Hi all,

I've been invited to attend an awards ceremony and the dress code is mentioned as formal. I live in a middle eastern country and my parents don't really approve me wearing a dress. Would it be appropriate to wear a long skirt dress in black or a saree? :confused: Or would it better if I wore a work pantsuit?

Sorry if the question sounds stupid... am not used to western dress codes and etiquette's!

It is perfectly acceptable to wear what your culture perceives as 'formal wear'; a long skirt dress in black, or a saree, would be appropriate.

What ever is "formal" and acceptable as formal in your county is what you can wear.

Whatever you would wear comfortably within your own culture to a formal affair is appropriate and there is a lot of leeway in particular for women. A sari would be lovely and appropriate for just about any Western (American, European) event I can imagine and a longer dress would also be entirely appropriate. A pantsuit would be OK if it's very dressy but a work-type pantsuit would not be adequately formal for the event you are describing.

A sari would be perfect. I went to an East Indian wedding a few years back and dressed like I normally would. All the relatives and allot of the friends wore the traditional sari, boy did I feel under dressed, some of the saris were more gorgeous than the wedding gown.

I have to admit, I have a lot of friends from the middle east and I'm totally jealous of their sari's. I think they're sooo gorgeous. :)