Help - party with architects - what to wear?

[SparkCherry]

Going to a party soon with a lot of architects. Bit terrified as architects tend to be far richer and more stylish than me (though the hosts are lovely etc). I'm 43, about 5 feet 9 in and a size 14. Ideally thinking of a chic black midi or maxi dress. I shop a lot in Cos and Arket, Me&Em or Sezane when feeling flush. Any ideas?! Hoping for something that is simple but won't make me feel like a frump!

@NeverDropYourMooncup, I once DID wear a bin bag to an architect's party! It was the 1980s. I'd made a massive, pleated bin-bag fan accessory to one shoulder. The fan wilted in the heat so I took it off. And I belatedly found I couldn't sit down in the dress. Otherwise, it was a success 😂

Hey! I resemble that remark!

Well, apart from being female.

Don't worry about fitting in, just wear what you'd wear for an art gallery preview or similar dressy-but-not-a-club evening event.

Marking. I love all the clothes suggested, especially the & Other Stories dress.

😜

Something structured.

Skyscraper heels and a "blue print" dress?

Daughter is an architect...recently at events she has worn a black jumpsuit, a cream chintz dress, a green midi dress and an extremely small red velvet dress. So anything really.

😂

Thanks all for useful thoughts! Agreed the Other Stories dress is lovely. Might stop short of the pork pie hat :)

That's lovely

DS is an architect and rarely wears black. He has a nice pink suit for client meetings.

I am not a print person, but I think this is very striking and arty, and break from black. If you want to splurge. https://www.poetryfashion.co.uk/product-UZ81-POEDS/colour-a-cobalt-ink/dresses-skirts/printed-silk-buttonthrough-dress.htm

Anything will be fine, as long as it has some structure to it! 😀

I’m about the same size but slightly shorter. I tried the gold Cos dress recommended upthread and it showed every lump and bump, you need to be a stick to look good in it.

I also ordered this jumpsuit, which is incredibly flattering and I recommend it. They have several nice jumpsuits actually.
https://www.cos.com/en_gbp/women/womenswear/jumpsuits/product.bow-back-wide-leg-jumpsuit-black.1152409001.html

@Doggymummar ha ha! my neighbour is an architect and he came to a meeting in my flat yesterday wearing football shorts, slippers and a t shirt!

I've a few architect friends and neighbours. They're no more stylish than anyone else, especially the conservation architects (and definitely not insanely rich...). (One of them, a very tall thin man, appears to have a personal style statement that involves wearing beautiful tailored jackets slightly too small -- which is arresting, but weird.) The junior male architects at my friend's practice seem be either sharp suits or hipster jumpers and tight trousers and expensive shoes. The junior women and female support staff often look wonderful in oversized, androgynous Cos/Margaret Howell-type stuff. The arch. tech people are less formal. My friend wears close-sitting suits to work and out of work either a short and jeans or gruesome gorpcore freebie stuff from triathlons.

I just wear the same slouchy dark clothes I always do, in or out of work, if I'm going to anything hosted by/involving them.

Some architects are very glam (I worked at a top one and Italian/Greek female architects had such style). Some aren’t so glam.

I went to a Christmas party with them on a boat and wore a very 00s jewelled backless black Karen Millen dress. The graphic designer wore a long backless gold dress. I looked better of course!

I’d personally do the gold Cos dress or similar.

My ex psycho architect boss thought he was stylish but wore a lot of black and also red. You get some who wear black and white and some in brighter colours and patterns. We always used to joke if they wore suits it was meetings/interviews or courts in the 2 architects practices I worked in (hat designer Philip Treacy’s brother worked in our practice and so did George Clarke). Both twats for different reasons! PT’s brother was insanely jealous of his brother’s success.

My DH is an Architect and no one would describe him as glam (or rich)! They're just people - wear what you want.

I'm an architect, we are not rich and we don't shop in Cos. I do sometimes wear black because it's easy not because I'm an architect. I wear lots of other colours too especially in summer. DH is also an architect and very unstylish too. I don't think I've ever seen a glamorous architect, they're just normal people with a job.

We know loads of architects. They seem to be characterised by crumbling houses and practical clothes — we live in an area where a lot of people have no off-street parking, so don’t own cars or don’t use them much, so wear clothing suitable for walking any cycling everywhere.

mustard yellow cords if our architect is anything to go by! He has a young baby so maybe it is prone to poonamis

I have the following (for events with architects! But I'm not front-and-centre in them).
(a) Top choice. A chic black jumpsuit with heels, probably a quite large modern/arty necklace with some colour.
(b) Grey wool pencil skirt that has silver beading pattern on the bottom, worn with dark red bolero with black edge to the sleeves.
(c) linen things - black ideally, but not exclusively. Sometimes bright like a burnt orange dress.

If anyone recognises me from my working wardrobe - hi!

@SparkCherry It’s just gone on sale if you’re interested?

Cos