Getting Glamorous For the Big Day – and Recycling Your Look!

When it comes to finding the right dress for going out we don’t usually think of them in context. We look at them, we think if we like them, and that’s it. The end.

And yes, it’s very easy to shop online – high street favorites such as Next offer an impressive range of dresses for going out online – and whilst this massive convenience has made a wide range of items and options readily available it does miss out one crucial element of shopping for clothes….

…trying them on. I find that it’s the trying them on part which lets me really imagine myself and the item – where can I see me wearing this? Where does it work? Can I dance in it? What does it do in the light? Will it scrunch up if I sit down?

Petty questions, sure, but practical ones nonetheless that become really practical over the issue of celebrations. From a small birthday party to a fully-fledged wedding reception, big occasions mean: looking nice, inevitable photographs, potential bad behavior/late nights, the chance to meet new people or be something different for the night.

What has always surprised me is how women so often draw a distinct line between what they wear ‘going out’ and what they wear to something like a wedding. Given some of the great parties I’ve been to at weddings, I don’t understand the distinction.

Taking a look at some of this season’s going out dresses – working with longer lengths or tipped skirts (longer at the front or back), asymmetrical details as well as iridescent materials or textures (like lace and sequins, even leather), I think you can easily be more adventurous in your wedding choice and carry that look into your nights out.

As all the magazines are telling us, the 1920s are back too – and this is great news for going out. Drop-waisted or even shift-dress style dresses in gold sparkles or something decadent are the ultimate wedding-nightclub crossover. Go more genuinely 1920s at the wedding with a fascinator and art nouveau clutch; and take it contemporary at a nightclub with thick bangles, and wedge shoe-boots with cut-out detail.