Cocktail Dress Code: A 1970s/80s Vintage Poppy Print Dress #iwillwearwhatilike

I promised that I’d post the outfit in full, so here it is: The vintage 1970s dress that I wore to the Specsavers Awards event the other week.

Some of you may have seen either on my Instagram or my Saturday Share link up post where I was “making a spectacle of myself” (see what I did there) that I attended a big awards night that also raised a huge amount for the anti-bullying charity Kidscape, and I’ve finally been able to show you the outfit I wore in full.

I was lucky enough to meet Twiggy (scroll down for the pictures) and see a whole number of C, D and Z list celebrities, but it was a hugely fun night, and as it was for blogging work (covering on social media) then I’d consider that a great day at the office!

IT TURNED OUT PLENTY OF LADIES WERE THERE IN TROUSERS, SO I THINK DRESS CODES THESE DAYS ARE VERY OPEN… COCKTAIL DRESS PROBABLY NOW JUST MEANS “DRESS UP A BIT, MAYBE A BIT SPARKLY BUT NO JEANS”.

The dress code was “cocktail dress” which can always cause a bit of confusion, namely – do you have to wear a dress? Or are trousers okay? In my usual “I’m into layering” fashion I decided to wear both – and ended up with my go-to combination of a dress over trousers. It turned out plenty of ladies were there in trousers, so I think dress codes these days are very open… Cocktail dress probably now just means “dress up a bit, maybe a bit sparkly but no jeans”.

I first wore this dress for my 40th birthday party so it was nice to have a chance to wear it again, and to style it quite differently. Though it leaves me with a big question: What decade is this dress actually from?

SHOP THE LOOK:

I’ve never quite decided whether it’s a 1970s or a 1980s dress, though I think I’m going with the former, albeit late 70s. The flared sleeves are my favourite part of the dress, and you may be interested to know that it was originally a maxi (I shortened it myself) – so that for me confirms it’s the 70s.

Of course this dress isn’t available to buy and I couldn’t find anything online near it except for this red floral on black beauty – but why not shop vintage 1970s dresses at Etsy, you may find an absolute beauty…!

Scroll down to add your outfits to this week’s link up and if you’ve added a link to here or my button to your post you may be featured next week!

WHAT DECADE DO YOU THINK THIS DRESS IS FROM – THE 1970S OR THE 1980S? TELL ME IN THE COMMENTS OR TWEET ME @NOTLAMB!

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Thank you for joining the #iwillwearwhatilike link up! This started as a campaign on Instagram in August 2015 where women over 30 wore everything on a journalist’s list of “inappropriate” items for 30+ women (including leopard print, short dresses and oversized sunglasses. Yes, really). It was so popular that I decided to carry it on weekly where women of all ages link up their fabulous style, never mind what anyone tells them not to wear!

The link up goes live every Monday at 3pm UK time and will stay open for a week. Whilst the original article was of course aimed at the 30+, you can be ANY age to link up. The only criteria is that you’re wearing whatever you damn well like!

An InLinkz Link-up

Linking up etiquette…

CLICK HERE to read the rules of linking up (and to grab the #iwillwearwhatilike button). Basically it’s just good manners to link back to here – to leave a comment is even nicer!

Featured favourites

My favourite outfits from last week’s link up:

(L-R) Style Crone | Mrs. American Made | Une Femme d’un Certain Age | Style is My Pudding | High Latitude Style

To get yourself featured next week, make sure you’ve included a link back to Not Dressed As Lamb or my button in your post/sidebar!

DO SHARE THE LOVE AND VISIT AS MANY LINKS AS YOU CAN (YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT OTHER LOVELY LIKE-MINDED LADIES YOU MIGHT MEET) – THE ORIGINAL INSTAGRAM CAMPAIGN FORGED SOME WONDERFUL NEW FRIENDSHIPS SO DON’T MISS OUT!