The way I look at it is if dress-to-kill demoralizes your conservative values than stay away from these events; to you the values of your upbringing are far more important than socializing in these sort of events. Simple. But then these opinions are your own, as such, you should keep them to yourself. Being judgemental in a free society is synonymous to opening a can of worms. Nothing impresses ppl more than someone with good looks/brains (well for most ppl anyway). I suppose the lucidness of such brains don't bother you as much as their looks. You may say looks can be presented in a handful ways (given a proper venue and platform)- some wear binkinis to a costume party and some perhaps overalls. Most of the time there's no dress code at a costume party; in contrast, if you were at a respectable conference more than likely there will be a strict dress code. Perhaps, you'd be interested to know ANA most probably didn't have any dress code for their members and/or patrons. The ANA executive committee, of course, reserves the right to set the tone of these conventions. I do not ever compare ppl's character based on their looks; some ppl are born beautiful and some are gifted. And to disbar those who are not so lucky would be outright discrimination IMHO. The melting pot we are I say dress up like you want to, strive to be a pop star, learn ballet, do theater, create a new programming language, embrace quantum computing, enhance the GPRS satellite, run for a politcal office, volunteer at a homeless shelter, donate money to your favorite charity...and forget the 'tie me in a leash' type of mentality that older generation Nepalese have. I've never understood our culture...why dressing in a certain way should ever afflict the very meaning of our customs (especially when we live in an open society). Cheers!