Outfit for a “casual” work dinner

[FreshStart2025]

My company are taking us overseas for a work-do, staying overnight. In the evening, there will be a dinner. I’ve asked what the dress code is (my wardrobe is seriously bare) and have been told nothing too fancy, a dress/jeans and a nice top. I’m in my 40s and a size 10. Got to be chilled but smart. Any ideas? I’m stressing already as I don’t get out much / spend much money on myself (single Mum 4 kids!). Budget £100. Any style gurus out there?!

If your coats don't work because of the arms on the dress you could just channel one of those posh people who waft about with their arms out of the sleeves and the coat balanced on their shoulders. Like a cape. Fwiw I like the RI dress, and it can be dressed up or down depending on how formal the do turns out to be.

This.

Find a plain black jersey midi dress with sleeves; you can style it a million ways. An investment piece.

I’ve sent it back and going to start again. Working all week and leave Monday so hope I find something in the shops.

Impressively decisive!

But look - if you can get to, preferably,

Cos, (everywhere)

Massimo Dutti (London/Guilford)

Or even Arket at a pinch because it’s turned a bit dull

you’ll come out far better dressed (as a grown up professional person) than if you rely on some of the other brands mentioned here. Look for something plain and simple in seasonal fabrics and colours.

Also, if you have ten minutes spare before you go shopping, take a look for inspiration at the autumn/winter clothes from:

Studio Nicholson

Above your budget (if new) but they really are properly grown up and incredibly stylish, so might inform your store browsing.

Would one of your existing shirt dresses work? You could wear a polo neck under it for warmth (a lighter or heavier one depending on what you think you'll need).
Coat: what existing coat(s) do you have? And bear in mind you'll take it off whenever you're indoors anyway.

Out for dinner last night, I saw a woman wearing wide leg jeans, a white shirt, quite substantial gold earrings, and low heeled shoes with a pointed toe. She had her hair slicked back and was wearing red lipstick and looked effortlessly chic.

Conversely, I had lunch today in a university satellite town and there was a work party opposite me. About seven or eight people - all dressed in drab C&A circa 1978 … Extraordinary.

(Normally I wouldn’t notice or think anything about real life strangers - I comment here because it’s anonymous and invited - but they were all spectacularly badly dressed. I guess work culture is catching.)

Honestly smart jeans, a nice top(white shirt or t-shirt or just a nice blouse), trainers(but not New Balance style something less sports trainer like) and whatever style jacket you usually wear would do.

You've been told jeans are fine and it's not a formal do. You'll find people in jeans more than dressed up (only on mumsnet are people obsessed with Cos, never seen anyone in real life wear it and dressing formally for a casual dinner), some may put on a blazer or smarter jacket.

You can add a belt or chunky necklace to this dress. You can get some bargains costume jewellery from Shein.

people obsessed with Cos, never seen anyone in real life wear it

I can’t help the cohort you hang out with …

And the wrong ‘blazer’ would look ridiculous for a relaxed evening meal.

I wear Cos in real life. I'm wearing a Cos jumper right now! And I love my Cos long green knitted dress.

OP is a single mum with 4 kids and has £100 to buy a whole outfit, what planet are people on suggesting Cos, Arket and Massimo Dutti? H&M is more realistic.

If you like a jumper dress, maybe Knitted long dress - Round neck - Long sleeve - Light beige marl - Ladies | H&M GB (hm.com) or Knitted bodycon dress - Round neck - Long sleeve - Greige marl - Ladies | H&M GB (hm.com). With black tights and chunky boots like Chelsea boots - Low heel - Black - Ladies | H&M GB (hm.com).

Other dress options - Balloon-sleeved shirt dress - V-neck - Long sleeve - Black - Ladies | H&M GB (hm.com) or Scalloped dress - Round neck - Short sleeve - Black - Ladies | H&M GB (hm.com).

Don't spend a fortune, and don't feel you need to be too 'on trend' when you're clearly just trying to establish your style. You want to buy something you'll wear a lot and not feel self-conscious in.

I wouldn't wear jeans, even smart ones, to a work do.

I've just got back from one an event like this where the dress code was smart casual and I wore black wide-legged trousers with a silk shirt, both from M&S. With some fancy cheap earrings.

Something like this dress would be useful for years, though I would seek tighter sleeves.

Tons of jewelry and accessories at charity shops, often vintage and retro.

To me Cos is (once again after a fallow period) just default last minute I need something wear. As opposed to the considered, stalked for eighteen months, who cares if I bankrupt myself garments I might buy with an eye to a singularly well dressed old age. They play nicely with other clothes and, as I said, look generally grown up.

Pretty much everyone I know well or am related to has some Cos, some Toast, some Margaret Howell …

But as I pointed out, the OP can easily get a Cos dress for around her budget. And it will last her longer and serve her better than three cheap things.

Christ it's annoying how MN is automatically linking to the website of the retailer I named in my post above.

Em and Ess, @NetZeroZealot?

Not that pesky J. Lewis …

Save yourself money and go on Vinted. Select very good or new condition and you can pick up lovely outfits and shoes for well under £100. Or try some charity shop in a posh area!

@DisneyHag okay so for you, Cos is a cheaper last minute shop, not where you'd make your well-thought-out, expensive purchases. Can you see that for OP Cos likely would be one of those purchases?

Apart from that, Cos is an acquired taste and for someone with a specific style. I don't think it's a good option for someone with six dresses and one pair of shoes.

Yes. This is a good opportunity to make a considered purchase. Presumably the OP wants her career to go in the direction of more foreign trips and increased seniority.

It was the OP who offered a budget of £100. I know that doesn’t mean it’s a target - but she clearly isn’t planning to starve her children in the pursuit of svelte dinner attire.

Seriously, chill. Plenty of people find Cos clothes perfectly run of the mill - not outlandish at all. They are designed for the modern working woman. And the world won’t end if people are encouraged to try things you personally don’t like.

If it's just a dress (as in not also a scarf/bag/shoes/jewellery), or trousers to go with a top she already has (or vice versa), then Cos and Arket are perfectly doable in this budget.

And I really don’t see how £28 plastic boots and a £21 mini dress are going to enhance the OP’s working wardrobe going forward. It would just mean she has to spend more money and time in a few months to replace the nasty cheap things. She’ll never get to build a good wardrobe for work if she doesn’t buy good quality things that will last.

<Splutters apoplectically>

I used to wear Cos a lot in real life and occasionally still do. They have 17 shops in the UK, and opened a new one in Edinburgh quite recently.

In real life I don't know people who are as obsessed by blazers as posters on MN.

I know, but it sounds like OP doesn't really have those basics in her wardrobe, so if you add in one piece from Arket, it'll probably never get worn. It sounds like OP is starting to build a wardrobe from nothing. While I agree that it's better to buy fewer, better clothes in general, when you're just trying to find your style it's too much of a gamble to spend that much money on one thing.

@DisneyHag that goes for you too... I think the only person who needs to calm down is you. OP has literally stated she does not own a pair of boots. So a pair of pleather boots is a start. You're coming across quite poorly tbh, reading between the lines I don't think OP is aiming for a senior City position, your insistence that clothes that cost less than £100 are crap will probably just serve to make her feel bad.