What do you wear if you're going out for dinner somewhere nice?

[MountainThew]

All I have is workout clothes, work clothes and casual baggy jeans and jumpers.

Can you repurpose work stuff? What do you like wearing? Do you want to buy a new outfit? Do you have a budget?

I would wear a jumper dress with tights and boots, or a silky vest with a long bias cut skirt and heels, both with a leather jacket on top.

Even the best places in London accept jeans now but for the evening I’d wear a blouse or blazer.

I have one smart outfit - trousers and top - funerals, posh outings , anything where the normal jeans doesn’t work. It’s not fashionable as such so it is already a few years old

A dress and jacket or smart cardigan.

Black or navy tailored trousers and one of my four nice dressy tops with suitable bits of subtle bling. Never varies as I hate dresses even in Summer! I don't go out fancy all that often so I keep the "good" trousers and tops separately for occasions like this.

I got my trousers in M+S and the tops in Next and H+M. Doesn't have to cost the earth to look good. Once they fit well, hide the bumps (!) and I feel good in them, off I go!

Depends how I feel. I live in London which, as pp said, is v casual now. So sometimes I wear "jeans and a nice top". Sometimes I fancy dressing up so will wear a skirt, I have a black tulle one I love that I wear with a thin knit jumper or off the shoulder top.

I’ve got a couple of Whistles mini dresses (knee length on me because I’m a hobbit) that I wear with tights and heeled ankle boots if I want to feel dressed up.

Or a satin midi skirt

I I really struggle to find tops that I like to wear with jeans but I’ve got an ancient Hush silk mix top that gets a lot of wear.

In fact, if anyone has seen any ‘nice tops’ I’m very much in the market for some. Most are too long and I hate tucking in.

Dark flared jeans, silky vest top, slightly oversized blazer, slim celine belt, kitten heel court shoes in an animal print or pointy black kitten heel boots, layered gold chains, gold earrings and a Chanel Wallet on a chain.

You have the kind of easy put together style and I imagine confidence that my swamp witch can only dream of!

I like wearing dresses, but i struggle with boots that aren't heeled and it seems flats/chunky heels are "in" at the moment (i might be wrong!) which make my already chunky lower half look chunkier?

I have some nice wide (but not too wide) black trousers. They are my work staples, but i could wear them out.

Sounds lovely.

What do you wear on your feet?

I'm just dressed up (and waiting for DH) to go out for dinner - I'm wearing this with a pair of fake suede "sock boots" with a block heel. https://atlastshop.co.uk/products/chelsea-corduroy-midi-dress-in-navy

Me too!

One silky looking top that isn't hugely long or cropped and it's been worn to death!

This sounds lovely.

I don't suit vest tops, but I might have to investigate the kitten heel.

I've been out to a couple of trendy, slightly pricier places recently (by which I mean a starter is say £20+, which probably on MN isn't pricy at all but not bog standard high street restaurant is what I mean) and 99% of women under 45 were in trainers, and most over 45 too.

We went to our local smart restaurant for a tasting menu last week. I wore this skirt with black suede flat sock boots and a cream cashmere short sleeve jumper.
https://www.thewhitecompany.com/uk/Pleated-Godet-Wool-Skirt/p/A19080?swatch=Smoke

Just googled "sock boot" i actually think they might work for me because they hug the ankle? I have v short, chunky legs so anything that adds volume to my ankle makes me look worse.

If you’re going out for dinner then I’d concentrate on your top half, as your bottom half is only really visible when you arrive and leave. So maybe a pair of trousers or jeans you already own, but paired with an interesting top - maybe velvet or silky?

I bought this recently and it’s had a fair bit of wear for those sorts of occasions already. It’s not cheap, but as an idea of the sort of thing I find works.

https://www.anthropologie.com/en-gb/shop/by-anthropologie-stella-satin-lace-trim-blouse?color=030&searchparams=q%3Dgreen%2520top

It really depends what you mean by 'nice'. Some 'nice' restaurants have quite a casual vibe and some are dressier, so for me it would vary from place to place. And also the season obviously.

I'm going out for dinner tonight to a place that's nice but has a more casual feel to it, and I'm wearing grey ankle grazer barrel jeans, a leather belt with a silver buckle and a black vest top with an unstructured blazer type jacket, and I'll probably wear flat black shoes with it.

I'm also going out for dinner tomorrow night (we didn't plan two restaurant meals in a row, it just worked out that way) to a restaurant that is small and friendly but also a bit on the pricey side, where previously I've noticed people tend to dress up a little bit more, I think because people often choose to eat there for special occasions. For that I'm going to wear a very simple black short sleeved A-line dress with a boat neckline, which comes just above my knees, with black patterned tights and ankle boots.

I'd always wear makeup if I'm going out to eat, and my usual jewellery.

I don’t have a lot of going out clothes, I have Christmas party dresses, casual clothes but little going out for a nice dinner stuff.

I’m going away to a country hotel this weekend and have just sorted my outfits for the three evenings.

Black and green blouse with a little bit of gold in the pattern, black trousers that are actually my lightweight jogging bottoms but they look ok with the top.

Satin bias cut skirt with a coordinating cardigan that I will wear done up and it has nice buttons.

A midi dress that’s about five years old and is a nice autumnal coloured print.

I will wear the same black suede ankle boot each evening.

My style is very similar to @Londonmummy66. I suspect we are a similar age though and both used to going out in London?

I can’t remember the last time I wore heels. DD and her friends are in their 20s in London and never wear them either.

Jeans and a nice top unless it’s above 30 degrees, then I’ll wear a dress. Either way I’m wearing trainers as I live in London, will almost certainly have to walk at least part of the way and am far too old for wearing uncomfortable shoes.

I would wear a nice dress and heels. I like to dress up when I'm out with a man.

If your 'meal out' is a date, I might go for something different though. Is it a date?

What type of restaurant are you going to?

@FlorenceLyons That’s a beautiful top.