Black tie event - what dress to wear, absolutely clueless!!

[MyNameIsFartacus]

I am going to an awards night woo hoo! Black tie event at a posh venue in London, and haven't a clue what to wear - am UTTERLY clueless considering I generally live in muddy wellies a long way from anything posh at all, haven't been to something like this ever!

So looking for tips/links to nice dresses - I do know that I want floor length and SPANGLY!

Are you able to go to a department store? If you can book a personal shopper appointment, guarantee they'll find you something fabulous.

You can usually come up with something on your own eventually, but this takes a bit of the work out of it I think. It's fun trying on things, they'll find you shoes and a bag as well if you need them.

First things first. Is it a professional event or a social event ? If the former, cocktail dress and go easy on flashing the flesh. If it’s the latter then go full length and think about a statement necklace or earrings.

I suppose it's a professional event. I haven't got any large department stores near me, would have to travel a couple of hours to get to one bit that is a brilliant idea re the personal shopper. I don't even really know the difference between types of dresses

Time to order a few things online to try on I think. What body shape do you have, what kind of cuts suit you ? Any partic colours you like ?

If in doubt then I’d say just buy a little black dress (or a long one if you want to go long) and have nice accessories.

I definitely don't want black - I'm 5'5, size 8 but skinny pear shape hips much bigger than top half, no boobs whatsoever! Was thinking something either navy or nude/rose gold

Have a look at the John Lewis website, just for ideas. In> Women click on Dresses> on the side bar click on Black Tie. They have over 500 frocks to look at for ideas on style, colour and importantly, price!

Once you have something in mind, you can broaden your search, perhaps to cheaper options, or different fabrics.