Has anyone ever attended a Congressional Breakfast? Know someone who has? Help

[FaithManor]

The rocket team will be accepting an invitation to attend the Congressional Breakfast organized by Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire. We will be contacting our Senator in the hopes that her social secretary will be able to give us some hints on how to prepare for this.

 

However, some of the kids on our team do not own any clothing that is, well, dressy. I hope that our lone female member and I can get along with business pantsuits, white blouses, and flat shoes. Trying to get Miss Tomboy into anything more than that is going to be like dressing an angry lioness in a circus costume....NOT PRETTY! (Thankfully, since her mom and dad are pretty well tapped for funds, both of her grandmas are VERY excited about it and agreed to split the costs of shoes and outfit.)

 

Does anyone know what the dress code is? I've got parents asking about this and planning on shopping on Monday because their kids have the day off from school and for the two weeks after that will be involved in standardized testing and all of that jazz. So, they have decided to get it out of the way now. I can understand wanting to get it done on the only day off from school that they will have before we leave for the event.

 

I am hoping that a nice, solid color (black or navy) pantsuit with a simple white blouse will be enough for our female team member and myself. Dh will wear a suit, but most of the families cannot afford suits for their sons. One boy is well over 6 ft tall and wears a size 14 shoe. He owns a pair of decent, plain black shoes but not wingtips. They can't even order them locally. They would have to go to Detroit to get them (I am sure the cost would be well over $100.00) and given his sleeve length is 35/36, they'll have to head there for a dress shirt if his only Land's End button down oxford isn't good enough.

 

So, does anyone think that black pants, oxfords, and simple, inexpensive ties will be enough for the boys or are we going to have to fundraise for suits?

 

Faith - who just gave her first lesson in deportment to some teens (thankfully, not mine) who immediately balked at the assertion that they should NOT put their elbows on the table, rest their chin in their hands, and then TALK TO THEIR CONGRESSPERSON WHILE SLOUCHING AND STARING AT THE TABLE! (I'll survive this, right????? :confused:)

[Spy Car]

The rocket team will be accepting an invitation to attend the Congressional Breakfast organized by Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire. We will be contacting our Senator in the hopes that her social secretary will be able to give us some hints on how to prepare for this.

 

However, some of the kids on our team do not own any clothing that is, well, dressy. I hope that our lone female member and I can get along with business pantsuits, white blouses, and flat shoes. Trying to get Miss Tomboy into anything more than that is going to be like dressing an angry lioness in a circus costume....NOT PRETTY! (Thankfully, since her mom and dad are pretty well tapped for funds, both of her grandmas are VERY excited about it and agreed to split the costs of shoes and outfit.)

 

Does anyone know what the dress code is? I've got parents asking about this and planning on shopping on Monday because their kids have the day off from school and for the two weeks after that will be involved in standardized testing and all of that jazz. So, they have decided to get it out of the way now. I can understand wanting to get it done on the only day off from school that they will have before we leave for the event.

 

I am hoping that a nice, solid color (black or navy) pantsuit with a simple white blouse will be enough for our female team member and myself. Dh will wear a suit, but most of the families cannot afford suits for their sons. One boy is well over 6 ft tall and wears a size 14 shoe. He owns a pair of decent, plain black shoes but not wingtips. They can't even order them locally. They would have to go to Detroit to get them (I am sure the cost would be well over $100.00) and given his sleeve length is 35/36, they'll have to head there for a dress shirt if his only Land's End button down oxford isn't good enough.

 

So, does anyone think that black pants, oxfords, and simple, inexpensive ties will be enough for the boys or are we going to have to fundraise for suits?

 

Faith - who just gave her first lesson in deportment to some teens (thankfully, not mine) who immediately balked at the assertion that they should NOT put their elbows on the table, rest their chin in their hands, and then TALK TO THEIR CONGRESSPERSON WHILE SLOUCHING AND STARING AT THE TABLE! (I'll survive this, right????? :confused:)

 

I've had lunch in the Senate Dining Room. The dress-code was coats and ties for men. Suits were not uncommon, but one could get by with a sport-coat and slacks. If a man/teen shows up without a coat or ties the Valets keep both these on-hand to loan out so no one misses their opportunity and is turned away for a dress-code violation. Wing-tips are not required. I don't know if the rules are the same for Senate breakfasts.

 

Bill

[FaithManor]

I've had lunch in the Senate Dining Room. The dress-code was coats and ties for men. Suits were not uncommon, but one could get by with a sport-coat and slacks. If a man/teen shows up without a coat or ties the Valets keep both these on-hand to loan out so no one misses their opportunity and is turned away for a dress-code violation. Wing-tips are not required. I don't know if the rules are the same for Senate breakfasts.

