I am not one of those women who doesn’t like party dresses. That is not what this column is about. I sometimes think I would quite like to be that type, because women who scoff at frocks seem terrifically sophisticated, compared with my irredeemably basic instinct to start swooning over black lace and velvet and cut-out shoulder details at the first whiff of mince pie season.
But even though I am a party dress person (if you opened my wardrobe before you met me, you would think I didn’t have a job) I don’t always want to wear a party dress to go out. There are some nights when a fancy frock feels absolutely right, as much an after-dark classic as a straight-up martini. Other nights, the idea of putting a dress on feels a bit office party. A bit Here Come The Girls after their pre-drinks in All Bar One. Not feeling that vibe so much.
And there are other nights when I’d be totally up for wearing a party dress, but the logistics aren’t right. The impact of what you wear to a party on how good a time you have (which is the whole point, obviously) is 1% about how you look and 99% about how you feel when you walk through the door. And I know that I will feel 10 times more glamorous arriving in a dressed-up day outfit and a normal handbag than I would wearing a proper frock but carting a lumpy tote bag stuffed with what I wore to work.
Tuxedo styling is the easiest way to turn trousers and a jacket into an evening look. If it’s dark and tailored with a satin stripe, it’s got after-dark attitude. It tends to work best with a bit of skin, but that doesn’t rule out a polo neck – just add a flash of ankle or a sleeve pushed up to the elbow. There is no fuss, but plenty of drama, thanks to the slight edge that you get from being a woman in mannish clothing – the pleasing unexpectedness of it.
I am not about to become the kind of killjoy who refuses to wear party dresses. But I can definitely see there is fun to be had without one.
• Jess wears jacket, £198, and trousers, £128, both allsaints.com. Pink cami top, £120, by Raey from matchesfashion.com. Court shoes, £80, dunelondon.com
Styling: Melanie Wilkinson. Hair and makeup: Laurence Close at Carol Hayes Management
