Have you ever been inappropriately dressed for the occasion - YouLookFab Forum

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Dressing

Have you ever been inappropriately dressed for the occasion

anchie

Veteran

Sal‘s post about underbuying got me thinking. I am guilty of not buying things that I can’t wear in every day life and I am never prepared for rare occasions that require special dressing. Because of that I was dressed inappropriately for the occasion quite a few times and I still remember how bad I felt about it.
One was conference in Stockholm while I was still at my previous job that had extremely casual dress code and my whole wardrobe consisted of jeans and t-shirts and I didn’t feel like buying new clothes just for the conference. I kept invitation for one of the events at the conference, where I really felt underdressed and regretted not buying more appropriate clothes.
Another one was my 20th high school graduation reunion in 2008. My daughter was 6 months old, I was still nursing and nothing in my wardrobe fit me. I didn’t have much time to go shopping and barely made it to the event. I eventually wore nice top and jeans. Well, my friends still refer to this particular reunion as one where Anchie wore jeans (even male friends).
There were also couple of weddings when my dress was on casual side, more appropriate for the beach
Oh, and one press conference where I had to hide from cameras in embarrassment.
And I am sure there were more unfortunately:)
So how about you?

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Dressing

17 replies

Latest reply was from anchie

Je Ne Sais Pas

Indeed! A wedding in my late twenties where I wore a cream knit dress, which managed to be in the wrong colour, and too informal and too hot at the same time. Another wedding where I wore a fancy dress borrowed from a friend… I think the dress was ok for the occasion… but it was so busy and so not-me I felt really bad. As I type, more and more occasions come to mind… so, you are not alone

April

Veteran

A New Year's Eve party in college.

I was the queen of thrifting then and I wore a black velvet pencil skirt, a black satin dressy tuxedo-style sleeveless evening top, and opera-length black gloves. Black heels. Giant fake gem earrings (it was 1985). A black silk velvet evening coat, since this was winter in Philadelphia.

The other guests were in jeans, boots, and sweaters.

Luckily the party was at my boyfriend's house or I might have slunk home to change.

Joy

Veteran

I can't remember a specific time but there must have been several when I was in high school and college. When I was a senior there was a te. I needed to wear a hat and gloves which I did not have, l did not go, much to my mother's displeasure. I would have felt all wrong and buying what I needed was out of the family budget as I would never wear the items again.

Dee

Veteran

Yes it was my husband’s 25th anniversary work party for all employees celebrating 25 years with the company. I hadn’t given it too much thought and just assumed it would be more on the business casual side, as it seemed that everything is far more casual these days .
However, on the day of the event my husband finally found the invitation and it said semi-formal on it. Yikes! So I scrambled to put something together and wore a pair of black flowy palazzo pants, a nice dressy top with a long black cardigan and strappy sandals. I hoped it would do but when I got there I was surprised to see that so many of the women were actually wearing evening gowns and very fancy cocktail dresses. I always considered that type of dress as actually formal wear, but anyways I tried to keep a low profile and felt more relieved when we were finally seated for dinner.

Bijou

Veteran

I went to a work ball where the theme was Hollywood, with the recommendation that we come in fancy dress. Only my table came in costume, with the theme of Moulin Rouge, everyone else was in elegant ball gowns. I enjoyed wearing my Can-can girl costume and had a fun night, although initially I felt conspicuous entering into the ballroom in costume.

Zaeobi

(website)

Veteran

Yes, but the other way around - my parents' South Asian culture generally dresses up for organised events (like weddings or even just eating out), so that's how I was raised. I've had to train myself out of it since moving to Hong Kong though, where people showed up to my own wedding wearing windbreakers, jeans & Adidas tshirts! I don't dress down *quite* that much lol, but I no longer try to wear my kei po/ qipao (cheongsam) at Chinese New Year anymore - I'm learning!

I think I'm finally getting the hang of the 'appropriate' balance - I went to a friend's wedding back in the UK last summer (sorry not sure what else to call it other than a 'white' wedding? lol) & I *didn't* give in to my mother's demands to wear a sparkling dress, sparkly jewellery & heavier makeup (this was an outdoor wedding in the middle of a field - for reference, my friend is the type to own chickens lol!)

TL;DR: To strike a balance, my solution nowadays is to wear a somewhat plain base but then carry extra accessories in my bag/ car to transform the formality levels as appropriate lol.

Runcarla

Veteran

There was a period of 10+/- years when my wardrobe was composed of business clothes (skirt suits, dresses, blazer jackets) worn M-F and grubby jeans and t-shirts (mostly from races I’d participated in) worn on weekends for house chores and gardening. Any social event was a nightmare to dress for. If it was ‘fancy’ I wore a work dress. If it was casual, I wore jeans and a top from my work wear collection. A MOTG capsule would have been a good idea, but I was clueless…

Bless Stacy and Clinton! I started watching WNTW and started to figure things out.

When our office went dress casual, I was thrown for another loop and had to start all over. I’m not sure I ever got that one right as I clung to my more dressy business apparel for a long time.

Allora

I’m sure there have been other occasions but this one immediately popped into my mind and is more weather related.

