to frock or not to frock

one of the biggest challenges of conferences is finding the right 'look' for day and night. at women's studies conferences, ffor instance, the standard dress is jeans (or shorts--and on some really unlucky days, jumpsuits) threadbare sneakers and overlarge t-shirts. and for day time the sneakers are optional. at Women in Leadership confererences, anything with linen is generally a good move, and gold plaited sandals usually score well. embroidered shirts also a winner there. but this one is a bit of a mix of teachers, bureaucrats, librarians, politicians, health workers and over paid famous authors. so it may just be anything goes, or it might be a feather boa zone. or a taffetta and layers event. so i am trying to decide whether to go with the little black cocktail frock (well, not that little really given that i am hardly claudia schiffer) or to settle for the black pants and fancy shirt number. safer but boring. but safer. and easier to iron