The Long Lost Art of the Summer Cocktail Soiree

I am seriously considering making it a personal mission to bring back the Cocktail Party.  How do I pull this off?  My original idea was to host a Belmont Stakes Bash if Always Dreaming wins the Preakness (I don't think he's going win though) and the weekend of the Belmont is a big horse show weekend for me.  So that may not work.  But how do I make sure that people will actually come and dress appropriately?  Is that art of the Cocktail Party so foreign now to most people that they don't even know what it means?  Do you have to plan one around an event like the Derby or the Belmont to get people to actually don a dress and a coat and tie?  Has our society slumped that low?

Do we need to educate on what is really appropriate?  Has it gotten that bad?

When was the last time you received a snail mail invitation to attend to a party?  Can you even remember (weddings don't count).

What would you wear to a party in June?

(Trina Turk Dress)

(Alice and Trixie Dress)

Can this even remotely be pulled off in today's world?