It's Black & White

Let me start by saying that the Women's & Children's Hospital Foundation Night of Lights Gala Ball was spectacular. Bravo to their events team. The food at the Adelaide Convention Centre was great. We had a brilliant waitress called Rebecca who did a sensational job looking after our table. The decorations were beautiful. The entertainment, entertaining (and with Kate Ceberano headlining how could it not be!). All in all, it was worth going along. I'd highly recommend it for anyone thinking of booking a table in 2012.

The reason for this post however, is to focus on the dress code for the evening. If you saw my last post, you will have seen a sneak peak at what I was planning on wearing. The invitation said Black Tie With A Hint Of Sparkle. The perfect opportunity to dress up. My dashing partner wore a black Armani tuxedo and I wore a full length Sherri Hill gown from After Dark Boutique on Fullarton Road, accompanied by stunning statement jewellery from Liza Emanuele Boutique on King William Road. The lovely Andrew Elsegood from Andrew Elsegood Hairdressers on Goodwood Road did my hair, and I completed the outfit with silver stilettos from Gary Castles (Sydney).

Here's a photo to show you how the look turned out.

Now back to the reason for my post. It seems I was under the false impression that black tie meant tuxedos for men and long gowns for women. I went so far as to Facebook and Tweet about this (& the lack of long dresses I was seeing at the ball), and was absolutely slammed by my friends & followers for misunderstanding the dress code. I wasn't far off it, so luckily I wasn't inappropriately dressed, but I thought I'd share my findings so that if you're faced with anything similar, you know what is or isn't appropriate. What I was thinking of, was White Tie (which I'd never heard of). The less formal evening counterpart of white tie is black tie, which allows women to wear cocktail dresses.

Here's a quick run down.

Black tie for women: Women's dress for black tie occasions can vary, ranging from a cocktail dress that is at or below the knee to a long evening gown, determined by current fashion, local custom, and the occasion's time.

Black tie for men: For a man, the main component is a black jacket with contrasting lapels, known as a dinner jacket (in the Commonwealth) or tuxedo (mainly in the United States), and a black tie. 

White tie for women: Evening dresses, full length gowns. 

White tie for men: White tie for men means tops & tails. The chief components for men are the black dress coat commonly known as an evening tailcoat, white bow tie, white waistcoat and starched wing collar shirt. I can't say I've ever seen this done, not properly...

Now what I'd like to know is what you'd call an event where you'd like men to wear tuxedos (which is as formal as I've seen in Australia) and women in floor length gowns. This is what I'd expect to see at any ball, but apparently this is a mix of the two dress codes. Perhaps invites could state white tie for women and black tie for men? This is getting more difficult than it should be.

At the end of the day, all I really want is the odd occasion where us girls can glam up and wear long, beautiful dresses. Formality is all but gone these days, so it's nice to feel like a princess once in a while.