Work events - evening!

[Bellyblueboy]

I just moved to a new job and there are evening events - awards dinners, evening meals and events.

I am a bit confused by the dress code - I am cyber stalked some new colleagues on LinkedIn and see they wear a combination of simple, flashy and even ‘mother of the bride’ type dresses. The men wear suits - sometimes tuxes. My first event is next month and it’s a large dinner event. No dress code on invitation!

I am short (5’2) and bigger than I would like (size 14).

I am thinking a simple, black long dress. Any recommendations on clothes shops? Budget not huge - under £200 for a dress.

thank you

I had a long black velvet sleeveless dress with a round neck and pretty much wore it to everything. It could be dressed up with a pashmina/bolero/jewellery etc. It was just above floor length so I would also gather up at the hip and secure with a broach to take the length up a bit. Putting my hair up changed the look of it. I was a 12-14 and am just over 5ft so I made my feature be the shoes more than the dress. Something like these

Like this?

& Other Stories

Or this:

Cos dress

Or this nicely versatile:

Silky Cos dress

It does sound exhausting!

A few from John Lewis website

I think you're right keeping it simple with a classic black dress for work events. You can't go wrong with a LBD and you can rewear a lot with different accessories. I have done many evening work things in the past. Try John Lewis, Warehouse, & Other stories, Cos. The other thing I've done is boxy blouse tops with smarter midi skirts.

Surely it depends on the industry? Personally I'd go for something with a cowl neck and a nice drape, maybe from ghost, Rixo, or realisation par. Have just seen a few nice options from next too, and they're much cheaper.

I used to have a lot of events to go to for work and found a mix and match wardrobe was most useful. Mine was based on black. I had a black satin blazer with matching skirt (not shiny), silky palazzo pants and various tops that went with all of them plus a couple of dresses.

I always felt like the pressure was off having to look glam (which would probably be impossible for me) because I was effectively 'at work'. You just have to look appropriate. The events I went to were largely for businesses and other organisations and you saw an immense range of clothing, particularly awards dinners. Some people wore their party best others were really very dressed down and the rest were somewhere in the middle.

Not many long dresses, but it's a while ago so maybe the fashion has changed. Women were generally in quite modest cocktail dress type styles.

Thank you all. I will spend the evening on the various websites.

the industry is finance and government. So an odd mix.

I haven’t seen many cocktail length dresses in my obsessive looking at photos! Some trouser suits though - mainly seems to be long dresses for the women.

i hate this!! Much more comfortable in day time work clothes!

I have just ordered the middle dress!!! Thank you so much

If I were you I’d get 2 dresses or dress and jumpsuit or separates. So you always have something different just in case people notice the same outfit.

M&S Autograph has lots of dressier items but I like the Cos dress you’ve chosen too.

Glad to have helped!

@Bellyblueboy @ANagsHead good choice - I really like that! Simple and modern.