Is this a party dress or ok for work event?

[GetOffMyDoorJack]

I love this dress but I'm not sure if it's too dressy for a work event. I will have to wear it during the day in the office before the event and I don't want to look like I am heading straight off for cocktails after! The event itself is a product launch and I am there as a guest but will probably be helping handing out drinks, hobnobbing etc. The men are expected to wear suits and ties (there has been no mention of what the women are supposed to wear!). I would be wearing black tights and shoe boots with it.

There are so many smart dresses and trouser suits around. Even some wide leg trousers and a flowy top/blouse/camisole. If it's work you need to look professional, not like you're down the pub for a drink with friends.

Personally I wouldn’t wear it to work. It’s more of a ‘do the gardening and pop to the supermarket’ kind of dress. There are so many nice dresses out there!

I’m certainly not using the word in an ageist or sizeist way. I’ve only seen it on a size 8/10 youngish model and it looks frumpy on her? Of course a garment can look frumpy. It’s to do with the style and the cut.

It's far too casual. It looks like something you'd throw on to do the school run or go to the supermarket. Nice enough, but not for an event.
As pp have suggested, how about a chic trouser suit in a strong colour? Look more modern.

Its fine. I was expecting some sort of glittery dreadful low cut dress. Its very nice.

... also, why does the model look like she's been lobotomised?

How in earth is that dress a “do the gardening and pop to the shops” dress? It’s not. What about all the huge amount of gold on it? It is dressy.

That Next dress is awful, though -very inappropriate.

I'd go for something a bit more like this OP.

Well I personally wear dresses like that for jobs like grouting the bathroom or cleaning up explosive diarrhoea. Hilda Ogden herself would declare it dowdy. It is the dress of shab, unfit to be seen in daylight unless only under threes will be present. Men in suits! Dear god lady. They will expect a full understanding of cocktail dress codes and a strict adherence. Look lively I beg of you child.

<expires on a couch>

😂

Are the men expected to hand out nibbles too?

I think you may have to dress it up a bit for an event.

It's fine but it's not a party dress.

OP the first time I clicked the link I got a navy dress with white flowers and now I’m getting a black dress with a gold feather pattern on it. Which one is correct?

(the navy is too casual and would not look good with black tights, the black is nice)

I think that dress is lovely!

I wouldn’t wear it for a cocktail party, (but you’ve said it’s not one), but I certainly wouldn’t wear it for gardening or the school run wtf!?!

I’d wear it for a slightly fancier, but not too formal evening event/meal. I think you could wear it to work and then freshen yourself up for later, or just wear normal work clothes and put it on later.

I love it !

Yes I’m talking about the black and gold dress

The first time I clicked I saw a navy and white flowery dress which is definitely a bit meh.

I went back for another look after reading the hilarious comments!

Because in Mumsnet Land people "Do the gardening and pop to the shops" in full ball gowns and with full faces of makeup in case Mellors turns up. Meanwhile, they go to Michelin starred restaurants in jeans and trainers and have a horror of being seen in London in anything that might be seen as being overdressed. They go to work in either £400 dresses from The Fold or leggings and Converse. And anything that they personally might not wear is frumpy or mumsy, because those are some of the only adjectives they know.

You’ve really got it in for the word ‘frumpy’

I really have. MN is the only place I ever 'hear' it, and it makes me really angry. It's a way for women to dismiss, devalue and bitch about other women and I think it stinks.

Yes, sorry to PP who have this dress, but I thought it looked frumpy too. And I'm not a dressy kind of person either.

Frumpy means "old-fashioned, dowdy, unappealing or lacking style" as per the dictionary. I'd say that's a pretty descriptive word and definitely one that I'd apply to this dress.

It's a bit of a weird one because if it's more gold in real life as a PP said then it's not really suitable for school runs, shopping etc which is what I'd normally have said for a dress like this. But it doesn't look suitable for corporate dos either, even if it's not a full-on cocktail dress event. I keep coming back to the word frumpy because it really is what this dress screams. Again, sorry.

OP said men in jacket and ties - trying to imagine someone wearing this dress alongside, and it just feels as if it would look underdressed/out of place. If you like this dress, all power to you - we all have different tastes and that's fine. But whether you like it or not, I don't think it's a dress for a corporate do.

The black and gold one would do both. As would the original blue one if you wore it with confidence

Why should a woman have to change if a bloke can wear a suit all day and evening??

I'd wear flats in the day and then heels/boots in the evening and add a necklace and head out. Tbf no one actually clocks what you are wearing.... I've managed to rotate about 4 evening dresses for the last 7 or 8 years, albeit covid provided a nice circuit breaker 😂

I use it to describe myself if I am wearing something which I think looks frumpy. It doesn’t mean I expect all women to look like super skinny young sex dolls in skin tight body con dresses at all times. Frumpy to me denotes more than anything old fashioned, ill fitting and unflattering. All being reasons I applied the adjective to the OP’s dress which I personally do not like. It’s not an attack on you personally.

I know it's not an attack on me, and even if it was, I'm big enough and ugly enough to cope.

You can't possibly know if a dress would be ill-fitting or unflattering on the OP. If you think it's old fashioned, fine, but some people don't care about fashion, or can determine if they like something whether or not 'fashion' dictates that they should or shouldn't.

Love this.

I think it would be hilarious seeing someone gardening in this dress.

I would call that really casual. Only time I would wear that at work would be a Dress Down Day not an event. But you know your company, we don’t.