What Is Business Cocktail Attire?

Last week I received an invitation to an event… I’m getting asked this question a lot in the run up to Christmas and the events season is underway in ernest. The invitation I received was to a champagne reception taking place in a gallery in London’s Mayfair, a property investment and wealth management networking reception.

When I receive invites like this I first look at the date and time, then I look at the dress code, because I don’t want to turn up either under or overdressed. Let’s face it though, this is me so I never turn up underdressed to anything, even a barbecue!

So the dress code says “Business/Cocktail”.

Most people look at an invite that says “Business / Cocktail Dress Code” and think, “What on earth does that mean?!”

For many of us, the word business when it comes to a dress code means a suit (for ladies either a trouser suit or skirt suit). But then cocktail lends itself to being dressier than a suit and some people often wonder if that means Black Tie.

Now cocktail doesn’t or shouldn’t mean “Black Tie Dress Code”. If they want you in a dinner suit or tuxedo, or little black dress for the ladies, then the invite will say “Black Tie”. So we don’t need to worry about pulling on a dinner suit and bow tie.

So for me, cocktail is just a step below black tie, it’s just a little bit dressier than you would wear to go to the office. But then the word Business is thrown in there as well … I don’t know if that’s deliberate or that many of these events take place early evening where many attendees will be coming straight from work so it makes it easier for them. Or if they don’t wear suits at work the invite just ensures that the attendee smartens up for the occasion!

So how do we deal with this? Ladies first…

Having canvassed opinion from stylists and image consultants who are ladies themselves, the general consensus is that a business cocktail dress code for ladies is best inspired by the public figure who does it best: former Duchess of Cambridge now Princess of Wales, Kate Middleton!

She probably exemplifies and does “business cocktail” best out of anyone who is in the public eye. When you see her she ‘s generally dressed in a dressy manner but on the conservative side… so the business side of the business cocktail equation means that you should generally stick to the rules that you would stick to in the office.

So a hem line that’s just above the knee at the very highest, nothing too flashy like neons or sequins, closed toe shoes to be on the safe side.

The cocktail side of it means that you add a little embelishment to your ensemble, so maybe a standout piece of jewellery, a jewelled neckline, a classy bag or clutch… keep it classy is the key and you should be appropriately attired for this type of event demanding this type of dress code.

For the gents, as ever it’s a little more complicated because guys most of the time get confused when faced with any kind of dress code to deal with.

So on one end of the wardrobe spectrum we’ve eliminated the need for a dinner suit… at the other end we can forget about our casual clothes. So no jeans, trainers, tee shirts… forget about any ideas you may have of wearing those for your event!

We need to be a little bit smarter! So the easiest thing you can do is wear a suit, maybe embellish a little with a pocket square. Wear a tie - but if you hate wearing ties fine. But then you need to make sure your shirt is ON POINT.

No baggy shirt hanging out all over the place, no floppy, saggy collars. It needs to be great quality, with a strong collar and nicely tailored in the fit. Your shirt needs to stand proud.

The other option you have is you could go a couple steps above work casual. So a jacket and trouser/smart chino combination, with a good pair of shoes (polished, not tatty looking!).

If it’s a summer event, lighter colours come into play as well as fabrics, which means linen suit or jacket, cotton jackets and chinos. You generally pair the outfit down because the sun and heat loosen up people’s expectations of how formal your outfit should be so you can relax slightly more. So in this time of year you could definitely get away without wearing a tie.

When you move into autumn and winter I would personally wear smart, well-tailored chinos or smart trousers in a flannel wool, or slightly heavier wool… definitely not a pair of trousers taken from a suit. It always needs to be a trouser that was bought/made for the purpose of being worn in a casual/smart casual setting.

You pair those with a blazer, smart casual jacket or unstructured smart casual jacket. Just make sure everything fits properly… if it’s bespoke you don’t have that issue to worry about, but if you are wearing off the rack clothes then just make sure you see an alterations tailor and get them to adjust things so you look like you took some care!

I would definitely wear a shirt - you could, if you have the right jacket and trouser, like an unstructured hybrid sweater/jacket for example, you could get away with wearing a lightweight sweater or rollneck instead of a shirt. But again these need to be well-fitted and of very good quality. My personal preference is for a shirt and tie though - not necessarily your typical “to the office” type colours but darker. I’m particularly fond of dark navy, charcoal and black shirts with matching ties for evening events.

Finally it’s always good to get some online celebrity inspiration and a quick google search of celebs like Shawn Mendes, Timothee Chalamet and Chadwick Boseman to name just a few will give you some great ideas.

You can also head to the Roberto Revilla London Instagram page @robertorevillalondon to see what I look like at the events I attend for further inspiration!

If the Business / Cocktail Dress Code is something you’ve been struggling with I hope this little article has helped. As always for further help and advice you can always contact us directly with your questions, or better still ask me whatever you’d like in the comments below (or even share your own tips) and I’ll happily answer directly so our entire RRL Community will benefit from shared wisdom!