I was out and about today (Saturday morning) in Valletta, the Maltese capital city, and as one tends to do, I took a look around me soaking in the atmosphere and random people’s outfits:) One thing that struck me, is the difference in how ‘dressed up’ one person was from another, even people that were actually ‘together’.
This got me thinking… how do we decide how to dress? How smart or casual to go for? We often find ourselves asking our friends what they would be wearing to a party, to a dinner, to anything really…. trying to gauge how ‘dressed up’ people around us will be, worrying that we might be over or under dressed.
The obvious solution is to strike a balance and go for a perfect neither, but that is often the hardest thing to achieve. Generally, we have a decision to make…to go for an outfit that might end up being slightly over or slightly under. The question is….which one to choose ?
For people who favour comfort over style, this is probably an easy question for them…however for those of us who fret over our outfits and consider dressing up to be something akin to an art…then there’s never a right answer….arrive at a party underdressed and worry all night that people are looking down on you, arrive at a party overdressed and worry all night that people are resenting you…..
I asked a this question to a couple of friends of mine and got the following responses
overdressed for sure.. it’s always better to be overdressed than underdressed….thats what my mother always told me..
hate it when I feel overdressed as much as when I am underdressed…but I would say overdressed:)
I feel less embarrassed overdressed than underdressed… it’s better looking more put together in a room of casual ppl, rather than you’re dressed all casual and everyone around you is really smart. You’ll still stand out, but for more positive reasons…
The general consensus seems to be to choose overdressed but I’d like to know what the rest of you out there think, what do you favour ? under or over ?
Comments
Lexual
I prefer being overdressed. Recently went out to a lovely restaurant with someone who wore shorts and shirt and running shoes whereas I was wearing a maxi dress. I don't think it really matters though. It's a case of the people who matter don't mind and the people who mind don't matter.
Just wear what you feel like wearing when you feel like wearing it- regardles of the occasion- for example I have recently taken to wearing flip flops to weddings- who gives a crap
Krista
overdressed! My mother-in-law and sister-in-law would also agree!
the miz
I know that what I wear will make a very big difference to how I feel – at the same time my tastes are very eclectic which makes people a little bit confused. For example one day I might go to work in flip flops and baggy jeans and wear skinny jeans and high heels the next. So I'd say it's all about how I want to be feeling, if I feel like blending in, standing out, being ultra comfortable, or looking pretty because I need a bit of cheering up. It also depends where I'm going to be. Having said that, this all happens in a matter of minutes in my head. So in my case it's more of a subconsious thing than anything. I guess that's why I sometimes end up being comfortably mismatched 🙂
Xerrin
I tend to agree with the Miz, in that more often than not I'm likely to choose whatever will make me feel good and reflect my mood – no standard procedures involved. It's not too often that the 'overdressed vs underdressed' argument comes into my head, and when it does I generally ask a few other friends what they're wearing to whatever event it is, and gauge what I want to wear keeping that in mind. Some days you'll want to blend in, and others you'll want to stand out 🙂