Cocktail Dresses!
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In the case of cocktail dresses less is less. So, try to be a bit conservative in your choice of a cocktail dress and everyone will be more comfortable around you, at whatever affair you are attending.
A cocktail dress or cocktail gown is a shorter-length lady's gown worn at cocktail parties and other semi-formal and formal occasions. Less elaborate versions may be worn at semi-formal occasions when gentlemen are in dark suits. (When gentlemen are in business suits, ladies also wear dress suits or "good" afternoon dresses). A longer, full-skirted cocktail dress may accompany black tie (although in the late 1960s and early 1970s short cocktail dresses were acceptable black tie attire).
In the mid-20th Century, some couturiers began describing full-skirted cocktail gowns as "dancing costumes". These are suitable for formal dances but not for balls, or other white tie affairs, where ball gowns must be worn.
The length of cocktail dresses varies depending on fashion and local custom; it ranges from just above the knee to tea length (about two inches above the ankle) and sometimes ballerina length (touching the ankle), although ballerina length dresses usually fall into the evening gown category.
A wide variety of materials, styles and accessories are acceptable; silk, satin and chiffon are always popular choices.
Vera Wang Cocktail dresses
Vera Wang, birth name Wang Weiwei, was born and raised in an affluent family in New York City, New York of Chinese descent. She attended The Chapin School before studying at the University of Paris. Wang graduated from Sarah Lawrence College with a degree in art history. Her mother often took her to fashion shows in Paris, while her father started and owned a chemical company.As a girl, Wang trained as a figure skater, and competed at the 1968 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. She was featured in Sports Illustrated's Faces in the Crowd in the January 8, 1968 issue. When she failed to make the US Olympics team, she entered the fashion industry.
Vera Wang Career
Wang was a senior fashion editor for Vogue for sixteen years. In 1985, she left Vogue after being turned down for the editor-in-chief position currently filled by Anna Wintour and joined Ralph Lauren as a design director for two years. In 1990, she opened her own design salon in the Carlyle Hotel in New York which featured her trademark bridal gowns and cocktail dresses. She has designed costumes for figure skaters, including Nancy Kerrigan and Michelle Kwan. Silver medalist Nancy Kerrigan wore a unique design of Vera's for the 1994 Olympics.She designed the two-piece uniforms currently worn by the Philadelphia Eagles cheerleaders. In the Sex and the City movie, Vera Wang was featured amongst the many bridal gowns Carrie Bradshaw wore in a Vogue photo shoot.
Wang has expanded her brand name through her fragrance, jewelry, eyewear, shoe and houseware collections. On October 23, 2001, her book, Vera Wang on Weddings, was released. In June 2005, she won the CFDA (Council of the Fashion Designers of America) Womenswear Designer of the Year. On May 27, 2006, Wang was awarded the André Leon Talley Lifetime Achievement Award from the Savannah College of Art and Design.
In 2002, Vera Wang began to enter the home fashion industry. The Vera Wang China and Crystal collection has produced three of the top ten best-selling patterns at bridal registries across the United States after only six months at the stores.
She also created a wedding dress for the season finale of the first season of Gossip Girl.
Nicole Miller Cocktail Dresses
This biography of a living person does not cite any references or sources. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (March 2008) Find sources: Nicole Miller (born 1952, Lenox, Massachusetts) is an American fashion designer.Miller graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design, studying at the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture during her sophomore year. She began producing her own designs and clothing in 1982 and, along with Bud Konheim, opened a boutique in 1986 to allow for her independence from department stores. Her eponymous label gained popularity amongst Hollywood celebrities and Miller is considered a pioneer in the use of celebrities as models.
The core Nicole Miller Collection has expanded to include outerwear, ties, bridalwear, golfwear, accessories, cosmetics and a Bed Bath and Beyond home line. In October 2003, Miller launched a sportswear line, millergirl, and in Spring 2005, Nicole Miller Signature, an "upscale red carpet" collection. Her cosmetics products are marketed by Melaleuca. Today, the Nicole Miller lines are sold in thirty Nicole Miller Boutiques and upscale retailers such as Nordstrom, Bloomingdale's, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Neiman Marcus.
One of her dresses was featured in the Seinfeld episode "The Wig Master".
