As we enter the official “Entertaining Season”, our guests will begin to find themselves bouncing from party to party, some casual and some more dressy, and the two most common questions we receive as hosts are “What should I bring?” and “What should I wear?” The former we discussed last week, now we will discuss the latter – what they should wear.

This question gives you, as the host, a great opportunity to set the tone for your gathering. Of course, for some themes, the required dress can be obvious (ie: A 1920’s murder mystery party), but others aren’t so obvious (ie: a Winter Wonderland murder mystery party) Some dress themes are:

Black and white (one of my favourites – everyone can dress for this theme and it raises the tone for the party)
Other colours – (Set any colour for your dress theme!)
Cocktail party dress
Gala dress
Casual (Guests can wear what they want, even their ripped jeans and Lulus)
Dressy-casual (no ripped jeans and lulus please, but don’t go overboard)

The dress style you choose for your party will say a lot about your party in itself, and tell your guests not only what they should wear to your event, but also what they can expect.