What is ‘going out’ wear in 2024? hen party…

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I am 38.
I am going out in Bristol for a hen party.
I no longer own going out clothes! Apparently we are going ‘cocktails and dancing’.
Help!
I am 5ft 8, size 12.
Generally cannot be that bothered with the way that I look, ten years ago when I was lovely and young and had a hen party every other month, I would sling on some sort of lacy or sparkly shift dress with tights, high heels and go, but that’s not really the right thing these days I think, firstly because I am older and secondly fashion has moved on (though where to, I don’t know!)

I don’t want to ‘wow’, I just want to be blend-in mainstream.

Ideas?!

do you know where you're going on the hen? If so, go on the club/bar's insta or search the general location via the location tag/a popular club or bar in the area- should be lots of photos of people who've tagged themselves there recently, you can get an idea of what they're wearing if you want to fit in.

But generally I would say more casual rather than more dressy - something like a plain dress or jumpsuit can be dressed up with jewellery or down with a jacket and trainers - the main thing is no stilletto heels, rarely see anyone wearing them.

I don't like wearing completely flat shoes because I'm short so either wear trainers with a subtle platform or boots (in winter)/sandals (in summer) like dms which have a chunky platform rather than a 'heel'.

If you want to blend in and look fashionable then most people seem to be wearing jeans these days. Ideally wide leg, bootcut style as opposed to skinny jeans and you could pair it with a nice blazer.

If you don't want to go with jeans, then a midi style dress could work , you could wear it with flat boots or white trainers. Or a jumpsuit which also can look good with converse style trainers.

Gone are the days of wearing really high heels!

I am a similar age and dress size to you .This is the kind of thing I would wear , a midi dress with black Doc Martens or chunky black sandals it's summer.

I wore a jumpsuit to mine, as someone who's a bit plump they don't cut into my waist like jeans or tighter trousers do

I intended to wear wedges with it, but ended up in flip flops because they were so much comfier for walking between places, i couldn't care less, I'd rather be comfortable!

Added to above - I'm another who doesn't care about fashion and clothes and not into dresses (the colour they wanted me to wear didn't really have any dresses in it)

So the jumpsuit also solves the top and bottom outfits, and like I say, really comfy around the waist, jeans just dig into my chubby tummy when sitting down and give me indigestion, the jumpsuit is flattering too as it hides the flab (not saying you have flab but for me it hid it)

Bristol is super casual and undressy, even when going out people dress down more than up. Lots of students and people wearing wide legged jeans, trainers. It’s very different to the style in say, Birmingham or Cardiff which is more glitz/glam. Good idea to check out the venue if you can.

https://www.riverisland.com/p/black-bandeau-jumpsuit-907529?gadsource=1&gbraid=0AAAAADtCgghhm129Xlj4OnGI4TKKri0fF&gclid=Cj0KCQjwqdqvBhCPARIsANrmZhOyw0t9y5qahgcdrzOn0aGy-fJXwYSCybxj-65BKwfl-FF4RXliWRQaAsQYEALww_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

I wore this for my birthday with sparkly earrings. Loved it!!

I think anything goes these days and you can definitley still wear a sparkly shift dress, I'm early 40's and last 4 times I went to similar I wore;

sprakly dark green bootcut trousers, stilleto boots, structured vest black vest top with a black tux style blazer over,

slouchy 90's style jeans, a long sleeved silver sequinned turtle neck style top and pointed toe kitten heel shoes,

a ruched mesh overlayed, dark floral short dress with a highneck and long sleeves with 10 denier black tights and pink wide leg trousers

Dark pink wide leg trousers and a fitted pure silk ivory blouse and some quite big pearl and gold hoop earrings

Slightly flared dark jeans biker style flat boots, a dark green mesh style top with long sleeves and the tux blazer again

@Bey can you style me please? 😂 just added half of that to my basket! Love the leather midi for work

www.oliverbonas.com/accessories/metallic-gold-leather-cowboy-boots-341116#selection.color=1998

www.oliverbonas.com/fashion/zip-through-black-jersey-mini-shirt-dress-361502#selection.color=14

Add gold jewellery and throw on a nice jacket- blazer type or biker style.

Let us know what you go for!

Awww 😊 hope you love it, i really like the clothes online at the moment. Sadly my bank balance doesn't stretch to buy ALL of the nobody's child dresses that are just gorgeous but quite pricey.

I've got a hen do in York in April.im wearing a jumpsuit

Strait legged or wider trousers/jeans.
Satin maxi skirt.
Asymmetric top/cropped t-shirt/top.
Dr Martens/white running style trainers.
Blazer or bomber jacket.
Cross body bag.
Silver Jewellery.
Neutral colours.

No skinny jeans/ankle boots/wrap dresses.

https://www.asos.com/prd/206305850?acquisitionsource=pasteboard

I could be termed as an older lady (62) and I wear trainers

Thanks everyone! I am a bit overwhelmed and spoilt for choice now, but brilliant to have so many ideas. Thanks to this thread I definitely think I’m starting to get a feel for the sort of thing that is ‘in’. Sadly my wardrobe is full of the wrong stuff (skinny jeans, ankle boots!)
I like the idea of a jumpsuit but I am hesitant because previous experience is they make my thighs / bum look enormous (in a bad way!) But maybe I have been wearing the wrong type.
I’m not sure where we’re heading to after dinner, but I will try to find out. We have been told to wear something sparkly.
I’ll come back and update when I’ve narrowed it down a bit!

OP I'm the same with jumpsuits, love them but they look ridiculous on me. I've got long legs and a short torso, muscular thighs so they never sit right. Sparkly makes it hard as I normally associate sparkly with christmas but what about something like this?

Just want to say I live in Bristol and it is such a relaxed city! Whatever you wear you'll fit in.

So I'd probably be focussing on what others in the hen party will be wearing and trying to vibe match that. Is there a WhatsApp group or something where you could ask what others are wearing?

I'm always getting it wrong, if I go casual the group goes smart and vice versa. But honestly in Bristol anything goes, it's great here.

Most 'older women' I know (50s/early 60s) don't wear heels any more - but under white a few younger women wearing them 🤷‍♀️

Wish I had the edit button on the app!

Meant to say I've seen quite a few younger women wearing heels .

People definitely still wear heels on nights out but they’re nowhere near as tall as the ones we all wore ten years ago 😫

Similar age, last time I went on a female night out 75% of us were wearing jumpsuits and stan smiths. Mind you I also wear this to work quite a lot. Not saying it's the height of chic but it is the basic default option currently.

Perhaps controversially I'm using the term stan smiths to mean generic white lifestyle trainers, not gym/outdoor ones. Include other Adidas styles in that as well as Vejas etc.

I walked past a hen do in Bristol on Saturday - they were all wearing fairy wings, short shorts and cowgirl hats

Oh, you little tinker @Bey I've just ordered one of the jumpsuits on your list, for a wedding evening doo I'm probably not even going to go to!!

I'm also 5 foot 8ish, but older than you. I went to an event at the weekend and wanted to look a bit glam. I wore a block colour draped maxi from the Monsoon sale with a caped neckline and gold, jewelled (but very comfy) flip flops from Pavers, and a slightly random bunch of pearl strings that I picked up in a charity shop for a fiver. I think it worked OK overall, it didn't cost much and it was super comfy. I think heels might not look all that current now and my feet seem to rebel againt them