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Intro and dress code question
Hi! My name is Stephanie. You may have seen me around here before- I jump in every once in a blue moon and my home board is NBC. DH and I live in Northern California and he's Army Reserves. He just graduated from AIT in December. His first drill is this month and surprise- it's a formal dinner. According to the info I got from DH it's a dinner for the soldiers' families as well as some sort of award ceremony. The words Dining In/Out did not make it into the conversation. The soldiers are wearing their Class A's (most of them apparently still own greens, as does DH) and not their mess dress. DH said he is not wearing a bow tie. The email we have from his CO however says the dress code is formal and I should wear an evening dress. Going by DH's uniform I would think semi-formal, but the email says formal. Is this typical? I know I'm over-thinking this, but I don't want to look completely out of place by wearing the wrong thing as I've never met any of these people. Any opinions? Thank you!

40 books in 2014?
2014: 4/40
[2010: 63] [2011: 35] [2012: 23] [2013: 27]
my read shelf:

Re: Intro and dress code question
2014: 4/40
[2010: 63] [2011: 35] [2012: 23] [2013: 27]
my read shelf:

The info you have says formal, so formal it is - floor length is best.
I suspect what is going on here is that the guys are being given a break on the formality of dress because buying new dress blues can get quite expensive. Multiple times the cost of a new dress...
A few years ago, H had to attend a graduation thing, and I went with him. He was in mess dress, so I had a gown ready to wear. Right before I went I was talking with a chief's wife, and she advised me to go a bit underdressed since it's what the more mature women do. She was 100% accurate, at least for that event.
However, in this case, if the invitation specifically says formal, that's what you wear.
2014: 4/40
[2010: 63] [2011: 35] [2012: 23] [2013: 27]
my read shelf:

I actually would probably go with a knee-length or just under the knee or tea length black dress, and dress it up a bit with accessories. That way, if most women are in cocktail attire or something, you won't be the weirdo in a gown, and neither will you be the inappropriately dressed one if they're in full on gowns. Then again, I'm of the school that thinks short dresses (as in, not floor length) are appropriate in formal occasions depending on the dress.
I've never felt underdressed yet.