So I've ascertained I'm REALLY not a dress person... opinions on my plans for posh dinner, please?

[SomeDayMyPrinceMightCome]

I posted the otehr day on here about my FIL's 70th dinner.

I am NOT a dress person. I knwo this now.

Lovely advice and gorgeous suggestions were given to me. I ordered several. The gorgeous dresses all looked and felt awful on me.

It has confirmed what I suspected. I wasn't really a dress person before I had DD, and I'm CERTAINLY not a dress person now that I'm no longer remotely body-confident!

So, here is my alternative plan for tomorrow night's dinner and I would LOVE opinions.

Smart black cigarette trousers, black strappy silk cami, men's-style crisp white shirt worn unbuttoned over the top as a 'jacket'/ to cover my awful arms, extremely high pale grey heels, clutch bag and dramatic jewellery.

Thoughts?

If I could copy any celeb's style it would be Charlize Theron and I think (I hope??) this sort of outfit is a bit like her style.

I feel it is dramatic/bold enough to not make me feel like a frumpy mum and is in its own way like the way I used to dress (albeit in the olden days the trousers might have been shorts or something).

I could do a pencil skirt instead of the trousers but I love the insousiance of a cigarette trouser and heels.

aaaaarrrrgh, is this going to look OK?

The occasion is a smart dinner, I suspect most of the otehr women will be in LBD-type dresses at their smartest or skirts/tops if not (many are older as it's a family do)

Thanks hugely!!

Oh, the otehr option for a cover-up/jacket is an actual jacket, I have a black blazer but it's not really quite tuxedo-y enough for the look I'm going for iyswim

Argh sorry, this is the most drip-feedy-est of drip-feeds!

I am getting my hair blow-dried and a manicure so I'm hoping the grooming will add to the general effect.

Sounds really nice.

Whilst I absolutely appreciate the look you are going for, white shirt and black trousers may make you look like a waitress?

any other options for a cover up?

Sounds great. I think a nice jacket would look great instead of a white shirt though

Love the idea but for it to work in real life you need a silk (or silk effect) shirt and NOT white - white. Choose one with a soft ish collar and good reveres. Unless of course you are actually 6ft tall with baby blonde hair and the body of a godess. I stood beside her one day in a carpark. Humbling ]

I am planning on nearly the exact same outfit for my 40th.
I'm just wearing leather leggings and leopard heels instead, with drop earrings and red lipstick instead.

I have this lovely jacket from monsoon - a shorter tuxedo with a satiny lapel. its lovely, and a bargain at only £59

uk.monsoon.co.uk/view/product/uk_catalog/mon_1,mon_1.5/1426330108

this is the cami I'm going for - black silk and lace.

also not good at dresses, I feel too self conscious and exposed in them

www.thewhitecompany.com/Lace-Detail-Silk-Cami/p/LDCCA?swatch=Black

I'm pretty much attempting to channel Stella Gibson from The Fall in this pic

Sounds like a great outfit but I agree that something silly might be easier to carry off as a jacket. Grey silk shirt would be good.

Sounds very chic.

Jacket rather than shirt, IMO. Something tux like, with the satin stripes and shizz.

Thanks all!

Ah, harriet, if ONLY I was 6 foot tall with the body of a goddess...

Have a major girl crush on Charlize though! I like to feel she's how I would look if I was a few inches taller (actually I'm almost 5 foot 9 already), a few hundred degrees more facially stunning and if I was willing to spend roughly 6 hours a day in the gym. I love her athletic look as I have the same broad shoulders, angular body type etc, it's just that mine is all hidden beneath a more shall we say comfortable layer of insulation

So, on the advice from here, I am wondering about changing tack very slightly and going for the same cigarette pants, either the same black cami or a cream/off-white one and, instead of the white shirt, a rather fab thick silk Chinese-collar black shirt I've owned for years but only bring out occasionally. It's such heavy silk it's almost more a jacket than a shirt and I LOVES me a Mandarin collar (I always wear my hair up so it works for me)

Does that sound a good option?

Thanks SO much again. I have totally and utterly lost my mojo, along with my body shape, so this advice is all terrific and thank you. I feel so un-toned and because I SHOULD have an athletic body type, being u-toned just makes me look relaly crap. I wish I could do curvy but I can't.

That black shirt sounds fabulous and, just as importantly, it sounds as if you feel really happy it in.

Great outfit. You'll rock it!!

Both of those sound amazing! Any chance of a photo?

Chinese top sounds perfect!! Pics please!

I think that sounds great. The couple of tweaks I would make:

Grey silk cami to match shoes and break up head to toe black.
Good jewellery as outfit not too feminine.

I would go with a sheer silk white shirt if you can find one I think white by the face is more flattering.

thanks all!!

Wish I could do pics but am hopeless on tech front plus lighting in my bedroom is DIRE, these awful energy-saving bulbs... even if I knew how to upload a pic all you'd see is a dingy blur.

Gteat suggestion re breaking up all the black with a grey cami... having a look online now to see where might have one that I can get tomorrow if I have time. Am somewhat obsessed by grey so I don't know why I haven't got a grey cami in my wardrobe...

Good jewellery also a good tip, I have a couple of lovely necklace options that are fairly feminine. I will also wear one of my beloved scarves (never get a chance ot wear any of my nice ones anymore) as we arrive so if I'm feeling too stark or drab I'll keep it on for a bit...

Thanks so much, I can't tell you how much I appreciate the confidence boost!

Let us know how it goes?

I will harriet and thanks so much to everyone who posted on this thread and my last one

I'd also kill the white shirt, they always look great on models but hard to pull off in real life. The black Chinese jacket sounds much better,,,