Dining Dress Code for Women

Dress codes are of course designed to try and provide people with a universal set of rules for what to wear to any given occasion. This way an invitation can simply read ‘black tie’ and the recipient should, theoretically, immediately know what kind of thing they need to wear and be confident that they will not look out of place – no stress. At the same time, a dining dress code should set the mood for the event as what people wear dictates how they act and how smart the whole occasion looks.

However unfortunately it often does not quite work like that, and there are in fact so many different dress codes that they often cause more complication rather than less as people stress about what each code ‘means’. Following then are a list of the most common dress codes and how you should interpret them to make sure you are dressed appropriately for any occasion.

Casual: Casual essentially means that you can wear anything you like to the event as long as it is not ‘smart’. That means jeans, a dress, trainers, sandals, jumpers or anything else. Here the danger is not that you look too scruffy, but that you look too smart. Dress as though you were going to meet friends for a coffee.

Informal: Informal is the next stage up from casual. Here you should dress fairly smartly – avoiding trainers or jeans. A shorter dress for example might work here. Dress as though you were going to a parents’ evening.

Cocktail Attire: A cocktail attire is again slightly more formal, but is certainly not going to turn people away at the door yet. Cocktail parties are most known for cocktail attire, which are evening events where people tend to mingle around a table of cocktail drinks. Fortunately ‘cocktail dresses’ have been invented for almost precisely these events so that’s the easiest option to go for with heels and some eye-catching makeup. Here you want to be at once elegant but relaxed – you want to be glamorous, but in a way that says you are having fun and socialising rather than attending a formal business event.

Semi-Formal: Many people find this dress code the most difficult to interpret, being somewhere between the formal and informal codes. Partly what you wear will depend on the event itself (as in the purpose of the function) as well as where and when it is hosted. Here you might get away with a feminine suit if the event is during the day and business related. During the evening you might get away with a more formal cocktail dress. Here greys and blacks are safer colours to stick with and you should dress as though you were going to a governors’ meeting or a business meeting.

Formal: Formal is the smarter side of semi-formal and the men will all be wearing a tuxedo. For women then a longer dress will be appropriate and your outfit should be as elegant as possible, being figure hugging and in a block colour, matched with eye catching makeup and jewellery.

Evening Dress: Evening dress is a very interchangeable term and will depend on the event itself. However it can generally be considered formal. If you are going to a ball for example then ‘evening dress’ will require that you wear a ball gown, or something similarly as glamorous.

Black Tie: A black tie event is again similar to a formal event/evening dress, except here the men will also be wearing a bow tie with the tux and possibly a three piece. Women can choose between a form of long dress and a ball gown may be appropriate. It is also important to ensure that you change your outfit between evening and day if the event spans the whole day.

White Tie: A white tie event is even more formal than a black tie event and includes a dress code that’s thought to be quite ‘old fashioned’. Here men might wear a tail-coat, a bowtie and even a top hat in all white. Women meanwhile can go as glamorous as they like with large flowing dresses and gowns, generally dressing as though they were in the cast of a Jane Austin film. Although this is a highly formal look, it is often used for fun for parties that enjoy dressing up.

Fancy Dress/Themed: With fancy dress anything goes and you can be as outgoing or as reserved as you like. Normally there will be a theme which you will then have to stick to, which could be ‘science fiction’ or ‘the letter F’, some of which can get very inventive. The only rules here are to ensure you stick to the theme and that you actually do dress up or you will stand out (even it is just wearing a funny hat). Sometimes there will be a prize for the best dressed.