Cocktail Conundrum

Yet again I am stuck at another fashion quandry and this time it is formal wear - cocktail attire. I think my last fashion dilemma with business casual went fairly smoothly, I did get into the club and they did not, thankfully, have anything to say about my sunshine outfit. It so happens that this event is for the club that I got into. So yes, a cocktail dress for a charity event held in a club in Hollywood is required tomorrow night. I'm not actually "attending" this even, I'm more of a hostess/set up/ slave to rich white folks person. The charity event is of dinner, a dance, a silent and live auction and a casino night, Sounds exciting and I am excited, but once again finding something to wear poses the problem.

I was never and still not good with so called "dress codes". Things with labels just scare me. "Business casual" nearly gave me a panic attack and now this "cocktail" shindig might just induce my second stroke. Imagine what will happen to me when the words "semi-formal" appear!

Usually, I am confident in whatever wacky concoction I come up with for my "Style of the Day", but when it comes to a dress code I get all tense. I call it dresscodephobia. In order to help myself out a bit, I went on to good ole google and basically found things that did not help. Most sites said for women a dress, usually not floor length hem. Now this simply is not true. There are so many styles and variations of dresses out there that I would never think of as "Cocktail" attire. I eventually found an answer from above (or more like my Internet search engine) when I stumbled upon "California Cocktail" attire.

According to "Wiki Answers" :

California cocktail attire is a bit more relaxed than regular "cocktail attire". Generally cocktail attire would be considered a little black dress. However, California cocktail could be a pretty floral dress or a nice pants out fit. Since our weather is warmer and we spend more time outdoors all year around, we dress a little more casual than most.

For most people, the Little Black dress is the tried and true dress when it comes to any occasion, especially the Cocktail party. Now seeing as I don't have that perfect LBD, that was basically out of the question. I have nothing that formal in my college closet and I was planning on doing some shopping today but I picked sitting on my butt while talking to Bacne much more worth it. I also spent my time doing virtual shopping which is completely useless seeing as how this event is tomorrow.

I found these affordable gems over at Forever 21. $11 for that dress! Man, I should have just hit the nearest mall and got that.

If a little more creative and unique is what you are going for, these are some lovely pieces over at the overpriced hipster haven that is Urban Outfitters.

Browsing through my closet this afternoon as revealed a few things that I already knew.
A. I have a lot of clothing.

B. I have a lot of dresses.

C. But I have no "cocktail-esque" stuff.

I was basically left with three choices after analyzing what I did have. The first contender is a pink dress that I blogged about in a past post from St. Vinnies. Number two is a black bubble hemmed Polyester pilling fuzz ball of dress for way cheap from Kohls. And finally the last contestant is a polka dotted/floral dress I bought in a small boutique that doesn't quite feel very night time.

#1 with black tights

#1 without black tights

#2

#3 plus goofy smile.

I'm probably going to go with #1. Or maybe #2. Or I'll just go naked. I could always say that someone made my a special cocktail dress and if they look at me weird I can say that the person who made it for me also made the Emperors new dress so they must be good.

Man. I better get some free swag.