 

Bill

 

 

Thank you Bill! I hope others will chime in as well. I'm wondering if there are some 4-H'ers from the state capitol group (these high schoolers volunteer as pages at the state house and what not) would have suits they could lend to the two smaller boys who do not have suits and then maybe we would only need to purchase for W. Dh and I always get a suit each year for each of our boys, but while not well-to-do, we are well ahead of the income levels of the families in our 4-H club and I do know that if we said they needed to come up with another $150.00 - 300.00 for their children's attire, they would say their children couldn't go. It wouldn't be stinginess on their part. They just simply would not be able to come up with the funds.

 

If we could borrow suits for the other two boys, we'd only need to come up with money for W's suit...inseam 35", etc. this boy is a tower and he's only in 9th grade!

 

Ladies, is the pantsuit idea going to work? Seriously, it's going to take three armed female MP.s to wrestle this girl into any kind of skirt or dress!

 

Faith

[Spy Car]

Thank you Bill! I hope others will chime in as well. I'm wondering if there are some 4-H'ers from the state capitol group (these high schoolers volunteer as pages at the state house and what not) would have suits they could lend to the two smaller boys who do not have suits and then maybe we would only need to purchase for W. Dh and I always get a suit each year for each of our boys, but while not well-to-do, we are well ahead of the income levels of the families in our 4-H club and I do know that if we said they needed to come up with another $150.00 - 300.00 for their children's attire, they would say their children couldn't go. It wouldn't be stinginess on their part. They just simply would not be able to come up with the funds.

 

If we could borrow suits for the other two boys, we'd only need to come up with money for W's suit...inseam 35", etc. this boy is a tower and he's only in 9th grade!

 

Ladies, is the pantsuit idea going to work? Seriously, it's going to take three armed female MP.s to wrestle this girl into any kind of skirt or dress!

 

Faith

 

Faith, I'd get way from thinking that boys would need $300 suits (or even $100 suits). No one will care if they are the height of fashion (or not). Obviously the kids should be clean and presentable, but a jacket, slacks, and a tie from a thrift-store would suffice if that's what they can afford.

 

And...let's be serious, they are members of the "Rocket Club," what do you think the Senators expect? :D

 

Bill

[Mrs Mungo]

Thrift stores and stores like Ross/TJ Maxx could be your best friends. Also, you might check with someplace like Men's Warehouse, see if they can help you out. They have some sport coats for as low as $69-99 *and* have a buy one/get one free deal on their website. Khakis, dress shirt, tie, basic dress shoes are fine, they don't need to be wingtips.

[FaithManor]

Thanks! I know that we can get away with cheaper finds for the smaller guys and we'd thrift shop for suits if that were possible in our area. This is a heavy rural, agricultural area, the very few suits that show up in thrift stores are 1970's plaid, scary things. The best they work for are costumes and possibly "What NOT to Wear" shows. :lol:

 

But, it looks like JcPenney is having a monthly sale on Van Heusen coats and pants...$52.00 total for pants and coats and I'm pretty certain C and D could still wear clothes from the boys' department. I think they have black shoes because they attend a private school with a uniform and have to own dress shoes for specific events. It's W that concerns us. He needs a 32" waist, 35" inseam pants and 38 athletic cut jacket because of his slim shoulders and size 14 shoes. Around here, we just don't see much of anything in that size range. Men's Warehouse (80 min. away) went out of business. So, we'll gather up some funds and take him to the city and maybe we'll get lucky and find a resale store down there - if not, Men's Warehouse around the northern burbs should have something that won't break the bank. It's his shoes! He has an extra narrow foot to go with that size 14 and his basketball shoes (he's in 8th grade) cost $150.00 and had to be special ordered. His grandparents and aunts and uncles all went in on those. I will feel great pain for them if he outgrows them any time soon.

 

We just hadn't expected that there would be additional clothing expenses and especially for two of the families involved. But, we've got a big fundraiser next weekend and Toyota pledged a corporate donation (we'll find out the amount on Monday) and with any luck, that will put us well over the top of the minimum we needed to go and we won't have to sweat purchasing clothes for W, affectionately known as "The Eiffle Tower".

 

It is certainly going to be the experience of a lifetime for them!

 

Now, to find a plain but decent looking pantsuit and nice blouse that I can wrestle an extremely geeky 75lb. 5'1" girl who prefers her hunting camo to normal clothes into! I'm seriously in need of some female marines here.

 

Her comment when I told her about the event was, "Well, I guess I have to clean up my tennis shoes." :lol: Well, uhmmm no honey, it's a LOT worse than that. (This is the girl who at 13 beat out the entire hunting population of our county for BEST BUCK and earned a new hunting rifle from a local sporting goods store.)

 

Faith

Kind of an out-there idea, but can you rent boys suits that aren't tuxes?