The easiest night out starts with one top and ends with jeans you already own. Here is how to choose the top.
The most useful thing in a going-out wardrobe is not a dress. It is a top good enough to carry an outfit on its own.
A dress is one night and one look. A top is the same jeans, the same boots, and a completely different evening each time. It is also the cheaper way to have five outfits, which matters.
So here is how to choose one, and what to do with it once you have.
The Shapes Worth Having
The Camisole
Thin straps, a straight or cowl neckline, usually in satin, lace or mesh. The most versatile going-out top there is, because it works under a blazer, under a jacket, or on its own.
Look for one with a bit of weight to the fabric. A very fine cami clings and shows everything beneath it, and a slightly heavier one falls properly.
The Sheer or Mesh Top
Long sleeved, usually with some transparency, often with embroidery or a floral pattern worked into it. Reads as considered rather than as an obvious going-out top, which makes it the one that works at a dinner as well as a bar.
The Structured Top
Corseted, boned or built with a strong neckline. The loudest option and the one that needs the most relaxed pairing. The corset top guide covers how these are built.
The Off-Shoulder or One-Shoulder
An asymmetric line does a lot of work with very little going on. Good if you want the outfit to be interesting without anything being tight or sheer.
The Embellished Top
Sequins, beading, rhinestones or crochet. The fastest way to make an ordinary outfit feel like a night out. Wear it with the plainest thing you own.
Choosing for the Venue
This is the part that decides whether you enjoy the night.
A bar or a pub. Anything goes, but you will be standing and it will be warm. A cami or a mesh top rather than anything heavy.
A restaurant. Something with sleeves or some coverage, because you will be seated under lights for two hours. A sheer long-sleeve or a satin cami under a blazer.
A club. It will be hotter than you think and you will be dancing. Nothing that needs adjusting, nothing strapless unless it grips properly, and nothing you would be upset to have a drink spilled on.
An event or a party. This is where the embellished top earns its place, and where you can wear the thing that is too much for a Tuesday.
Outdoors, or anything in winter. Sleeves, or a top you are happy to wear a jacket over all evening. A strapless top and a coat is a long night.
A dress is one night and one look. A top is the same jeans, the same boots, and a different evening each time.
What to Wear It With
Jeans, most of the time. Wide, straight, barrel or a low-rise flare. The looser the leg, the more the top gets to be the thing you notice.
Tailored trousers if you want it sharper. High waisted, wide leg, and the top tucked or meeting the waistband rather than leaving a gap.
A mini skirt if the top is simple, or a maxi skirt if the top is loud. Maxi skirts and a plain cami is one of the easiest outfits there is.
Shoes: a boot does almost everything. A heeled boot for a night out, a flat one for a bar. Sneakers work with a plain top and fight an embellished one.
A jacket you would wear in daylight. A leather jacket, a denim one, or a blazer left open. This is the piece that keeps the whole thing from reading as an outfit assembled for one occasion.
The Three-Top Wardrobe
If you want to cover a year of going out with as little as possible, three tops will do it.
One plain cami in black or a neutral, in satin or a matte fabric with weight. This is the one that goes under everything and gets worn most.
One sheer or mesh long-sleeve with some pattern or embroidery. This covers dinners, winter, and anything where you want to look considered rather than dressed up.
One loud thing. Sequins, beading, a structured corset, whatever you actually want. This is the birthday and the party top, and it should be the one you like most rather than the most sensible.
Three tops, one pair of jeans, one pair of boots, and you have a year of nights out.
The Practical Things
Check what you can wear underneath before the night, not during it. Adhesive cups, a strapless bra, or nothing, but decide in daylight.
Check it sitting down and with your arms up. Every top that fails does so in one of those two positions.
Check the length against the trouser you plan to wear. A gap you have not planned for is the thing you will spend the evening pulling at.
And check the fabric against a warm room. Anything unlined and pale behaves differently under lights than it does in a bedroom mirror.
Making the Same Top Look Different
Change one thing below the waist and one thing above the shoulders, and the same top reads as a new outfit.
Jeans to a mini skirt. Hair down to hair up. Hoops to a long drop earring. A leather jacket to a blazer. A boot to a heel.
Nobody photographs their own legs from the same angle twice, and nobody will notice that the top has been out before. The corset styling rules apply just as well to any structured going-out piece.
Fabrics, and How Each Behaves Across a Night
Satin. Sharp and shiny, and the most obviously evening. It creases where you fold and it shows a mark, so it suits a night with less standing about and more sitting down.
Mesh. Breathes properly, which matters more than anything else in a hot room, and holds embroidery and beading beautifully. The most comfortable option for dancing.
Lace. Softer than it looks and far more wearable in daylight than satin. Over a lining it reads as a proper top rather than as underwear.
Velvet. Winter only, and worth it. Deep, matte and forgiving under bad lighting.
Sequins and beading. Heavy, warm, and worth the trouble on the right night. Check whether the piece is lined, because unlined beading sits directly against skin and is scratchy after an hour.
Two Outfits You Can Assemble Tonight
The easy one. Black satin cami, wide straight jeans, a flat boot, a leather jacket, gold hoops. Takes four minutes and works at any bar in any city.
The one that looks like effort. Sheer embroidered long-sleeve top, high-waisted wide-leg trousers, a heeled boot, hair up, one long earring. Nothing about it is difficult and it reads as though you planned your week around it.
Tops to Build a Night Around
The Short Version
Buy the top, not the dress. One plain cami, one sheer long-sleeve and one loud thing will carry a year of nights out over the same jeans and boots. Choose for the venue rather than the photograph, try it sitting down, and add a jacket you would wear in daylight. The tops edit is the place to look.