I have a fundraising gala that comes around each fall, that I've attended off & on over the years. I've posted outfits for the past 2, first making do with a very basic LBD and then wearing MOB dress.

I'm contemplating going this year though work has been so busy I might not make it. If I do, I'm kinda hankering for something different to wear, but juxtaposed with that is clearlyclaire's more sane making do for things that don't come up that often. I'm also torn between conventional looks and the idea that I don't have to impress anyone or follow any rules, but I want to look good, ya know.

In the past it's always been formal wannabe, lot of the regulars will wear tuxes and there are long gowns, but quite acceptable for business suits and cocktail attire (donate your money, don't just wear it!) , so short dresses abound. But also usually girly shoes! So that's background.

As usual my "limitations" are that I freeze, so if I get a dress I need sleeves or a jacket, and then the jacket often needs to be dressy or there's no point. I'm kinda done with wraps, which are so fussy.

I would love to wear a pants outfit, but have found it hard to find the right kind of Le Smoking or whatever.

Here are my somewhat vague questions and options:

--I do have a black pencil skirt with rows of a bit of black sparkle (AT of course) so I could try to find a top for it--would need to be worn "out" but perhaps something charmeuse-y elegant would turn up. Couldn't be sparkly itself or would compete with skirt.
--For pants, I'm having crazy thoughts that I might be able to wear something slouchy-dressy or unusual that no one else would wear, except me.Then I'd have to find a top , and maybe jacket, unless the top had presence of its own. Like silk track pants, heels, and silk , velvet or sparkly jacket of some kind. This would be my ideal updated pants outfit but I don't know if I could achieve it in just a couple of weeks.
--in that vein, this is really crazy, but would my existing AT high-waist, faux leather-waist, "80's" look pants work if I could find a great silk or even sparkly blouse or drapey knit to tuck in? (My magpie gene is not averse to lame' or metallic, if in a kind of subdued color and elegant style). With some sort of heels, of course. And dressy accessories which would depend on what's going on with the top.
The fabric is this very dark almost black navy sort of ponte, so the going thing is the drama of the style. Pros are I have them and then have fewer things to "find"; cons are they may be just too "smart casual" and too heavy-bulky for a dressy event. I know at a minimum it would depend on having the right top, which would have to "elevate" the pants.

A cocktail dress would fit in seamlessly, of course.

Of course, if I embarked on this adventure I might come across some dress or separates I liked better, or might find nothing.

Thoughts? Save me from embarrassment? Suggestions?