Cocktail attire...

[trash]

I'm going to a fundraising event soon, will be (I think) a mostly younger crowd, with some entertainment, appetizers, mingling, etc. The invite said "cocktail attire", and after some Googling I found a wide variety of opinions on what that entails. What do you guys think? I just bought a charcoal suit online which is arriving soon, but unless will probably need tailoring I might not have time to do before the event.


I did just pick up a nicely fitting charcoal herringbone blazer, would that do? I was thinking of pairing it with nice chinos (I've got khaki and a grey that is lighter than the jacket), white dress shirt, and eggplant-purple wool tie or black knit tie.

[jason_carreira]

I think either a suit or a blazer / sportcoat and trousers... tie or no tie, depending on how you feel. I think the big difference between cocktail attire and more formal attire is that you can be more colorful with your shirt, pocket square, and, optionally, tie.

[YackoYak]

Agree with JC on cocktail attire being more colorful.


Unless you're going really casual with the shirt (plaid, checkered, gingham, etc) and tie (wool or knit like you mentioned), I would rather wear a blazer than a suit. Is it an arts event? You certainly can wear anything at those. I've seen tuxes to jeans w/ ripped T's (starving artists).