Going to see the ballet is one of my favourite things to do for a night out. It’s one of those few occasions you can go to when you choose and get dressed up without having to wait for someone to host an event. If you can’t tell, I just love any excuse to put on a fabulous dress, get my hair done and pull out the ‘special’ shoes that don’t get worn all that often. You can guarantee your satin shoes aren’t going to get ruined at the ballet because you don’t get stuck in a crowd or stood on at a bar. And you get to sit down for most of the night, so no sore feet!

It’s lovely to go for a couple of cocktails afterwards at a nice bar where you can sit down and have a chat with great company, and make the most of being dressed up and out in the city.

While not everyone that goes to the ballet gets all dressed up, I love seeing the people who do and finding an outfit that I’ll feel fab in too. Here are the rules that I follow when choosing my dress for the evening:

• Pick a dress that isn’t too tight and is comfortable to sit down for long periods of time in
• Have a bit of class - nothing too short. I like my dresses to be no shorter than above the knee. The ballet is a great place to be conservative yet a little bit glamorous.
• Don’t go too overboard - it’s not a glitzy NYE party so maybe keep the sequins and sparkle to a minimum

The best places to find a frock:

• Neimanmarcus.com is one of my go to places to find a great dress, that doesn’t break the bank but is still ‘special’.
• If you have extra cash to spend, go to net-a-porter.com for an amazing designer piece
• To find other great stores with evening dresses, look at Shoppeclique.com.au’s special occasion guide. There’s a few stores on here that I’ve never heard of that have some dresses that have caught my eye for next time.

I hope this helps if you’re going to see the ballet for the first time and are wondering what you should wear.