February 1, 2023

What to Wear for The Arc Minnesota’s Gala

 

The Arc Minnesota’s Gala is one of our annual fundraisers that celebrates the work The Arc Minnesota does, and champions the work left to do for people with disabilities to live full, inclusive lives in their communities. This year it takes place March 4th, at The Depot in Minneapolis (and live streams virtually!). I feel so lucky to be a part of the personal shopping team that is a part of it.

If you visit any of our three locations in Bloomington, Richfield, or New Hope, you will see a Gala Pop-Up which consists of items hand-selected by us stylists. We did this so that if you’re attending the Gala this year, you have a go-to section to easily shop if you don’t have a personal shopping appointment booked with us already. We’ll be adding to it up until the Gala so make sure to keep checking back for some awesome finds 😉  

The image shows the Gala pop-up shop, it shows shoes, dress and dress pants and shirts, jewelry, and more!

At the event itself, you can find us at the pop-up shop all throughout the night. Yes, you can shop and purchase the looks us stylists have hand-picked just for this event! 

With all of that said, let’s talk about clothes shall we? 😉 

 

Finding your perfect Arc Gala outfit

It’s so interesting as a personal shopper and stylist to see all the amazing outfits the night of the event. It ranges from nice sweaters (Minnesnowta life) and dress pants, to dress pants and button-up shirt and tie, to jumpsuits, gowns, tuxes, to cocktail dresses. It amazes me to see what people think Gala wear is and embrace it to fit their lifestyle and personality. However, if you’re someone that doesn’t know what to wear then you’re in the right place! Below are some outfit ideas: 

Another angle of the Gala pop-up shop.

 

  • Classic dress: Black is always safe, but don’t be afraid to embrace color! This is one of the events where you can go all out and dress up. Also, don’t forget to embrace patterns  alongside embracing color! *
  • Jumpsuit: A lot of people automatically think and wear a dress when they see black tie attire or cocktail attire. You don’t have to! If you’re more of a pants person (I have plenty of clients that don’t like dresses), grab that jumpsuit! 
  • Skirt + top: Do you know how many times I have commented on someone’s “dress” and they’ve told me it’s actually a skirt and a top? A lot! When I’m shopping for someone at Arc’s Value Village thrift store, I always grab different variations of formalwear and this includes skirts with sweaters, skirts with blouses, skirts with blazers, etc. You never know if that dress or jumpsuit is going to fit so it’s always a good idea to have options, especially when you’re thrifting!
  • Suit: Whenever someone wears a nice suit, I automatically envy them. But again, don’t feel like you have to wear a black or navy suit. Embrace color, embrace pattern in the jacket or the pants with a matching color in the other piece. You can even incorporate a pattern or contrasting color in a pocket square or shirt underneath. 
  • Tux: If you want to step it up a notch because you can, wear a tux! Back in the day, tuxes were just known to be black. Now they come in brocade fabrics, two-tone styles, and many other unique options. 
  • Footwear: Of course you can always wear a heel, dress shoe, oxford, but I’m here to tell you that if you want to wear a sneaker, go for it! It’s a long, fun night at the Arc Gala so you must take comfort into account when getting dressed. Sneakers such as converse are a trendy pairing with formalwear right now. If you’re someone that thinks it’s too out-of-the-box but you love the look and the idea, do it! 
  • Layer: You can never go wrong with incorporating a bunch of nice pieces and throwing it all on. Layering always brings everything together and makes any outfit look elevated. Examples include a skirt, blazer, nice blouse, a neck scarf, and lots of statement jewelry. 

Whatever you end up wearing, you’ll look amazing! Own it and rock it! Make sure to visit our pop-up shop at the Gala and show us stylists your outfit, we would love to see it! 

And don’t forget, if after reading this you feel a little overwhelmed, you can always shop our pop-up at any of our three store locations or book an appointment with us!

 

Until next time, happy shopping!

-Melissa

MHstyleconsultants.com / IG: @MH_style_consulting / Facebook @MHstyleconsulting