A dressy (pants) silk suit would be lovely (I rarely wear skirts or dresses), especially if you have a sparkly or shimmering blouse underneath. I have a couple of silk suits just for that purpose. I've gotten two very nice silk suits recently at the Dress Barn, so don't think you'll have to spend huge amounts of money to get something that looks good. I'll wear one to my daughter's rehearsal dinner (I'll probably wear a dress to the wedding). I wear no more than about 1" heels. Since I don't wear heels often, my feet don't adjust well to them, so the lower the better. No sense toppling over and calling attention to myself!! And a nice handbag - small and pretty. You'll be good for years to come. Enjoy

For "black tie" affairs, you taylor your dress with your husband's. If he is wearinga dark suit you may wear your little black dress, you would be very out of place ina long ball gown type of dress with him in a suit, You will be OK in the Little black dress, or in almost any other cocktail attire. A lot depends on the area of the country you live in. In my small town it's not unusual to see a woman dressed to the nines in a chiffoney floateeyd ress with strappy sandals and "done" hair and her husband in slacks and a "nice" sweater. It's not right, but you do see it. From what you are saying about the invitation, I suspect this party is purposfully "stuffy" and you will see people dressed in over the top formal wear and certainly a butler passing the glasses of champagne...I suspect it's all a little tongue in cheek and will be great fun! Linda C

According to Miss Manners, a dark business suit is "correct" even if the invitation says simply "black tie." But that is just the "rule" -- it doesn't do you any good if you feel underdressed. I always try to guess (or I ask) what the hostess is envisioning. Is her dream of a very fancy event? Then I will dress for that. She's usually the one who cares most anyway, and hosts treasure guests who help make the party happen the way they dreamed, don't you think? And it is a sign that you are taking their event seriously if you bother to dress for the occasion (whether that means dressy clothes, a costume, or whatever they seem to want). We just got another invitation that said "Dress down!" Somehow I didn't like that -- what would be wrong with "Casual"? I can't put my finger on it, but I felt kind of bossed by that, and my daughter did, too. Or maybe it felt sort of like the hosts were criticizing or judging people who have fancy parties? I don't know, but somehow it hit us funny. Big coincidence: I was just about to write that just this morning, someone called me to ask whether she should write "dressy" or "black tie optional" or something on her invitations. I told her that although I think people really do appreciate guidance so as not to feel self-conscious, I had just received an invitation (not the "dress down!" one) that didn't say anything about dress code, but the formality level of the invitation and the time and location of the event (Sat. night at a nice country club) made it clear that it is dressy but not black tie. Well, I happen to be sitting in a cafe right now, and just now the hostess who sent that invitation walked by! So I asked her, and she confirmed: very dressy but not black tie. Just before I typed THIS paragraph! I guess what it comes down to is that usually people in a community understand what dress is expected -- it has more to do with custom than with what the same words might mean somewhere else. But it's a problem when you are from a different community; you don't know the customs. So in that case, I would call the hosts and try to get a sense of what they are envisioning.

Good points. And yes, I've had things sport before and ignored it or tossed it out. Most of the time it isn't an improvement. This one however I think /may/ be a keeper. It is currently on it's second generation with variegation so we'll see. But every one of these might drop the fantasy, or the white edging, or have some other fault that ruins it. So it's very hit and miss and requires a lot of patience. In this case Rose, there is no 'patent' filed on the original hybrid that I'm aware of an in any event would not apply to a new sport anyway if it is notably different. Patenting a hybrid is /very/ costly so only the biggest commercial producers can afford to even consider doing so. On the other hand, as Irina mentioned, it takes time and mutiple generations to see how stable the mutation is and whether it is stable enough to hold. So I wait and reproduce it for a few generations to see and at the same time work to obtain many more copies of it. They will in turn either be sold later or thrown out into the compost heap according to their merit.