Dinner with older man before work experience

I am meeting up with a man (probably in his 50s) before I shadow him for work experience in a bank. I’m currently a first year econ student and my parents set this up through a mutual friend (my parents don’t know him directly).
He suggested we meet up beforehand for so he can give me some background knowledge etc. and decided on a fairly fancy ish (but could probably show up in jeans for lunch?) kind of restaurant in central London.

I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT TO WEAR?

Idk what he will be wearing either?

I am meeting up with a man (probably in his 50s) before I shadow him for work experience in a bank. I’m currently a first year econ student and my parents set this up through a mutual friend (my parents don’t know him directly).
He suggested we meet up beforehand for so he can give me some background knowledge etc. and decided on a fairly fancy ish (but could probably show up in jeans for lunch?) kind of restaurant in central London.

I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT TO WEAR?

Idk what he will be wearing either?

Smart/smart casual. Better to be overdressed than look unprofessional.

Your post suggests it's lunch, but your thread title is dinner. Which is it? It decidedly affects the answer.

I’m meeting him for dinner. I meant you could probably wear jeans to the restaurant for lunch and not be stared at.

Ah, I see.

If it's a smart restaurant, then I'd go semi-formal rather than the smarter end of smart casual. This is dinner, not lunch, so what you might wear on your own or with colleagues for an informal lunch isn't relevant to what you'd wear for a dinner with a senior person you want to impress. You want to look professional, particularly if it's city work (my experience of it, anyway). Are you a 'dress' kind of girl? Better than separates. No trousers for me, and the usual rules about nothing too tight, bright, low or high obviously apply. Jewels, not pearls, but nothing overstated.

The difficulty here is making it elegant, professional and 'appealing' without being in any way 'sexy', which would of course be inappropriate.

Thank you so much!

You're welcome. Be slightly guided by the chap, if you know him or can find out anything about him. If he's traditional and 'old skool', then the more you should tend towards formal dress and avoid things like trousers, stripper shoes (not that you'd wear them, I"m sure), bright or lurid colours etc. People in the city can be very conservative, particularly in areas like banking, law etc. If he's a bit more progressive, then you can be a bit less restrictive about the dress. But fundamentally you are his guest and want to make the right first impression. Enjoy it.

I’ve seen his face on LinkedIn and a video of him on the bank’s YouTube- ngl he looks quite scary! I think I’ll go with a navy dress that is just below my knees, black tights and low heels. Thank you so much!

Again, you're welcome And that sounds a good, conservative choice. Try to wear some sparkle - either borrow some good jewels from your mother if you don't have any yourself (or maybe think of hiring something if you really have to). It is dinner, after all!

In answer to your second question on your OP, he'll be in a dark lounge suit - 99% sure.

I think I’ll go with a necklace and yikes a little intimidating?

One last question, what is your opinion on glasses? I usually wear them at uni studying etc but for dinner would it be better to wear contacts?

Lovely - perfect choice

Yes, if you wear contacts and are happy doing so (i.e. they won't distract you by feeling odd or uncomfortable) then do so - less reflection and more 'open'. There's nothing wrong with glasses, of course, but I'd always go with contacts where possible.

Ah ok great! Thank you- have a lovely evening! xx

And you - and I hope you have a lovely dinner and a productive internship/work experience