Stylish Cocktail Dresses for Women – The Essential Dos and Don’ts

Women and stylish dresses go hand in hand! It’s because women love to look their best in any attire they wear. However, the cocktail dress is one of the most crucial elements of their closet. Even though this dress got tailormade for the early 19th century, it’s not restricted to that in recent times. You can wear a cocktail dress in almost any event if you style it correctly. 

The cocktail dress is linked with a couple of rituals, and it’s always good if you know that. It will allow you to style your cocktail dress to make you look stunning and stylish. In this article, we will enable you to sport the best cocktail dress by sharing some of the crucial tricks and tips. 

Understanding the cocktail attire

To explain in simple terms, a cocktail attire can be best described as a formal dress, which is much more celebratory. The dress is much more casual than the office wear. At the same time, it is also slightly more formal than the daily casual attire. However, most often than not, if people expect you to wear cocktail attire, it will get mentioned in the invitation. And if it doesn’t, then you need to know and understand that events such as weddings, anniversaries, engagements, and reunions are all places where cocktail dresses will work. To learn more about it, you can check out Yoper’s 20 Stylish White Cocktail Dresses

The cocktail dress for women

If you follow the fashion rule, you will learn that a cocktail dress should be transparent, skimpy or very long, or extremely short. It’s because the dress is somewhere between the casual and formal wear spectrum. Hence, that is an A-line, little black dress to a dress that has long sleeves and embellished is the best option to go for. It is essential to understand the dos and don’ts of the cocktail dress for women. Discussed below are some of the crucial factors:

  1. You shouldn’t wear skimpy dresses and must watch the hemline

It is essential that you don’t confuse your cocktail party with a casual evening with your friends. Hence, make sure that you don’t wear a transparent dress as it will invite pointless attention. You should check if you appreciated anyone wearing this dress at a party or not? And that will give you the answer. Also, make sure to be careful about your neckline. Don’t make it too deep. Additionally, stay away from the see-through dresses. 

The princess cut, A-line dresses, or any other attire with a floating hemline beneath the arm’s stretch always works. Here the ideal choice for most women is the “Little Black Dress” that will always stay in vogue. Also, you have the option to experiment with spaghetti straps and strapless dresses to the sweetheart necklines. Hence, you have ample opportunities in your hand to play around. 

  • You shouldn’t wear a big gown that trails out

If you have a ball gown, you need to keep it reserved for other occasions. The style experts will always suggest you stay away from the gowns that have a trail. And because it comes from the style experts, it’s essential to abide by it. The midi size dresses are apt as the cocktail dresses. You can opt-in for this, just in case you aren’t comfortable with the shorter dresses. You have several options here. So go all out and make your choice. 

  • It would help if you didn’t come to a cocktail party in trousers and jeans

For most women, a pair of casual jeans is their comfort dressing! Everyone knows it and also agrees to it. But that doesn’t give you leeway to sport one for your cocktail party. And because they come under the category of a formal-clothing, you shouldn’t have this as your scope. Hence, in place of jeans, you should opt-in for pantsuits and other stylish trousers to pair up with a chiffon blouse or a silk top. You can pair this outfit using pumps, a pearl necklace, and have decent makeup. All this is simple and easy. 

  • It would help if you didn’t have big bags with you when in a cocktail dress

Most women today will confess that they love their huge tote bags. They tend to carry all that they need for any “just in case” scenarios. When you are in a cocktail dress, you must avoid it totally. A big bag doesn’t match a cocktail dress or a cocktail party well. Here, it would help if you befriended a stylish and handy clutch. It is easy to carry as well. In case you feel that your big bag is indispensable, make sure that you keep the big bag in your car and have the things you most need in your clutch. That itself is a statement. 

  • You shouldn’t opt-in for flip-flops

For most women, flip-flops are the best comfort footwear. But you can’t wear it when you are wearing cocktail attire. That is not all. It would help if you also steered clear from flat sandals, gladiators, and boots. This footwear doesn’t compliment your cocktail dress. Hence, instead, you should opt-in for pumps, platform heels, and wedges, as they improve your silhouette. 

  • You shouldn’t use several accessories

Wearing the right accessories will enhance your outfit. And when you are wearing your cocktail dress, wearing just one accessory is good enough. Hence, you need to browse through your accessory and check the one you wish to wear so that it complements you. Make sure that you wear only a single statement piece to shine out. If you have too many accessories, it will appear unappealing and slopping. In fact, it will ruin the total look. You might want to wear finger rings, bracelets, or any other accessories to keep it minimal. 

  • You shouldn’t opt-in for a crumpled dress or be dressed shoddily

Make sure that you don’t wear a crumpled outfit. It is an essential part of the dressing. However, if you are thinking of wearing pantsuit, jumpsuit, or fancy trousers, then ensure that you must have them ironed. If you can’t iron your clothes well, get it done by the dry cleaner. Additionally, you usually have ample time to prepare for the event. Hence, you will get ample time to stay prepared. 

  • Your undergarments shouldn’t show

Make sure that your innerwear is always out of the radar. It is something that you need to take good care of. If you don’t, then it might make you appear shoddy, and people might draw a poor impression of you. Also, if your cocktail dress has a tricky or plunging neckline, you should opt for stick-on or strapless bras. Additionally, if you are wearing shapewear, make sure that it aligns with the dress shape and doesn’t stick out. It is etiquette, and also, it’s not a pleasant sight to have the shapewear peeping out. 

Few essential guidelines

Every woman would love to sport the cocktail dress. But some women aren’t able to make the correct choice because they haven’t worn the dress ever. If you are one of them, there is nothing to worry about. Here are a few guidelines to help you:

  • Get a comfortable dress – If you have never worn a cocktail dress, you shouldn’t try to wear something bold or playful the first time. It’s always better to stick to something basic and simple. For instance, a full-sleeve, A-line knee-length cocktail dress is just perfect. Make sure that you choose a material that you are comfortable with. If you think a lace dress might be a notch higher in the style department and aren’t prepared for that, you should opt for the silk cocktail dress. Once you start wearing the basic cocktail dresses and get comfortable in it, you can opt-in for other experimental ones. It will enable you to adjust to your style preference gradually. 
  • Wear the dress with confidence– Confidence is an essential part of wearing any attire. And when you are choosing the cocktail dress that is supposed to be form-fitting, you need to have good body confidence. Hence, it is always expected that you will wear your dress with confidence and carry it well. For that, you need to project that confidence. You need to stop listening to naysayers and remember why you wanted to wear this dress to ooze out this confidence. That will provide you the confidence to carry the dress with elan and class. 
  • Find out your individual style – Today, the designers have come up with cocktail dresses of various kinds. You will have to find the one that you resonate with the most. For this, take some time to find out the dress pattern you are comfortable with and make your choice. 

A cocktail dress is certainly not an everyday wear. There are occasions when you get to wear it. And you will have many such events to wear the cocktail dress. So, all you need to do is search for a reputed store that specializes in a cocktail dress and take your pick.

Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash