A Woman's Guide to Dressing for Your First Cocktail Party
Receiving your first invite to a formal party can be exciting and confusing. From black tie to smart casual, dress code terminology creates many more questions than answers. Most of the time, dress codes direct us to choose the right fit for the occasion, but other times, they require a little decoding.
A popular dress code that dresses the guests with flair and creates common confusion is cocktail party attire. A cocktail party simply means a party serving cocktails, almost like an elongated happy hour occasion. Most of the time, this also indicates that the event is a semi-formal affair. So how does one dress for such a celebration? Here is a woman's guide to dressing for your first cocktail party.
Choose a Base
It's okay to dress like it's a night out in the town since it is a party after all, but cocktail parties are more formal occasions. Semi-formal or cocktail dresses hold some ambiguity because almost any dress can be styled formally. With that said, choosing the suitable base to style your outfit around has more importance. To be on the safe side, avoid graphic T-shirt dresses, plain everyday shirts, shorts, jeans, athletic wear, and fits that are too revealing. When shopping for boutique-style dresses, look at design features, material, cut, and appearance quality. Dresses styled with ruffles, high necks, bows, modest cutouts, and fitted or flowy fabric often look more put-together than simple day dresses.
Complementary Shoes
Since styling your outfit determines the formality of your look, you want to make sure your shoes complement your clothes. Heels have a magical power to make almost any look seem more put-together and are a great option to formalize any fit. Boutique sneakers are acceptable for the occasion if you opt for a more formal dress or base outfit. With sandals, avoid Birkenstocks and flip-flops, even though they provide maximum comfort. Various boots also offer an excellent combination of comfort and style to any outfit.
Accessorize
From bags to jackets, accessories offer lots of styling opportunities. Just like heels, adding a blazer to any outfit automatically makes the attire formal. When choosing a bag, smaller handbags like clutches or boutique purses give off a polished look to the dress. Whether you decide on chunky or delicate staple jewelry pieces, adorning your outfit with chains and gems completes the appearance. Some accessories to evade include backpacks, baseball caps, and insensitive jewelry or patterned items.
Getting ready for your first cocktail party should be an exciting experience, allowing you the chance to pamper yourself with a glam-up. Don't forget that you can always look up inspiration on the web and ask for more specific details on suitable attire from the host. With this woman's guide to dressing for your first cocktail party, you are ready to roll out the red carpet for this event.