I attended a wedding in central Florida in the 1990s and I guess I didn’t pay close attention to the invite that said both the ceremony and reception were to be outside. I don’t remember what month it was but in Florida it hardly matters. I wore a short sleeve black Liz Claiborne dress that was lined and not in a natural fiber material, thinking I’d be just right in air conditioning. Well…guests were seated outside in the hot burning sun and humidity with very little shade. And once you start to sweat in polyester it’s all over. It doesn’t breathe. Most of the other women were in sleeveless and summery cotton dresses. I felt miserable and totally out of place and looked as if I belonged at an indoor cocktail party rather than an outdoor wedding.

slim cat

Veteran

We were invited to the nice restaurant in Seattle in the beginning of our life there and I went to the second hand shop to find something and ended the most casually dressed even by the standard of relaxed style of Seattle in the 1996 - lol.

nuancedream

Veteran

For five years, I was a contracted employee at Boeing. On my first day at work, I showed up at work in nice work trousers, button-down shirt, and block heel dress shoes. I thought I was simply going to get my computer, badge, parking pass, access to proprietary software, and meet my coworkers. Nope. I got a tour of the factory, which is enormous and required a lot of walking. The dress shoes were the worst thing I could have chosen to wear. Plus, I was wearing no-show socks that kept slipping off. In a backhanded way, I was told I was overdressed. After that day, it was jeans, basic tees, and sneakers at work, unless I was at an off-site conference.

Star

Veteran

When I first moved here in 2015 quite a few. People tend to dress up in this small town, which is something I now actually love about it. The first one that comes to mind was an extended family lunch at a traditional restaurant. Many many people who were related but never met each other attended. I wore a dark denim pencil skirt and a mauve silky blouse that I had always relied on in the past for any semi-formal events. I felt under dressed. It took me a few years to realise that here denim skirts are mostly worn by workers in the hotel trade! We border a summer resort and the chamber maids, etc all go to work in denim skirts. 2nd time was the Prom lunch of my niece (DHs side). It was held at my BIL's seaside restaurant and I thought my trusty summer maxi dress and denim jacket for the sea breeze in May would do and be totally appropriate. Nooo, everyone was dressed like they were attending a formal wedding! Third time was the opening of a Music Venue which was slanted towards Rock music. I thought my DHs plaid shirt and jeans and platform boots were very appropriate, you know purposefully Grungy. Nooo, the girls were all in black mini-dresses. Anyway I have now struck a balance. I do not conform to the black mini dress brigade as this is really boring IMO when every female is wearing one, but I have learned to go the extra mile and it seems to be better to be over-dressed instead of under-dressed. In my home country of South Africa under-dressing is more the norm. Here you can walk down the main street in silver trousers in the middle of the day and nobody will bat an eyelid - no jokes - I love that

cjh

(website)

Veteran

I was about a junior in high school and was invited to an afternoon party by a boyfriend, to his classmate’s home on the ritziest old mansion street in town. These were super preppy, country club, kids. Boyfriend was really not the same income level but knew the kids, and neither was I, think wannabe, latecomer hippie kids. I wore a gray striped peasant shirt, and the rattiest pair of cutoff, faded-cream, corduroy shorts with unattractively frayed hems, and rubber flip flops. Probably I cut them off from hand me down or thrifted pants. This was my favorite outfit of the time.

My mom was appalled, as she could picture the setting. She offered to iron an outfit for me, which was quite cute and I actually also loved. It was Kelly green linen short culottes and a navy teeshirt with Kelly green trim. I insisted on my choice and was extremely embarrassed when I arrived at the party and realized where I was.

Jenni NZ

Veteran

Not many. I am more like Zaeobi, I would always prefer to be a little overdressed for any occasion than underdressed. It’s upbringing related, dress up for church etc. Although I managed to impress on Mum as a teenager in the 70s that I could wear jeans to evening church as everyone else did! And for weddings, seeing older relatives etc it was a “respect” thing to dress nicely.
So I haven’t been underdressed, occasionally overdressed relative to others. I might still feel OK like that, just a slight inward sigh as to “here I go again when I could have been more casual”. Hubby helps in a way- he leans casual and I don’t want to make him uncomfortable so sometimes I tone it down and that makes me more like the norm! High five Zaeobi!

Sal

Veteran

Yes - main one was wearing a smart black work dress to a corporate event. It was sleeveless though. The day started hot then it rained and I did not have an umbrella. I was then sodden and sleeveless - every other woman was in a dark suit. I got the code wrong between the UK and NZ!!

Irina

Veteran

A couple events stand out - in my first year in I once wore a maxi fitted knit dress in cream color. We went to a nice restaurant with friends and after they invited us to drop by their friend’s house party. Everyone there was dress in denim, sweatshirts and flannel. Another one happened around the same time - I went to some appointments and wore a nice summer dress, navy polka dots, rather dressy styled with cream pumps and a cream bag. On the way home I went to pick up a few things from a local low cost grocery store (Food Basics). I probably looked impressive, my groceries were bagged by a clerk and they never do that

BlueJay

Veteran

This is such a fun thread, Anchie!

High five to Star, Zaeobi, JenniNZ, and Irina! I also tend to wear more dressy items. April your outfit sounds beautiful and I'm sure you rocked it, even though you felt overdressed and uncomfortable.
Star, I love that people are more dressed up and that you can wear silver jeans and no one would say anything! My kind of place! And this is funny, "black mini dress brigade." Jenni, yes, I feel weird wearing denim to church. I was teased in elementary school when I wore jeans as my friends were surprised I even owned jeans.

Sal, I empathize with your suit story. I know it has happened where I have been too overdressed on many occasions, but the one time I think I wore the "wrong" thing was to a conference for work. The conference was for lawyers and accountants. I wore a black and white tweed pencil skirt, black hose, black patent leather pumps...and a bright pink cardigan with a ruffle down the front. haha! oops. In the sea of black and navy suits, I stood out like a sore thumb. A blazer or a suit jacket would have been more appropriate. I was manning our work booth, rather than attending the event, so that was my only consolation.

anchie

Veteran

Thanks to all who shared their stories, it was fun and interesting read.

Wherever I lived so far people always liked to dress up and used every opportunity to do so, I don’t think I ever managed to be overdressed

Runcarla- your story most resonates with me