Cocktail Casual

by Susan Sey

Confession time: It's been over eight years since I had a job I needed to dress up for. To be perfectly honestly, it's been eight years since I had a job I needed to get dressed for at all.

See I'm a stay at home mom and a writer. This requires one of two looks: PJ pants & an earflap hat, or shorts & a pony tail, depending on the season. I'm not much of a groomer, so this makes me happy.

However, I recently got invited to a charity event & the invitation arrived with this ominous post-script:

Dress is Cocktail Casual.

Um, what?

Now I'm not a total amateur when it comes to dress codes. I know the difference between black tie & white tie, I know business formal & business casual. I even know casual Friday (Jeans--yes. Flip flops--no.) But Cocktail Casual? I have visions of feathers & I'm pretty sure that's not right.

I implored my husband for help & he rendered this manly opinion: pants & a collared shirt. Which is great advice if I want people to hand me their empty glasses all night & ask for a warm up on their coffee. No help there.

Next came Google. Nearest I can tell, 'cocktail' defines the ballpark--we're talking a bit fancier and/or sparklier than work wear, with dresses around the knee. I'm thinking 'casual' tones down the fancy. Maybe throw on a cardigan to mitigate cleavage & arm flab?

Shoot, this is exhausting. There better be an open bar, that's all I have to say.

So how about you? Have you ever flubbed the dress code? Or witnessed an epic wardrobe fail? Share!

And if you happen to know what cocktail casual is, share that too! And please, be specific. And timely. This shindig kicks off at 6 tonight, so time is of the essence.