How would you style this dress for an evening reception?

[NotDarkGothicMama]

DH and I are going to a colleague's evening do for their wedding in May. I have this dress that has been sitting in my wardrobe waiting for an occasion to wear it, but no idea how to style it. Makeup, nails, shoes, jewellery, bag... no clue.

The reception is at a very posh hotel in Scotland. I don't wear high heels and the reception involves a ceilidh, so comfortable footwear is a must. Looking at a budget of £200 for the shoes, jewellery and bag. I'm 5'4", size 10-12, mouse blonde shoulder-length hair, usually found in jeans and a hoodie. My hair is as flat as a pancake so will be pinned up in an up do to keep it out of the way.

Any help from people with an iota of dress sense would be very much appreciated!

Oh please ignore the nonsense about tartan. If you like tartan wear it, if you don't, don't but please don't turn up at a wedding in Scotland draped in a tartan wrap just because it's a wedding in Scotland.

I wouldn’t go anywhere near a shawl with it, tartan, pink or otherwise. I’d either just wear my leather jacket and take it off on arrival or just have a little cardigan of some sort (awaits screams of horror).

They are great, aren't they? Such fab intense satiny metallic colours. I love beetle-y greens.

Unfortunately I seem to have become more intolerant of satin/metallic powder shadow - even applied damp. My day shadow is now the Elf No Budge Shadow Stick in Magnetic Pull, where the metallic particles are held in suspension in the creamy stick (not described that very well, but it means they don't go into my eye or cause any irritation). It's very close to my previous day shadow - Mac's Satin Taupe - & lasts surprisingly well for a cheapie. Better than more expensive ones!

I now save my Urban Decay ones for occasional evenings out. Usually the cinema, so it's a bit of a waste!! But I know it's there, so I'm sure it adds to the cinema-going experience ...!

No, they're just shoes that are comfortable enough for dancing inwithout being trainers because they have the right heel height and sturdy and supportive enough. They are literally made for that purpose.

I agree. Those flat navy shoes will be awful with that dress. I’d go for some vintage inspired shoes with a strap

Mary Jane’s work. With a bit of a heel. Op doesn’t have to go mad with dancing! It’s not obligatory. I’d sit most of it out and sneak into the bar!

https://memery.co.uk/collections/party-shoes-women/products/1920s-inspired-mary-jane-pumps-yvonne

https://memery.co.uk/products/late-1920s-style-pumps-with-shoe-lace-cream-charlotte

I still think they will look awful with that dress. Too doing the cha-cha in the Latin section of Come Dancing.

As for being comfortable, do male dancers wear them?

The Alohas Luke shoes aren't actually a ghillie shoe, they just look a little like one. Did you actually read my post?

Yes, I have been to Scotland, several times. It's common at Scottish weddings for clan members to wear their tartan. For the men, it's usually in the form of a kilt as part of Highland formal dress.

That's OK. I'm not either as my Scots ancestry is on my mother's side and clan membership is patrilineal. I was simply saying that, if you were, it would appropriate to wear it.

I wish people would learn to read. It's very frustrating to write one thing and have people reply as if I'd written something utterly different.

What I actually wrote:

• Any of the silver mary janes other people listed. The Alohas Luke ones with lots of straps look a bit similar to traditional Ghillie shoes, so very appropriate for a Scottish cealidh.
• I suggest some kind of pashmina in the same kind of light green as the dress, unless you are entitled to clan tartan, in which case, wear your clan's tartan.

What you'd think I wrote, based on replies:

• Wear the expensive and very purpose-specific black ghillie shoes worn by competitive Highland dancers to a social dance.
• Turn up draped in Royal Stewart tartan because SCOTLAND.

Gucci Mary Jane’s are copied just about everywhere! Fashion forward!

Sorry, do I detect that you don't like dance shoes?

That's MN for you! I've been guilty of it myself when I've been in a grumpy reactionary mood ... which seems to be quite often at the moment!!

I think I've found my inspo. This is fashionable, right?

@NotDarkGothicMama Not for mere mortals!

Your suggestion about "unless you are entitled to clan tartan, in which case, wear your clan's tartan" is nonsense. The comment that it's always cold in Scotland is irritating. It isn't and when it is we have central heating.

You could always try the Kara Marni non dress look!

I'm sure that would go down well at my friend's posh wedding... Maybe Chappell Rowan's Grammys outfit?

In the interest of full transparency, I have bought DH tartan underwear for the occasion, because Scotland

Fleece-lined I hope. He could get a chill in his kidneys if a biting easterly wind picks up ... (Edinburgh resident here!!).

The temperature in Edinburgh today is 11C - the same as Greater London.

There is so much nonsense spouted on MN about tartan and the weather in Scotland. It's irritating and ignorant.

Last time I was in Edinburgh, it was July, yet I was freezing in my coat and a woman walking towards me had a long trench coat on. It might not be cold by the thermometer, but the wind chill can be brutal.

Your suggestion about "unless you are entitled to clan tartan, in which case, wear your clan's tartan" is nonsense.

It's really not but never mind...