auntjen, DH (and therefore I) have had to go to a couple of not-particularly-liked co-workers' weddings purely for office politics. He didn't give crap one about the co-workers (and I wouldn't have known them had they stopped me on the street and kicked me in the shins) but had he not shown up things would not have gone very well for him in the office. Some workplaces are just lousy like that, if you don't participate in the "office culture" you're sunk at review time. There were other "unwritten-but-really-required" activities like the bar-hops and expensive restaurant lunches (of course not paid for by the employer) for stuff like birthdays and departures that contributed to his leaving that job. Things like that added up very fast, and DH was the lowest-paid person in the office by a BIG margin - like there were several people in that office making 10x what DH did. At the time I had ONE nice dress, and it was the standard all-occasion, all-season "little black dress" with princess seams and elbow-length sleeves. I wore brightly-colored accessories - shoes, purse, and chunky vintage jewelry from Goodwill ;-) - and didn't get any guff from anyone.

Take the sweater with your to buy navy pants. (Why is rust not an option? Bet it would look nice, maybe a darker shade of rust than the flowers?) In any case, to answer your question, you cannot dye (assuming it is in fact a dye-able fabric, which most aren't these days) something a lighter colour than it already is, you can only go darker.

I don't generally attend funerals but I did a year or 2 ago at a neighbor's request. I fretted because I simply don't do dressy clothing. So I ended up with dark black jeans and a button down blouse. My blouse was a bright blue but when I got there I wasn't out of place at all. Even the family was dressy casual and there were very few suits to be seen. The women in dresses wore skirts and tops. Nothing very dressy nor overly somber. The same clothes you would see in an office and plenty were in jeans. Dark navy or black, no holes or sagging. Men wore collared shirts with khakis, dark pants or jeans.

Bac717 i have that same dress in the paisley and wore to a wedding. Got many compliments on it and it was very appropriate for me at 53. With the high neckline I didn't need any jewelry but you could go either way. I had a summer silk scarf in pink as my dress was multi colored I am tall and very thin and find that Tommy Hilfinger dresses fit me well.