What To Wear: Daytime Loft Party

Q. Hi Jordan,

One of my good friends’ children is turning one this Saturday. The birthday is being held at an [event space/loft], and 120 people are attending.

What on earth do you wear? If it was at a kids’ jungle gym or something, I would throw on a pair of jeans…but I would hate to look too dressed-up at a one-year-old’s birthday party.

Any tips or advice?

Thanks,

Kim*

A. I read this question aloud to Kendrick, and he said, “Huh. How would you dress for something like that?” And I said, “Like you were going on a first date where you’d be doing something semi-active.”

And the look he gave me after that let me know that apparently that explanation didn’t clarify a whole lot.

But what I mean is this: dress for a certain amount of moving around (stretchy pants so you can pop up and down to say hi to the littlest guests, a comfortable top so you can participate in any activities that may be taking place, relatively sturdy boots)…but all with a little more style than you’d expect from totally “functional” pieces.

It seems to me like first birthdays are rarely “for” the kid in question…they’re about celebrating the guest of honor, sure, but a 1-year-old would probably be just as happy banging a remote against a coffee table for an hour (not that I’m speaking from experience here). Unless you expect that a lot of older children will be in attendance, the fact that the party is going to be at a loft space makes it sound to me like it’s going to be more brunch than BouncyLands.