(emphasis added)
:eek: Eight thou = “just upscale off-the-peg”?? Crazy world, man, crazy world. . . Thank you, Og, for making me of the part of the population who with three good suits and a few white shirts can show up anywhere any time… 
But yes, a truly one-of-a-kind outfit is a rare thing; and similarly the idea of buying an expensive outfit that you’ll wear just once ever has lost some traction.
That photo is definitely one of the most hilarious things I’ve seen today. It’s like the dress is some kind of official uniform.
If I had $8,500 there would be a 1987 Jeep Grand Wagoneer in my driveway.
Hehehe. I have one good suit, two suits that used to be good but are now a bit worn, and a cheap tux that doesn’t fit that well but doesn’t show it since - it’s a tux! So far it’s paid for itself about 3 times over in avoided rental fees, plus the convenience of not having to return it while nursing a hangover. 
If this is what they said, they got it wrong. Miss Mapp’s dress quarrels were with Godiva Plaistow in the novel Miss Mapp, which is set before Lucia arrives in Tilling.
Diva and Miss Mapp are both livening up old dresses by sewing little flowers on them; when Diva discovers that Miss Mapp has stolen her idea, she sends her maid Janet out wearing her flowered dress first, so that Miss Mapp can’t possibly wear hers.
In the same novel, the two ladies also show up at bridge parties wearing the same tea dress, first in Kingfisher Blue, then dyed Crimson Lake.
I should know. 
yeppers, she can wear about anything and pull it off.
what beats the hell out of me is that these kinds of washington women - certainly the nation’s first lady - have freakin’ personal assistants. didn’t anyone think to make a couple of calls and coordinate on who was wearing what?
Indeed you should.
The letter reads as I reported and I am merely the messenger. I must write in with a correction quoting your good self as the Highest Authority Possible in matters such as this.
I think her social secretary or whomever is in charge of these things should send an announcement or something with the invitations. Something like, “Mrs. Bush will be wearing red Oscar de la Renta.” Something like that because it is sort of embarrassing.
Mrs. Bush handled it well. She really looked nice in the gown and I felt sort of bad for her.
At my grandmother’s funeral all three of the daughters-in-law (my Mom, and two Aunts) wore the same dress. It was so odd because all three came to the funeral from different parts of the country. It was hilarious and I have great pictures of the three of them.
Good to have you on board!
Maybe later I’ll tell about the book I’m working on about Roman Roads.
People can be forgiven for wearing the same black dress at a funeral. Perhaps if Laura were to show up at more (or any of) funerals of those who’ve died in Iraq, she could avoid such embarrasment. Of course, we’d have to get it through to her ‘beautiful mind’ not to wear red… :rolleyes:
Laura Bush definitely looks best in the dress, which is why changing into something else was the height of diplomacy. At least there’s one diplomat in the family.
Slight hijack: Is it just me, or is Laura Bush just about the hottest First Lady since Jackie Kennedy?
Eh. Maybe the hottest since Lady Bird.
Nobody comes near Jackie. Nobody ever will.
Well, there was Marilyn. But I suppose *that’s * sort of a horse of a different color.
Is there a picture handy of the later little black dress? If it’s equally on par with how well she looked in the red one, then I’d call the whole affair a notch above on her scorecard. 'Course, considering how hideous that first one looked, that might not have been very difficult to achieve.
But certainly true.
Hmmm … never really thought of Lady Bird as being all that hot. Too “mom-like” I guess. But what I meant was, yes, Jackie was the hottest, hands down, at least in my lifetime (which only covers the last half of the previous century) but Laura is hotter than any of the other First Ladies since then. Unless the ball-shrinking glare really turns you on, in which case Hillary is totally smokin’! Of course, you have to take into account my age, which allows me a much wider hotness factor than when I was in junior high, when Jackie was First Lady.
Okay, I’m thinkin’ way too much about this!
She’s certainly the only one thin enough to wear it. The other three should have chosen something with more flowing lines. Second from the left looks as if she could barely close the top.
Another correspondent wrote in to The Times today correcting the first letter in the manner described by you.
Marilyn didn’t come near Jackie. Jackie slept in the Lincoln bedroom those nights.
I think the deal is that when they have the same dress on, then people can compare their figures. It’s hard to say the dress makes your butt look big when someone else wears the same one and looks great.
Laura hot? Naw- she’s like somebody’s mom. The only babe we ever had in the White House was Jackie. Everybody else has been pretty matronly since then.
My girlfriend agrees with this reasoning. If you wear the same thing as someone else, then people can (and will) talk about which one of you is more attractive.