What does that even mean?

I will have you know that I am going to a swah-RAY! That's right, a soirée. Whenever an event - or a thing, for that matter - is called by its French name, you know it has to be good.

So last night I went shopping because, oddly enough, I have plenty of business clothes and even several gowns, but I couldn't find a cocktail dress in my closet. I was quite happy with what I found.


I would call this a cocktail dress, appropriate for a soirée.

I was fortunate to have shoes, bag and jewelry to go with it.

So I figured I was off to the races. But then we received an e-mail this afternoon which established that noted, "Guests are invited to arrive in CASUAL ELEGANT ATTIRE starting at 6:00 p.m." [All caps was theirs.]

My immediate question was, "What does that mean?" I have sundresses that I consider both elegant and casual, but I wouldn't wear them to a soirée! And looking elegantly casual is not as easily done as one might think; consider Catherine Deneuve. I would call her elegantly casual in a crisp white shirt and skinny pants, but, again, I don't think I would wear those to this event.

I found the whole thing so peculiar that I googled "elegant+casual clothing" images. Here is a smattering of what I found.


Yup. Everything from sundresses with floppy hats
to pouffy wedding gowns.

 THAT didn't help at all. I'm going to go with the outfit I planned, but it will be interesting to see what people show up wearing.