OP here...yeah, that's what I was thinking, but when the organizer specified "business" for the first night, I figured I'd better fancy it up a bit more than usual.

Thanks all!

Fellow writer/journalist here - in all likelihood, you don't need to overdress. Especially if you're going as an attendee rather than as a speaker.

Without knowing which conference you're going to, it's hard to be more specific. But I'll guess that many men will likely wear the men's journo uniform of nice jeans, good shoes, button down shirt and blazer and that most women will wear the female equivalent (dress with boots, nice jeans with good shoes and good top). There's likely no need to wear stodgier clothes, unless you want to.

You can, of course, always wear fancier clothes the first day to be on the safe side. But I will bet you good money that most people will be wearing the jeans and blazer look or its equivalent.

business dress = suit. There is no getting around that. Business casual for women is much more flexible.

Definitely prefer the shell/blouse rather than button down shirt under the suit jacket. It's a little less stuffy. I think the sweater dress works for business casual. Most women in my office wear some kind of dress or a blouse/dress combo with tights and heels. As long as the dress goes to the knee and isn't too form-fitting or cleavage-revealing.

Do you not have any button down shirts to wear with your pant suit? I'm betting you'll find a wide range of levels of formality in the dress of the other journalists.

For business dress, I would wear a suit. At the very least, I would wear a blazer/jacket. With a suit, you could wear a shell or a blouse. For business casual, you could wear a dress or trousers with a dressier sweater or nice blouse. No jacket needed.

I'm going to a journalism meeting downtown for 3 days next week. First night dinner/reception dress is business, the other days are business casual.

My deal is that I grew up in Oregon (land of fleece and Birkenstocks), though I have also lived in SF and Boston. However, being a writer, I don't have to dress up that often, and since moving here a year ago, I mostly work from home in sweats. So I am quite clueless, esp. re: DC attire standards.

I do own some Ann Taylor pant suits (light weight tweedy brown, black), tho they are a couple years old. I don't really have the right tops to go with these...suggestions?

Also have a scoop-neck, knee-length black sweater dress. Does that pass for business if I wear with heels and sheer tights? Or is that too casual...or passe? (Or perhaps it will be too hot...still going to be 60 on Sunday!).

General guidance and/or specific suggestions most welcome!