What to Wear to a Gala

A gala invitation is the hardest dress code to read, because it is usually written in code. Black tie, black tie optional, creative black tie, white tie: these mean different things, and getting it wrong is uncomfortable in both directions. For more choice, browse our full edit of designer clothes for women.

Here is what each one actually asks for, and how to answer it.

What does black tie mean for women?

A floor-length gown is the safe reading. A very formal cocktail dress can work at a modern gala, but if the invitation says black tie without qualification, long is the answer that never looks wrong.

Fabric carries more of the message than length does. Satin, velvet, sequins and beading read formal. Cotton, linen and jersey do not, whatever the cut. A doubleface satin column in a deep colour is the most reliable black tie answer there is.

What is black tie optional?

It means the host expects gowns but will not turn anyone away in a dark cocktail dress. In practice most women wear a gown anyway, because a room of long dresses makes a short one feel underdressed.

If you want to go short, go formal: a sequin cocktail dress, a satin shift with a feather cuff, a strong shoe. Do not go short and plain.

What is creative black tie?

The invitation is asking for a gown with a point of view. This is where a statement piece earns its place: a feather jacket over a plain column, a sequinned mesh gown, a strong colour rather than black.

It is the one dress code where the safest choice is the wrong one. A plain black column at a creative black tie gala is not incorrect, but it is a missed brief.

What is white tie?

The most formal code, and it is rare. It asks for a full-length gown, usually with gloves, and often with jewellery that matches the occasion. Bare shoulders are traditional. If you are ever invited to one, the invitation will almost certainly say so explicitly, and long evening gloves stop being optional.

What colour should you wear to a gala?

Three rules cover most of it.

Avoid white and ivory if there is any chance the event honours someone specific. It reads as competing.

Black always works and never stands out. If being remembered is not the goal, it is the right answer.

Deep saturated colour is the better bet at a charity gala, and at an awards evening, where photographs are taken and a room of black gowns is the default. Emerald, mulberry, berry and marine photograph well under event lighting.

What should you carry and wear on your arms?

A clutch, not a shoulder bag. A shoulder strap cuts the line of a gown and, on anything with a feather shoulder, and on beading, causes real damage.

For arms, a wrap is the traditional answer and a feather cuff is the modern one. Feather cuffs sit over a plain sleeve, add the drama the room expects, and come off at the table when you eat.

What shoes work?

Whatever you can stand in for four hours. Gala gowns are cut long for a heel, so if you plan to wear a flat, have the hem altered rather than treading on it all night. Take the shoes to the alteration.

What do men wear to a gala?

Black tie for a man is a dinner jacket, a white dress shirt, a black bow tie and black patent lace-ups, polished to a shine. The jacket has a satin lapel, the trouser carries a satin stripe, and the shirt takes cufflinks. A cummerbund and a waistcoat are alternatives to each other, never both at once.

Black tie optional lets a dark navy suit stand in, and a charcoal one, worn with a white shirt and a dark tie. Creative black tie is where a velvet dinner jacket, a deep green, a burgundy, and a patterned bow tie belong. White tie is a tailcoat, a white pique waistcoat and a white bow tie, and nothing else substitutes for it.

One thing men get wrong more than anything else: a long tie at a black tie event. If the invitation says black tie, the neckwear is a bow.

Do the different kinds of gala change what you wear?

They do, and the difference is more about tone than about formality.

A charity gala is the most conservative of the three. The evening is about the cause, the photographs are for the cause, and a gown that competes with the room reads badly. Deep colour, clean silhouette, restrained jewellery.

An awards evening is photographed properly, and a room of black gowns is the default. This is where saturated colour and a considered silhouette pay off, because the picture is the point.

A museum gala, and a benefit gala with it, often carries a theme, and the theme is a genuine instruction. Read it, answer it through one element rather than the whole outfit, and keep the rest plain.

How should you accessorise a gala gown?

Pick one thing to carry the outfit and let everything else support it.

If the gown is embellished, the jewellery goes small: a stud, a fine bracelet, nothing at the neck. If the gown is plain, the jewellery is where the evening happens, and a strong earring does more in a photograph than a necklace does.

Opera gloves belong with white tie, with a strapless gown in a cold month, and with a deliberately theatrical look. They do not belong with a sleeve.

Hair pulled away from the face suits a high neckline and a statement earring. Hair down suits a bare shoulder. Both are correct; wearing the wrong one for your neckline is what looks unfinished.

Does the season change gala dressing?

Only in fabric and in cover, never in length.

In autumn and winter, velvet, doubleface satin, heavy crepe and anything with weight hang properly and photograph richly. Sleeves stop being a compromise. A feather cuff solves the walk from the car, and so does a wrap.

In spring and summer, lighter satin, sequinned mesh and fluid chiffon sit better in a warm room. Avoid a fully lined heavy gown at an August gala, because the discomfort shows in the third hour.

Outerwear is worth thinking about before the night. A proper evening coat over a gown looks considered; a day coat over a gown does not, and most gala photographs are taken on the way in.

Where to shop gala dressing

Coveti carries eveningwear built for exactly these codes. Browse the evening gowns, and see the LaPointe edit for satin columns, sequinned mesh and the feather pieces that answer a creative black tie brief. Our guide to LaPointe gowns breaks down which shape suits which event.

Frequently asked questions

What do men wear to a gala?

Black tie for a man is a dinner jacket with a satin lapel, a white dress shirt with cufflinks, a black bow tie and polished black shoes. A long tie is the most common mistake. Black tie optional allows a dark navy suit, and a charcoal one.

What is the difference between a charity gala and an awards gala?

A charity gala is the more conservative of the two: the evening belongs to the cause, so deep colour and a clean silhouette work best. An awards evening is photographed properly, so saturated colour and a considered shape pay off.

What jewellery should you wear with a gala gown?

If the gown is embellished, keep jewellery small and skip the necklace. If the gown is plain, a strong earring carries the outfit and photographs better than a necklace does.

Can you wear a short dress to a gala?

Only at a black tie optional event, and only if the dress is formal: sequins, satin and beading, with a strong shoe. At an unqualified black tie gala, floor length is the answer that never looks wrong.

What does black tie mean for a woman?

A floor-length gown is the safe reading. Formal fabrics carry the message more than length does: satin, velvet, sequins and beading read as black tie, while cotton, linen and jersey do not.

What is the difference between black tie and black tie optional?

Black tie expects a gown. Black tie optional means the host will accept a dark formal cocktail dress, though most guests still wear a gown. If you go short at a black tie optional event, go formal rather than plain.

What does creative black tie mean?

It asks for a gown with a point of view: a statement colour, a feather piece, a sequinned one, something beyond a plain black column. It is the one code where the safest choice is a missed brief.

What colour should you wear to a gala?

Avoid white and ivory if the event honours someone. Black always works and never stands out. Deep saturated shades such as emerald, mulberry, berry and marine photograph best under event lighting.

Should you carry a clutch to a gala?

Yes. A shoulder strap cuts the line of a gown and damages feather and beaded shoulders. Carry a clutch.

What should you wear over a gown for warmth?

A wrap is the traditional answer. A feather cuff is the modern one, because it sits over a plain sleeve, adds drama and comes off at the table.

Read next

• What to wear to a black tie wedding
• LaPointe evening gowns
• LaPointe sequin dresses
• LaPointe holiday party outfits
• LaPointe coats and jackets
• LaPointe accessories

Written by Gemma Deeks, Fashion Editor at Coveti.