Black tie do at House of Commons... long dress or cocktail dress?

[Phwooooar]

Has anyone been to a do here? Long or short?

If long, has anyone seen any lovely long dresses in the shops?

Black tie is traditionally long dresses. I reckon the House of Commons will be pretty traditional.

I bought a lovely long evening dress from Phase 8 last winter.

Both long & short when I went (circa 5 years ago) - but by “short” I mean on knee or lower.

I’d say it was 50/50 between knee-ers & ankle-ers. As a petite lady (aka short-arse) I favoured the ‘on-knee’ black bandeau dress, and didn’t feel out of place at all.

Thank you! Quite fancy wearing long if I can find something long enough! Am 5’9” and find that quite often they’re swinging at just above ankle which is not a good look. Fancy a red dress too! Have never had a red dress

Definitely try Phase 8. I’m an inch shorter than you and my evening dress from them is a tad too long.

Black tie has included short dresses for a long time - my 1981 Debrett's explicitly states as much. It will depend on the event, to some extent. A drinks reception is likely to be less formal than a dinner, for example.

You might be surprised at what you can get in full length. I'm 6' and often wonder how shorter women manage because full-length dresses are often plenty long enough for me.

White tie requires a long dress. As HaHaHmmm says, black tie permits cocktail length dresses.

(Debretts! I am impressed)

Funny how the dress code only specifies the men's attire isn't it? I think they should include another phrase whether it's ballgowns / floor length/ cocktail dress.

Having been to a few there I'd say short cocktail.
The women seemed not to overdo it and the few who went all out stood out as an exception.

I would agree with Ktown especially if the event is business related. I go to a fair number of these events through work and a lot of the women come straight from work so tend to change in office, making full on ball gowns a bit impractical. Mind you, nothing wrong at all with standing out and going all out! I love a bit of bling!

I went this year to a black tie do at the House of Commons

I wore a knee length sparkly dress with sleeves.

There was a mix of dresses. All the ladies looked lovely but not everyone had ball gowns on. No one batted an eyelid because people had clearly made an effort but the dresses were a mix of styles.

I always tend to go long for black tie. I have bought nice dresses on ebay and charity shops!

I've gone for a shorter length dress in the past. Mainly for practical reasons as events have been in the evening and I've been catching the tube in from work. I wouldn't fancy an evening gown's chances on the District Line from Dagenham. Also, the black tie events there have been for more 'professional' reasons and I felt more in role in a short, smart dress. I've found some nice dresses in Hobbs ( the outlet shop).

Just a thought, but midi length is very in at the moment. A midi length cocktail dress could look really good.

Have a look at the Hot squash website.
They have lovely dresses that have a warm lining so you can stand outside and not freeze without a coat on.

www.hotsquash.com/warm/sequin-dress.html

I wore this one in dark blue