Advice for 20yo

[WhisperingJesse]

My daughter has bought 3 dresses ready for afternoon tea for her birthday soon. Neither of us are much good at style- she's usually dressed in jodhpurs.

Which of these dresses would be best for 'smart casual' in an upmarket hotel. And how should she style it - shoes, belts, bag, jewellery?

I think 2 is best for smart casual. The other two are lacy and maybe a bit too much for an afternoon tea. I know my DD would style the blue dress with trainers as that's how she dresses. She doesn't need a belt. Maybe some low key silver jewellery?

All of them look nice. She has a good physique. I prefer 1 as it has sleeves, but the blue is a better colour.

What's the material of the second one? It looks a little bit like denim to me (even if it isn't!) which makes it look too casual for an upmarket hotel.

I think number 3 is the nicest of them.

No 2 definitely needs ironing, but is her current fave. No 3 is a mixture of polyester and cotton panels - black over a cream under-layer.

Sorry, no 2 is cotton.

I think no2 on reflection, nice to have something not black and probably better for smart casual.

I'd probably wear with trainers too but maybe ankle boots to be a bit smarter?

Thanks - she's appreciating the comments.

2 or 3 but she actually looks lovely in all of them . Tell her to wear the one that she feels fab in !

I like two with sandals

I am 25 for reference and think 2 is the best on her colour-wise. The black is heavier on her skin tone and less youthful. She looks really nice in the blue!

Personally, I would wear 2 with white trainers (Stan smiths or Air Force 1s) or potentially a flat sandal/mule style thing if I didn’t think trainers were dressy enough. Agree with pp: no belt. Potentially a small leather satchel bag would be cute. Simple silver necklace/small silver hoop earrings would be elegant.

No 2

Brilliant- great suggestions here thanks. I'm interested why no belt - as an oldie I always thought that 'finished' an outfit.

I think a belt would look a bit dated now- I'm 33 and when I was around your daughters age the trend would have been to wear a belt with it 😂 so I'd leave that trend in 2008 tbh.

I think it would be better with some nice flat sandals or ones with a low-ish block heel rather than trainers- if it's a nice hotel I don't think trainers would feel smart enough. Agree a small leather satchel would look really nice as well.

Ok thanks! I think the sandals idea is preferable too.

Like number 2 or 3 the best

With sandals not trainers especially in a naice hotel

No belt but maybe some plain silver jewellery