Dinner at Le Gavroche - what to wear?

[SatelliteStomper]

DH has booked us dinner at Le Gavroche for my 50th birthday next month. I have nothing to wear (including decent shoes)!

I live in jeans and trainers and have put on half a stone since we last went anywhere that required a bit of an effort. The only vaguely appropriate thing I have is a couple of Cos silk/cotton cocoon dresses bought before lockdown, one in a kind of orangey-red and one in silver-grey. No idea if they would be ok really.

I know the usual answer on these threads is, no one makes an effort in London (and I would generally agree), but it is a big birthday and it is the tasting menu at LG, so... I'd like to feel a bit special.

Any thoughts on comfortable but lovely things I could try? I'm 5' 7" , size 14, don't like fussy stuff, would like to hide my stomach 😆

This is the silver-grey dress, and I have a similar one in red, with a slightly fuller skirt.

I agree people don't make much effort in London, but I think dinner at Le Gavroche is a bit different. If I had the money to spend on clothes, I think I'd go for something like a Nancy Mac dress.
Your COS dresses sound like they could work, what shoes do you wear with them?

I like that, love the neckline. I think that would be perfect with some jewellery and a great bag.

I would just say, especially if you plan to have the tasting menu, don't wear anything that will be uncomfortable when you are full!

Oh god, hadn't even thought about bag! I have some vintage clutch bags up in the loft, might have to dig one of those out.

My thoughts exactly - worried my old frocks will be too tight. I dress fully for comfort these days and won't enjoy myself if I feel too constricted.

No idea about shoes - I think I probably just wore sandals with that dress last time but it was years ago.

People often say you don't dress up in London but there are plenty of smart restaurants where it is appropriate to dress up, and this is one of them. I love the Cos dress you posted! It's lovely, I love that silhouette.

I think the dress in the picture (or the orange/red one you mentioned) would be perfect too. Plenty of room 😁

Shall we place our bets now on how long it's going to be before a jumpsuit is mentioned?

I think that dress would be perfect too. It's lovely. If you wear heels with it, you may be the most dressed up person in the room! Nothing wrong with that.

Who is keeping all of London's huge luxury fashion trade afloat if nobody wears the clothes they sell?

There are countless boutiques, department stores and indeed entire streets in London selling high end, beautiful dresses etc.

Do people buy them then just wear them at home? I can't imagine this is the case.

That dress is stunning but to me it's begging for a sandal or some kind of open toe. It's too formal for flat gym shoes.

Dress is lovely, wear with wedged sandals perhaps

That said I got taken to a very nice restaurant in London, we were literally the only people not in jeans/casual. Try and track down recent photos of people there

I love that Cos dress (I'm always looking for it in Vinted), and I think it would be perfect.

Your dress is lovely! If it still fits ok, wear that.

Just look for some nice new comfy heeled sandals and get your bags out of the attic.

Maybe a bright pashmina in case the air con is chilly and …..
plenty of bling and a bright lippy.

You’ll look great! Have fun.

Yes, agree those plimsolls it's styled with look very odd!

@gogohmm I've done the michelin-star-and-jeans thing too but feel as if I'd like to make it a bit more special this time round.

Dress up for you and your celebration, not for whether it's appropriate/done thing!
Even if it was just the local pub, if you're celebrating then make the effort and feel special!

I think that dress is spot on op. Have a lovely time!

I do think that dress is odd though, (strange shape) and looks casual. How does it look when sat down? I imagine it would get crumpled and stick up weirdly when sat.

We’ve been, you’ll love it. We didn’t dress up, we were staying just outside London and had spent the day shopping and sightseeing. We wore smart casual and didn’t feel out of place at all. They make you feel really welcome and the food is AMAZING.

We were especially lucky to meet Michel Roux when we went. We passed him on the stairs when we entered and he welcomed us to his restaurant. If that wasn’t enough, he actually came to our table for a chat. He was so lovely, it made my night. I didn’t see him eyeing up our clothes 😱😂.

That dress would work-with a flat or low heeled sandal.

Or I would just go with a wide legged trouser, a fitted top and a light blazer over the top-again with sandals or you could get away with a smart trainer.

Charity shops are your friend for a wow shoe with a plain dress. They’re the sort of thing that are bought for a special occasion and then sit in the cupboard. A pair of interesting coloured shoes would look great with that plain dress.

That is a lovely dress, but I've been to me gavroche a few times and found that women were dressed pretty casually!

I think you might look a bit overdressed in that, it's more of a wedding reception dress.

I'm the same size and height as you and I've just bought this dress in red and I'm really pleased with it. I wore it out to dinner at the weekend with a pair of gold heels and a tan!

Last time we went to Le Gavroche, before Covid, there was a dress code iirc? Check on their website. Having said that, there was an American couple on the next table to us, on some kind of gastronomic journey in Europe, who had the tasting menu at lunchtime - they were dressed in t shirts and jeans. Michel Roux came round to chat to all the diners at the end of lunch - he didn’t say anything to them about how they were dressed!

The silver grey dress looks fine to me. It’s a special experience, and it’s good to feel special in how you dress too imo!