Please help me dress for conference gala dinner

[IronicElf]

Hi, I'm going to a conference in September about a condition my daughter has. It's not well known (though also not uncommon) and there will be neurologists and many, many speech therapists going, as well as people with the condition and parents like me.

I've paid for the gala dinner on the Saturday night - not expensive in the currency but I imagine a £70+ meal in the UK - and I have no idea what to wear. I tend to smart-casual longer dresses day to day (M&CO as was and Seasalt mainly). I used to go to military functions in evening dress - Monsoon mainly - 10+ years ago but that might be a little OTT for this.

I'm size 16, in my 50s, and pear-shaped. It must be a dress - I do not wear bifurcated clothing as my thighs are... chunky - and I can spend £300+ (say £500+ if I need accessories) on it, as long as I could wear it again.

Any help or advice would be gratefully accepted.

Sound like a really interesting event!

Have you looked at Reformation? They have some very nice dresses that might be suitable.

Adrianna Pappell is my go to

Could you pull this off https://www.johnlewis.com/adrianna-papell-chiffon-overlay-draped-dress-navy/p110431773]]

With glam/strappy heels (maybe metallic?) and a statement necklace and bag, this could meet your brief of smart but not OTT?

Would cover your less favourite areas, shoulders will balance the pear shape, v-neck draws the eye upwards, and it's 100% cotton so will be cooling!

https://www.nobodyschild.com/nc-boutique-black-broderie-anglaise-nora-midaxi-dress.html

Hobbs do some pretty well cut dresses. I like colour now I'm 50 rather than dark colours. What colours suit you? These are nice? (Attached).

Wyselondon are great for dresses

Not a specific recommendation but I’d say to buy something fairly classic and simple e.g. a long column dress in a plain colour that can work for a range of occasions and be dressed up or down with different accessories.

You can then spend a chunk of budget on something shiny and/or colourful to offset the plain dress, and getting your hair / makeup/ nails done so that you look groomed and feel fabulous!

Something you could wear until it fell apart:

https://www.ladoublej.com/en/ready-to-wear/our-categories/dresses/swing-dress-corte-white-DRE0001SIL001CRT02OR04.html

I go to a lot of medical conferences for work, and I'd have a look back at social media/ conference reports from previous dinners before buying. At all the ones I've been to they are really not dressing up events at all, and day workwear would be appropriate as the most dressed up tbh and def no long or sparkly dresses.

I work for a health related charity and our "gala" evenings at the end of conferences are never very dressed up! I'd say a nice day dress you'll wear again or a trousers and a nice top.

If it’s black tie for men, I’d go with a classic colour dress (green/navy/red that is okay for any season) and I’d go long. Good suggestion to look up
Previous years.

I very much doubt it will be dress up. Most people won't get changed from the day so will be wearing work suits and business casual. I'm not certain men even wear ties for conferences anymore

Could you just add a sparkly broach to a day dress?

https://www.lyst.co.uk/clothing/diane-von-furstenberg-eloise-asymmetric-printed-crepe-de-chine-wrap-dress/?reason=feed-product-text&link_id=927861982&previous_page_type=product_overlay&previous_page_sub_type=in_stock

https://www.lyst.co.uk/designer/diane-von-furstenberg/?category=dresses&category=dresses&final_price_to=320&product_type=Clothing&product_type=Clothing&subcategory=casual+dresses&subcategory=casual+dresses&page=3&reason=feed-product-text&link_id=912725121&previous_page_type=product_overlay&previous_page_sub_type=in_stock#slug=diane-von-furstenberg-printed-tie-waist-midi-dress

Hi all, sorry to go MIA all day. Had to take children shopping as they're growing fast. With a month to go my 12 year old needs new trainers for sports day - on the bright side she's size 7 so I can inherit them once she hits her next growth spurt.

I've had a look for photos from previous dinners, thanks for that suggestion, but this is only the 3rd conference and I could only find one poorly lit dinner photo where people are sat at the table, facing away from the photo. It's not black tie, more men in suits, and women with dresses or smart jackets on.

Thank you for the suggestions. The Hobbs dresses reminded me that I like a fit and flare dresses, but possibly in more muted colours - I tend to blues/purples/plums/black. I've opened tabs on the other suggestions and will get opinions from my DDs tomorrow

I've just had a look through my photo history from the last work conference gala dinner. Three of us in the photo, I'm wearing a chiffon pleated maxi skirt with linen t-shirt, conference host is wearing a floral halter neck maxi dress, and committee member/parent is wearing a cap sleeved, below the knee polka dot jersey dress. From what I remember, a couple of men (fathers, committee, professionals) were wearing chinos and polo/short sleeved shirts, a few men (fathers) wore chino-ish shorts (the weather was boiling!)

These can be worn again many times:

https://gb.marinarinaldi.com/p-5222183004074-decaedro-black
https://gb.marinarinaldi.com/p-1221263004058-dono-dark-navy

I did a bit of 'fantasy conference dress shopping' in an outlet mall the other day (I go to conference approximately every other year and I'm getting rid of the dress I wore last time because I don't like it).

I saw some lovely dresses in Hobbs and Reiss. Next time, I'm also thinking about hiring as that's quite big now.

I agree that over knee to midi length fit and flare is probably about right (my female colleagues have worn all sorts and tbh I think most people end up too tipsy to remember or care) but this is the sort of thing I'd go for

https://www.hobbs.com/product/carly-floral-midi-dress/0123-5675-9022L02-GREEN-MULTI.html#cgid=occasion-clothing-dresses&is=true&sz=60&start=0&isSecondPage=false&pid=0123-5675-9022L02-GREEN-MULTI&pos=26