Converse with cocktail dress at black tie dinner?

[BabCNesbitt]

I expect to get flamed for this, but I’ve got a work black-ish tie event coming up (for staff only) and I I’m going to wear a royal blue knee-length 60s cocktail dress. Can I get away with wearing a pair of gold Converse hi-tops with this? I do think it’d look good, but perhaps not appropriate. What other alternatives are there to heels with a dress like this?

Wear the converse if that's your style. Fight fight fight against the load of old rubbish that is "appropriate" dressing.

Not too large at all. Block heels are a full go at the moment, anyway.

If the dress code is very formal, hoe about something like

carvela

If the dress code is more relaxed I'd go for the converse. I like their custom made, I only wish I could get married again to justify a pair in pale gold.

Who is organising the party? Can you ask them about how formal the do is?

@ChequerBoard

If you're comfortable in your Converse, and like the way they look with your dress, then why the hell not?

Don't get pressured into buying heels you won't be comfortable in and will never wear again.

Here’s why the hell not (my view only):

At a black tie dinner with work colleagues, you have to show that you are a grown up who understands how to look put together.

(I await the chorus of howls telling me why being grown up is stupid and why looking put together is so uncool).

Unless you are the kooky girl in the office who wants to spend the rest of her career being a PA, you need to dress appropriately, by which I mean showing that you understand how a professional well-dressed woman should look.

(I’ve already seen a RAGE AGAINST BEING ‘APPROPRIATE’ post but appropriate does not mean stuffy and boring!)

Let’s be honest: people will always judge how colleagues dress. All the more when we are out of our office mufti. I’m not saying that this is how it should be: it’s how it is.

So if you want to be taken seriously, you look at the ‘uniform’ and personalise it. If you’re a CFO you wouldn’t wear a plunging neckline or a micro skirt, for example. You might suspect tgat most of the women will wear feminine shoes. By wearing gold converse with a cocktail dress, you are implicitly saying, “I reject convention”. Which is great if you are Billie Eilish, or Lily Allen 15 years ago, but not so much if you work for an insurance broker and hope to develop a decent career with that business.

Save the quirky looks for your private life. It is possible to look both stylish and consistent with the accepted dress code.

If it were all about comfort, people would attend in slippers. Ask yourself why they don’t.

@iamthewombat said "So if you want to be taken seriously, you look at the ‘uniform’ and personalise it. If you’re a CFO you wouldn’t wear a plunging neckline or a micro skirt, for example....

Save the quirky looks for your private life. It is possible to look both stylish and consistent with the accepted dress code."

I think you are projecting your own expectations. Nowhere has the OP said that it's a highly structured or formal work environment- presumably if it was, she wouldn't be asking the question in the first place?

Formal dress codes are very passé, informal is much more accepted in forward thinking organisations including the huge global company that I work for in a senior role.

How about flat but feminine mules?

www.jonesbootmaker.com/products/pointed-flat-leather-mules-lein29502-315-328

I am a heels rejector and love the idea of Converse. But honestly I wouldn’t for a work black tie thing. Gold block heels you posted are great - though personally I would just wear “smart” flats :-)

I think those block heels look fine OP, even a wedge heel is gong to be better than converse for a black tie event.

I'm all for expressing yourself and have quite an alternative style even in the office, but I do think choosing to wear trainers to a black tie work event is 'making a statement' and I'd personally not really want to be in that position.

Nowhere has the OP said that it's a highly structured or formal work environment- presumably if it was, she wouldn't be asking the question in the first place?

Nowhere has she said that it is not a highly structured work environment either. What type of businesses have black tie work dinners? It’s not difficult to work out, is it?

Formal dress codes are very passé, informal is much more accepted in forward thinking organisations including the huge global company that I work for in a senior role.

I, too, work for a global business in a senior role. The business I work for (big data), would never hold a black tie dinner. It’s just not our style. However, I know enough about businesses that do hold that type of event,through having worked in them, to understand that turning up looking kooky in a cocktail dress and converse is not going to help your career.

I actually think Converse sounds great.

Oh, I’m certainly not in the kind of role where I can entertain the slightest notion of career progression. I know that I’m not going anywhere from this job!

I think the converse sound great if you're confident, I also think the block heel sparkly pointy one from asos feels late 60s. If you are a rule follower and want to wear a "man's" style an Oxford or evening slipper is black tie. Brogues and loafers are inherently casual and not black tie. If you want a throwaway there is a orange satin ballerina flat with diamante round buckle decoration on everything £5 which is 1-3 days delivery. If you worry about a ballerina flat not being secure you can buy clear silicone elastics from dancewear shops or online to wear around the instep which hold the shoe on (I flap about in any sort of flat/loafer with a high instep).

And I LOVE your username btw

A couple girls did this at my daughter’s prom - one wore DMs with a black punky lace dress another trainers with a gold full skirted dress. But they are 16!
Ballet flats are fine - I’m almost 6’ and hate heels.

Black tie definitely doesn't include Converse!

www.next.co.uk/style/st483263/756461?dp=a&gclid=CjwKCAjwos-HBhB3EiwAe4xM9yRcyePrUsrbA5exfvccUX8A-uCaRHG67NYg67CK9A2M3QNyX6gi_BoCWQwQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds#756461
I have some similar to these - they are very comfy and go with lots of things

If you have balance issues and someone objects to Converse trainers, then that's an equalities issue, so call them out.

I have some silver superballerinas from fitflop that are the most comfortable shoes to wear with dresses ever and are usually acceptable
Otherwise I have some cheap gold ballet pumps from Asda - I have a plain gold pair and a gold glitter pair
Can't really wear heals anymore due to arthritis but still go to enough formal dos (well before the past year or so)

@newnortherner111

If you have balance issues and someone objects to Converse trainers, then that's an equalities issue, so call them out.

Nobody is going to openly ‘object’ to the proposed converse.

They will just think that the OP hasn’t got a clue and can’t be trusted to meet clients or lead projects.

I actually think that sounds fab and would go for it.

I would wear the converse, op, your outfit sounds fab.

Tina Fey worn converse to the Vanity Fair Party

I don’t think it’s an equalities issue. She could wear flat shoes that are more in keeping with a formal event, unless converse are the only shoes she can physically wear. There are lots of smart flats.

Although I don’t think anyone’s likely to call her out, she will just stand out as not following the black-tie dress code.

wore!

Dress sounds fab.

I love these. Not esp cheap but you could wear them with loads of other things, cropped jeans etc www.vivaiacollection.com/deep-peacock-product3547.html?currency=GBP&gclid=CjwKCAjwos-HBhB3EiwAe4xM96MS5wtizAopUNP2GqoldqJLF7ciGT8EXCg746SuYZkwgLqkYhpCrxoCqwsQAvD_BwE