Party/Cocktail Dresses for Women

Go with a classic when you find a new women's cocktail dress from eBay

Cocktail attire is a standard dress code for many events and gatherings. A cocktail dress code for women varies from one season to another, daylight to night time, casual to formal. The two usual cocktail attires for women are dress and high heels. But what is a cocktail dress? A cocktail dress is a dress that typically finishes at or above the knees.

A dress is almost always a safe bet in dressing for a cocktail function. While you can experiment with two-piece ensembles, sleek trousers or chic wide-leg pants, nothing beats a polished party dress.

What to consider when choosing a cocktail dress

One common concern for women in choosing a dress is the sleeves. For cocktail dresses, there is no set of general rules for the appropriate sleeve length. Wear whatever style of sleeves that you’re most comfortable in or even go without sleeves. There are several types of dress sleeves to help choose which best suits your style, including bishop, bell, cap, Dolman, fitted, Gibson, Juliet and three-quarter.

• Bishop sleeves fit loosely on the arms tighten up at the wrists.
• Bell sleeves are fitted most of the way down the arm but have a large bell shape at the end.
• Cap sleeves generally cover the top of the shoulders.
• Dolman sleeves are fuller at the top and get tighter moving down toward the wrists.
• Fitted sleeves are perfectly fitted all the way through with little open space.
• Gibson sleeves are full all the way down and sometimes look fuller with the use of a puff at the top.
• Juliet sleeves are mostly fitted down the arm but have a puff at the shoulders.
• Three-quarters sleeves come three-quarters of the way down, often ending below the elbow and are relatively tight.

Dressing for a cocktail event need not be complicated. Although cocktail attires usually appear sophisticated, you can also add some fun in your look by putting on exciting colours, embellishments, cuts and unique women's accessories.