Party cocktail dress for dates and birthdays

The right party cocktail dress depends on where the night happens, so we’ve sorted this page by occasion and not by color. You’ll find velvet for winter, satin and prints for summer, and lurex whenever a bit of shine sounds right, all from mini to midi.

Birthday dinners and first dates

Booked a table somewhere with low yellow lights? Our chocolate velvet wrap mini looks warmer than black in that kind of room, and it’s kinder to your face too. It’s stretch velvet. It hugs you without holding you back, and the wrap forms a deep V.

For a date, there’s our red satin slip with a deep V and bare arms, though it belongs to the cold-season line. Plan on a winter date and an oversized blazer over your shoulders on the way in.

Prefer soft color to shine? The powder-pink velvet wrap with draping feels soft and sweet at a birthday, and we’d keep the jewelry small so the shade stays the focus.

From the office party to New Year’s Eve

Work parties are tricky. You want to look festive but still be fine talking to your boss at the bar. Our black rib knit turtleneck midi has a single bold detail, a slit at the leg, and it goes from your desk to the party with only a change of shoes.

The emerald velvet turtleneck does the same thing in a dressier way. Wear it with a black blazer and pumps at the office. Later, take the blazer off and the belted waist shows.

New Year’s Eve is for dancing. Pleated red velvet with open shoulders moves with you and catches the light, and the midi length lets you take big steps. If you’d rather sparkle, the royal blue lurex wrap midi with a tie belt stands out even in a dim restaurant.

Rooftops and terraces in summer prints

A summer party cocktail dress needs to be light. Our white mini with magnolias has long sleeves split to show the shoulder, and the yellow ruffled midi without sleeves looks great on tanned skin. At a party by the water, the black off-shoulder mini with tiny blue flowers feels playful, and flat sandals work with it. They’re both summer pieces and show up on the site in the warm months.

See every style on our party dress page, browse dresses for holiday cocktails, or pick one for a warm-weather cocktail party.