Black tie definition

[beandream]

How would you dress for a black tie event please?! It's a dinner and dance

Floor length for a BALL - dinner and dance is one rung down the black tie spectrum

But having said that short dresses seen at Balls these days so I’d say anything goes!

I’m 54, live in London and am invited to black tie events 4-5 times a year. There is definitely a range of lengths at these from full length (which is unusual) to midi to knee length. Anything shorter is also uncommon.

@beandream if you look at the “occasionwear” sections of most women’s retailers, almost everything advertised is likely to be appropriate (other than things designed for wedding guests).

Well, obviously...

Who the hell wears white as a wedding guest?

For black tie dinner and dance I would wear floor length.

Princess Anne

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7517095.stm

Tell me you’re joking?!!

At my wedding - every guest could wear what the hell they liked. White, black, fluorescent pink.

The important takeaway here is to know the expectations of the event you are attending. Some are relaxed, some are very traditional.

I was at one last year where a lady wore trainers with her evening dress. Caused much muttering and its now been explicitly banned on the dress code (medical need aside, but that takes a heads up beforehand).

Expectations have definitely lessened in the 15 years I've been attending them.

I always thought that the difference between black tie and white tie is that white tie has to be floor length while black tie can be a cocktail dress. I have live both north and south and it is not a regional difference. Just rather old fashioned.

Well that event sounded like fun! 😂

“caused much mutterings”…. Was it something like the 100th anniversary of the village Bowles club

I'm going to a black tie awards night (corporate) and my dress is calf length. Looking at pictures of previous years it should be ok and some people were the opposite of black tie IMO, almost office wear.

I see a woman wearing trainers at a black tie I would think either

a) love the fact she wears what she fancies

b) perhaps she has really bad bunions / twisted her ankle / some other painful foot or ankle ailment

I sure as heck wouldn’t “mutter” in distaste

Thank you everybody for your responses, it was very interesting reading them all.
It's for a birthday and these black tie events happen frequently within the family but this is my first.
I've spoken to someone who has been to several and it's floor length!
Thanks again :)

Weirdly I thought it was the opposite way round

Apparently Debretts say black tie is "knee-length cocktail dresses, though floor length may also be worn".

I would agree to knee length or longer being required and fancy trousers ok these days but floor length only mandatory if white tie / military / very traditional or a very fancy ball.

In the UK men should wear a dinner jacket and black, bow tie, preferably tied by hand.
Ladies wear long, be that a dress or skirt and top.
In more rural areas ladies might wear a skirt that looked very much like a horse blanket (my mother definitely had one of these).

Have just come back from an extremely formal black tie dinner - about 50% in calf length, 10% in trousers and the rest in long. But for a dinner dance I'd expect a slightly higher proportion in long. However there should be a bit of a differential between the long dress you'd wear with black tie and the long dress you'd wear with white tie. So if wearing long for black tie I'd make it a bit more understated so perhaps a plain black column or a slip or off the shoulder dress in a plain colour or small pattern - probably not a lot of sparkle. If you want to wear sequins I'd go for a midi dress or a jumpsuit.

What not to wear - a day dress or a long full skirted strapless dress (latter should be kept for white tie balls).

I've probably been to 20 black tie events so far this year and the most frequent outfits for them have been - a long black slipdress in a devore fabric with a plain black underslip (so subtle texture but otherwise quite simple to counterbalance the length); black velvet wide legged cropped trousers with a black silk camisole and a blue shot silk jacket - good for when I'm not sure how dressy the event would actually be; navy calf length velvet dress with long lace sleeves.

Pearls are usually a safe bet jewellery wise. Plus a small clutch or a wallet on a chain type bag.

If its a dance shoes should be elegant but comfortable so I'd go with a suede flat perhaps with a bit of detailing.