My husband and I have been invited to an awards dinner hosted by his employer, at a lovely venue. The invitation says "formal business attire is requested". I have looked all over the internet and have yet to find a consistent answer to what constitutes "formal business attire". My husband will be wearing a dark suit, white shirt. Since I am not the employee should I wear a cocktail dress? I have a "little black dress" that is not overly short (knee length) and has spaghetti straps. After I bought it I wondered if I had bought something inappropriate? I also have a sleeveless short dress, with a bolero jacket that is green (emerald green) and is made of a satiny like material....other than that my dress wardrobe is limited. I do have a long-sleeved velvet dress but since the awards ceremony is Sept. 14, was not sure it would be appropriate! I have also considered e-mailing to ask the woman who is the contact for the RSVPs but will that make make me look dumb!? Please help!

Don't stress about it. Business attire is a very general term. You can wear that black dress or the sleevless short dress with the jacket. You could also wear a nice pants suit, or nice black pants with a nice shirt (maybe a blouse). A nice, elegant skirt with a nice top is fine to. The long sleeved velvet dress may be too much. But trust me, there will be people who will be wearing beautiful dresses, and others wearing pants and a shirt. It's totally what you are comfortable in. Personally, my vote is for the black dress. Basically, they ask that on the invitation because they don't want people showing up in jeans or very casual clothes.