Do you think she’s colorblind? I don’t buy shoes to match every outfit, either ... so I have one pair of off-white pumps and one pair of black. (I used to have black *and* Navy blue, but I tended to wear one of each ...)
That orange is actually a good color for her. If it was a suit in good taste, or a jacket over a sensible black dress, with *black* shoes, she’d look okay.
Maybe that’s the explanation - she’s colorblind.
That explains the color problem, what’s the explanation for wearing a party dress to a serious occasion?