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Office Holiday Party Etiquette

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ShadesOfGrey:
Hello,

I have just been forwarded an invitation to my BF's office Holiday party, and the attire is "business formal"  It is a mardi-gras themed party, so the actual wording is "Dress is business formal and be sure to wear a festive mask."

When I think Busines Formal, I think business suit, pumps, and understated hair/jewelry/makeup.  Hardly appropriate for a mardi-gras themed holiday party.... (though I would probably hate to see the other end of the spectrum for this type of party!)

So, are they trying to avoid inappropriate attire with this wording? Or do I need to show up in a business suit?  What about a cocktail dress (this is what I wore last year and it was appropriate to the venue, no theme in that case though)?

Please help!

guihong:
The cocktail dress sounds fine.  When I think of "business formal", I think of a suit or skirt with a blouse of a more splashy colour than usual, or a dress with more evening-ish jewelry than one would wear to work.  Then get one of those masks from the dollar store, that you see in "Marie Antoinette" :).

Honestly, who thinks of those dress-code terms, anyway?

gui

ZipTheWonder:


 ???  ???  ???

:::::::::faints::::::::::

MamaMootz:
I'm sorry for your pain. I just went through this past Saturday and ended up dressing wrong anyway. I hope that doesn't happen to you.

I even tried channeling emily post and she doesn't have a category for what you described.

Here's her site:
http://www.emilypost.com/etiquette/special/attire.htm

Maybe it can help, I don't know. I'd probably wear a suit - that's my best guess as to "business formal". Good luck!

HelenB:
I don't have any advice, but I commiserate. For my husband's office party this year (in January, 200 miles away in North Dakota! -- sorry, I keep being amazed by this), the stated dress code was "festive".

Festive?

My husband, and many other people, asked what was covered by "festive". The answer was "you'll turn heads if you show up in a tux or evening gown!"  When pressed by the many, many engineers who would wear Garanimals if they were sold in adult sizes, the organizer said that business casual was fine.

I'm unhappy enough with the fact that, if we want him to look like an up-and-coming employee, we have to give up a weekend to go to Fargo (nothing against Fargo, just not my idea of a fun place to visit in January). Not only is half of this "party" employee-only meetings, where spouses get to cool their heels in their rooms (or heat them in a hot-tub -- I'm hoping for a hot-tub). But, they actually thought we were going to rent a tux and buy an evening gown for this, a jumped up employee meeting with a few cocktails? (I know some people love any opportunity to wear their fancier clothing, but I'm not one of them.)

I was originally going to wear a shimmery red silk shirt with black pants (I don't fit into any of my black skirts, and just cannot bring myself to buy one in my current size), but now I'm leaning towards wearing my Christmas sweatshirt. That seems fairly festive. Bah.

Edited, because another thread gives Emily Post's definition of "festive":

Holiday Festive (Men) Attire Seasonal sport coat or blazer in color of choice and slacks
open-collar shirt or shirt and "festive" or holiday-themed tie
 
(Women) Short cocktail dress or long dressy skirt and top or dressy pants outfit

That doesn't seem to match up to me -- the men seem way more casual than the women. A "dressy pants outfit" doesn't seem the equivalent of blazer+slacks+open-collar shirt. In any case, I'm going to go for "warm".

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