Dress me for a schmancy dinner with rich old men

[gozf]

Our trustees are in town, and I've been invited to a dinner with them on Friday evening.  It's all fancy, but work-fancy, not cocktail party fancy.  I asked the boss about appropriate attire and he said, "Suit or dress, think New York."

This is a relatively unhelpful statement.  I wore ALL KINDS of shit in NYC that would not fly at this shindig.

Regardless, my suits and work-appropriate dresses don't fit me so well right now (see spinning and zumba post -- I'm a little porker these days). 

So, what would you wear to a nice dinner with all these people?  Tattoos must be covered.  Ideally, the guy will be hidden.  And I'd like to spend less than $200.

Halp?

[pantsparty]

What about a wrap dress? Something like this, although maybe not in pink: www.gap.com/browse/product.do?cid=82420&vid=1&pid=131869072

[gozf]

I like a wrap dress! I don't know how one would look on me these days, but I like the idea. I also like a lot of the dresses Cloverfield suggested.

So, we're thinking less suit, more dress, then?

[pantsparty]

Here's one from BR, 30% off right now. bananarepublic.gap.com/browse/product.do?cid=50129&vid=1&pid=326715002

[shostakovich]

You could do a kind of flowy chiffon dress, like this: www.urbanoutfitters.com/urban/catalog/productdetail.jsp?id=25702093&navAction=jump&isProduct=true&parentid=MORE%20IDEAS&isProduct=true&cross-sell=true&guide-bn=true, with a fitted blazer over top, kind of like this one:


www.urbanoutfitters.com/urban/catalog/productdetail.jsp?id=26441840&parentid=W_OUTERWEAR

With a long-ish neckless or some dangly earrings, and some basic tights/stockings.

[Deleted]

I think a conservative dress sounds great.

[bab]

Wear a pretty black dress. You can't go wrong.

[sonrisa]

They are rich old men. You might not feel at your best, but you'll still be the pretty young thing. I'd say keep it simple and conservative. I'd only buy a suit if you'd wear it to work after that.

[gozf]

I really do no want to buy a new suit, if i can help it. I rarely need them for work, and I'll hopefully be in a different size soonish.

[snipsnsnails]

Black sheath with sleeves (3/4) or wrap dress in solid or small print.

[pantsparty]

I don't think you need a suit. If you already have a black jacket, you could wear that over a dress to make it feel more business like.

[bab]

Definitely NO jaket.

Classic black sheath.

[bab]

Along these lines



Simple strand of pearls to go with.

[bab]

That dress is $50 at Lands End

[bab]

Here's another pretty one



Macy's for like $60