Black tie...no idea

[JustFrustrated]

Send help?

What do you wear to a black tie event?

Situation: Work
Event: External awards ceremony
Attending as both a nominee (the company) and hosting our clients.

What do I wear?

What would you recommend, for early 30's, size 10, 5ft6 woman? Good figure e.g. boobs and small waist, but loose skin on stomach from two kids.

My height comes from my legs (32.5inch?)

Please help/spam me with ideas.

Black tie traditionally means cocktail dress for women - knee to mid calf length and dressy.

I went to a black tie do recently and most women wore full length dresses

Both of those lengths look awful on me 😳

I would say it's full length. I bought this goddiva.co.uk/products/bardot-pleated-maxi-dress-royal-blue a few months ago. It's a really good price for evening wear. The fabric is good -quite heavy with a bit of stretch. It's very long -I used wonderweb to shorten. It's been washed on cold and hung up to dry. It was a much better option than the Coast dresses I ordered which were generally double the price or more.

Black tie / works award ceremonies are generally full length dresses (you can get away with any length, but most would be evening gown stylee). I've had some from Reiss, Ghost, and i've found some lovely long satin dresses in all saints recently if you like that look. :-)

most work black tie functions women have worn long dresses. I definitely think you can get away with that if knee and mid-calf don’t suit you.

Mid-calf or long dress.

How about this dress from & Other Stories? love its cool simplicity.

This

or

This one

would equally be fine. It’s less about length and more about extravagant / celebratory fabric, flawless grooming (even if deliberately messy) and diamonds on the soles of your feet.

Be warned that if you wear a frock you will inevitably experience severe envy when you see the woman wearing an achingly cool trouser suit …

Another very simple dress, from Acne Studios.

All the cocktail and party dresses at Matches Fashion. Worth looking at their Sale as well.

Get some spankx and go full length. Just try on different styles, you'll definitely find one you like!

Oh my!

Wear this - so gorgeous.

I went to an awards ceremony in London with work (lawyers) last year, and had no idea what I would wear. I had a look at photos from previous events and there was everything from full length gowns, cocktail dresses and even what I’d say is v smart workwear. I wore a knee length wrap dress that was definitely not “black tie” but I fitted in fine.

Can you do the same - see what the general vibe is from previous years? For some events, I think “black tie” means dress to impress/no jeans rather than a strict code.

Oh @MuddlerInLaw , we seem to have different tastes. I'd look like I'd be ready to be shoved into a hot oven in that.

The & Other Stories, Whopping? Generally I despise ‘evening wear’ but I’d look damn fine in that! (Though no one would see it under three layers of Shetland wool jumpers and a nice thick scarf …)

Are you looking for a dress? I’m in extreme deadline avoidance mode, so happy to chase.

Or did you mean the Batsheva? Think the shape might suit the OP - don’t know about the colour. I’m afraid long evening dresses on the young can often look dowdy.

The batsheva one. It might look lovely on OP. I'd look great in the &otherstories one (apart from looking old.)

One thing about growing older, you learn what suits you. I now keep spotting teenagers wearing completely the wrong shapes, and I probably did it myself at that age.

OP probably knows what her fine points are, so I recommend focussing on maximising the assets, not hiding the weaker points. Shortish, or a long split.

I think @MuddlerInLaw is trolling you.

Given how long I’ve been posting on S&B and how many essays I’ve written here on my love of clothes - I suspect MNHQ would disagree with you, midsomermurderess! Why don’t you ask them?

Are people not allowed to have different tastes to yours? I’d have said everything I’ve linked is overwhelmingly mainstream (from very normal shops) and chosen as suggestions for a young, slim woman of slightly above average height. Perhaps the OP won’t like any of them. That’s perfectly fine.

But it’s strange that you’d come to S&B expecting only to see what you like …

@MuddlerInLaw is genuine, @midsomermurderess . She posts regularly on the TA threads, as do I. Believe it or not, TA listening and S&B are not mutually exclusive.

Thank you for all the advice. It's seriously appreciated.

I've done as a PP said and checked a video and photos from last year, all the women are in full length gowns that are either super plain but all about the cut, or really embellished.

I've checked with my colleagues who have been previously, and they're wearing full tuxedos, unfortunately as the only woman going I can't check with any other woman.

Some dresses linked are way out of my price range, but I think I've found a gold mine on Goddiva, so thanks for that suggestion!

Just to make sure the material is right now, so many are that "scuba" material it sucks.

Me too. You can see straight through the other stories one.

I love the Batsheva and the sequinned Other Stories midi.