Formal Evening Dresses

Somebody came up with the dress codes of black tie, white tie, business casual, semi formal, formal and so forth, and it seems like everyone’s supposed to know what they mean yet many us find ourselves googling beforehand to make sure that what we’re going to wear is appropriate. A fashion faux pas can be extremely embarrassing upon arrival and even worse, you have to embarrass yourself for the remainder of the event. Overdressing makes you look sort of snobbish and overprepared, underdressing makes you look like you have no class, and both make you feel really foolish and out of place, so paying attention to the dress code is of upmost importance for maintaining your reputation.

We can all agree and be reasonably sure that formal means you’ll have to clean up well. As it turns out, formal is pretty formal, but not as formal as ultra formal (“white tie,” some us didn’t even know that existed). Formal is “black tie,” in which men have to wear formal tuxedos and women have to wear formal dresses. So formal evening events call for formal evening dresses, but what exactly qualifies as a formal evening dress? Short casual hems are likely to be out of the question, but there are so many different kinds of dresses with so many different details that we need more guidance here.

Formal evening dresses can be short styled, but they have to be cocktail short, not vulgar short. So what’s a cocktail dress? A brief googling session will tell you that cocktail dresses are dresses worn at cocktail events, but that doesn’t help very much. Research a little more and you’ll find out as much as the length, which can be slightly above the knee or around the ankles, but your best bet is to look at a catalogue of cocktail dresses. Then you’ll know that you’re looking at cocktail dresses for sure. Formal evening dresses can also be long with a skirt that flows to the floor. They might have straps, or they might be strapless, or they might have an asymmetrical strap, very in these days. Again, your best bet is to look at a collection of formal evening dresses.

The color of formal evening dresses can vary. They say you can’t go wrong with black, which always looks formal and elegant and flatters the body. If you really want a show stopping number you might opt for the flamboyant red, and if you’re feeling playful you might go for pink. As a rule of thumb, you should pick what looks best on you and what’s most age appropriate.