids that share the same color, like a navy Glenn plaid coat with navy micro-check dress slacks.

3) Choose one plaid or print that dominates and one to accent.

4) When in doubt, mix plaid with neutrals.

Our favorite way to wear plaid this season is to pick your plaid and run with it. Use all the rules or none of them, but if you have any questions, contact Marlena here.

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Here are MDG’s favorite dinner table accessories.

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