New year, new you. It’s just around the corner. However, research shows that more than 80 per cent of New Year resolutions fail by February. The reality is that one ill-considered strategy picked from a whirling pool of nebulous positivity simply won’t work. So, where should we actually begin? And what are the changes we can make that will really, well, change things?

It happens to the best of us. We’ve all been culprits of those diplomatic white lies – the false promise of having all your loved ones over for dinner – and next thing we know, they actually expect an invite. You’ve now got to think about tablescaping, food, wine, dessert, crackers, the whole lot. But this year, we’ll go by the rule that if you put one good drink in your guests’ hands at the start of the function, the rest will (hopefully) handle itself.

Some say that the only box that MR PORTER is interested in is the white packaging that your stylish purchases are carefully placed into. Which is not entirely true. Because another box that we couldn’t take our eyes off this year was our television set. And while the age of streaming has disrupted the way we watch, there were still big moments and appointment views.

Festive traditions, those routines and recipes that make this time of year special, are all well and good… Unless they aren’t. In which case we’ve come up with a plan. In the spirit of self-improvement (and being generally nosy) we spoke to a few of our favourite chefs, restaurateurs and people with good taste, to find out how to level up our approach to hosting this December.

New year, new you. It’s just around the corner. However, research shows that more than 80 per cent of New Year resolutions fail by February. The reality is that one ill-considered strategy picked from a whirling pool of nebulous positivity simply won’t work. So, where should we actually begin? And what are the changes we can make that will really, well, change things?

It happens to the best of us. We’ve all been culprits of those diplomatic white lies – the false promise of having all your loved ones over for dinner – and next thing we know, they actually expect an invite. You’ve now got to think about tablescaping, food, wine, dessert, crackers, the whole lot. But this year, we’ll go by the rule that if you put one good drink in your guests’ hands at the start of the function, the rest will (hopefully) handle itself.