Panicking about formal event. Floral dresses Please help.

[FrecklesMalone]

I have a relatively formal work event next week. I have absolutely no dresses that are suitable (either to work like or too short). Everything I own is very dated. I am quite chunky on the middle (size 14-16) with quite small boobs (36 c) with skinnyish calves.
I have seen people wearing nice floral (small print) dresses. But am rubbish at shopping and can't find them anywhere.
Would I look like a twat in one. Can only slim people wear them? Where do I buy them? What shoes would I wear with them (no heels I can't do it).

I am very under confident about choosing clothes so any help would be most appreciated.

These dresses are very borderline for me. The charity shops are full of printed dresses in man made fabrics, I'm never sure what differentiates them from something that costs £150 and is worn by an influencer.

I'd try eg Primark, H&M and indeed charity shops first unless you've spied a specific expensive one you love.

Polyester dresses are basically indestructible. They machine wash forever and the colours never fade. Same goes for blouses.

Lounge wear means clean, ironed, pretty for women - what you’d wear to meet old friends who are introducing you to new friends. For men it means “Please, for the Lord’s sake try to find at least one tailored item for your wife to send to the dry cleaners.”

It doesn’t mean dressing up. Not cocktail wear, not evening wear. It’s essentially office wear in pastel colours.

If your local shopping area has an & Other Stories, you should have a browse there, OP. Even if a little above your budget, they’re very on top of new trends so you’ll get a good idea of what to look for elsewhere.

Simply be/JD Williams. Tons of floral dresses for all occasions. Good pricing.

I'd be cautious about viscose for a formal event. It doesn't always hang well. It can be quite flimsy too, so the print shows on the reverse, which will be obvious if you've chosen a dark colour and a flowing skirt.

PP have mentioned New Look, which is also good for floral dresses.

[quote MojoJojo71]@Riverlee those dresses are lovely but you’ve just cost me a fortune! I’m a 16/18 pear shape and have just ordered 3 of the dresses you linked to[/quote]
Happy to help.

Out of curiosity, which ones did you select? I may be tempted by one or two (—all—) myself!

@riverlee I ordered the black and white next one and then the last 2 you posted from M&S but I can probably only afford to keep one of those so I’m hoping I don’t love them all when they get here 🤣

@FrecklesMalone

Thanks so very much for all of the ideas. It has helped so much. I am going to go to town this afternoon and brave the shops. I'll let you know how I get on.

The event has been described as "lounge wear" - never heard of this before!
I'll also order some perkypeartape!

I'm going to a mix of shops and charities shops too.

How did you get on, @FrecklesMalone? There were some great ideas from everyone. I hope you enjoyed your shopping trip. As someone who gets in a state before any event with dress codes I am a but flummoxed by the 'lounge wear' dress-code. When I googled lounge wear all I got was tracksuits and pyjamas?? What does it mean?