In the pit, they’re talking about online dating ads and “women who are as comfortable in an evening gown as they are in jeans.”
I know my evening gown isn’t as comfy as my 501s, but that’s just me. Got me thinking, though: who has a formal gown or a tuxedo hanging in their closet right now? Why do you own it? Could we get dressed up tonight and have a DoperExtravaganza?
I have one formal gown in my closet. It’s full length, sleeveless, blue velvet. I bought it a couple years ago for a formal Christmas party my company was putting on. Haven’t worn it since. Hmmm… maybe we oughta have a formal doper gathering… go to some trashy bar in our evening wear. That would be fun!
I do have a very nice evening dress, red silk with beading. TD bought it for me to wear to a Marine Corps ball or a company Christmas party (I forget which). It’s not a full length gown since I am only 5’3", if I wore a full length gown I would look short and dumpy, IMO. I havn’t put it on in awhile, but I still love the dress. I’d love an excuse to put it on again and not be as comfortable for a few hours as I would be in jeans, just to hear the phrase “Dahling, you look mahvelous”.
Can we all dress up and go to Taco Bell?
I have two bridesmaid’s dresses hanging in my closet in my old bedroom; haven’t brought them back to my apartment yet but they’re definitely re-wearable. Very basic, classic styles in solid colors (one is a nice purple, one is hunter green). They’re the first things I’d think of if I needed serious formal wear for something, so it’s good to have them around, although I haven’t been to a formal event in a long time.
I haven’t had a real “formal” since high school, unless you count my wedding gown. My husband has a tux, though, which he used to wear when he performed with a college choir. There’s a used clothing store in Cambridge, MA that sort of specializes in providing evening wear for young gentlemen with more brains than bucks. At least I think it’s still there.
I have a lovely formal gown in shades of deep purple hanging in the closet. I got it for a big fancy New Year’s Eve blow-out that one of my friends threw to ring in 2000. Don’t know when I will have the opportunity to wear it again, but it is there, just in case.
My husband owns a tuxedo and has for many years, on the grounds that “you never know when you might need a tux.”
I own a tux that I wear for our Choral Union concerts. It’s the “uniform” for the guys.
Actually I own two tuxedos. I got my first one when I was 18 for college band/chorale. However, I’ve grown in build since then, so about five years ago I had to get a new one that fit better.
Since I’ve lost so much weight since I got my second tux, my college tux probably fits better than it did when I got the new one. Although it still may be kind of smallish. I have had the pants taken in on my newer tux and also need to do so with the jacket.
My dears, if I didn’t own evening dress I’d simply be rushing off every evening to rent a new outfit. I mean, honestly, when I’m asked out at the last minute to the duchess’s latest do, or say Liz and Phil fly a chopper up to take me down to Buck House for an impromptu evening of sparkling wit and dancing, I could hardly expect them to stop off at Moss Bros while I pick up something to wear. It just isn’t done, don’t you know. Not by good chaps.
Alright, to be honest the only time I’ve ever worn full dress was at my wedding, and the hire of the kilt, plaid, etc cost almost as much as it did to buy my wife’s dress. Plus it was so heavy I could hardly breathe. The ONLY occasion on which I could be persuaded to wear a dress kilt again (which was designed by an Englishman anyway) would be a Dopefest. That’s it. Proper everyday kilts are much more like a length of tablecloth and a safety pin.
Must dash. Have to dress for dinner.
Ciao.
I own one formal gown, which I bought four years ago in an ill-advised attempt to please a former boyfriend. (Suffice to say that the first thing he said was, “It’s a very nice dress, but don’t you think it was designed for someone a little more … bosomy?” Charming fellow.)
Anyway, it IS a nice dress; in fact I’d be tempted to recycle it as a wedding gown if I had bought it for any other occasion. Under the circumstances, however, I suppose that would be a bad idea.
I own a tuxedo, well, to be snooty, it’s not a tuxedo but a “tailcoat”. (One must refer to evening dress in proper terms, of course). Even had the matching tophat until it was ambushed by our son when he was 3 and on one of his search and destroy missions.
Why do I have it? It was on sale at the time and I figured that it’s something that may come in handy someday if I ever have to rush off to a full formal event on a moments notice. Of course, the only thing I’ve ever done with it is put on the coat while nekkid.
(Figure that since I was once referred to as a Class A F!&$, I might as well dress for the event, unless I missed the meaning of the phrase… 
Oh my, I could go to formal events for more than a week straight and not wear the same thing twice - not the dress, the shoes, the purse, or the jewelry. And that’s just long dresses; I have another week’s worth of short cocktail dresses.
Casual Fridays? Bah - I wish we had Evening Dress Fridays. Now that would be something fun to do at work.
Gee, I guess I win. I have 4 gowns – a black and gold beaded sheath, an old-gold lace sheath, a royal blue backless number with a split up the front and a burgundy satin thing with a big poufy skirt and a corset bodice. Why so many? Well, my husband is a Supply Corps Officer in the U.S. Navy and we go to the Supply Corps Birthday Ball every year that he is in port. We’ve also gone to a couple of other black-tie Navy Things. I don’t like to wear the same dress too often with the same group. Anyway, he’s retiring this year (do we have a “crossing fingers smilie?”) so I imagine they won’t get much future wear. Oh, BTW, I also have 3 cocktail dresses – a brown and amber velvet, a navy blue taffeta vintage number and a little black chiffon. I’m very well dressed for someone who rarely wears anything but jeans!
Let’s see…in my closet, I’ve got a tailcoat and trousers, a morning coat, and a plain old tuxedo. All but the last came from a formal wear chain’s warehouse sale. The warehouse was across the street from my apartment at the time, and they were selling never-worn suits for ridiculously low prices.
I don’t have many occasions to wear them, but i’ve more than made up for their cost by avoiding rental fees.
Several evening gowns, 2 ball skirts (no ball gowns, because I’m hard to fit and have never found one that works). I found out 2 weeks ago that I have zilch that is truly appropriate for a formal daytime wedding, nor could I find anything anywhere (luckily, neither could all but a small handful of the female guests over the age of 8).
I like dressing up. And I used to get season tickets for the opera so I’d have an excuse to do so (well, I liked the opera too - but the excuse to dress fabulously helped.) They’re comfortable (or the ones that are the same size as I am are… the rest were when they were purchased and worn)
Howyadoin,
I’m on my second tuxedo in 7 years. I’m an officer in an Elks Lodge, and tuxedos are our ceremonial dress, along with our jewels of office.
I was fortunate to miss the 70’s and 80’s which featured velvet jackets, pastel frilly shirts, string ties and other atrocities. We tend toward conservative styling these days, sometimes a Lodge’s suite of officers for a given year will adopt a common color for ties and cummerbunds or vests, but that’s as wild as it gets.
-Rav
I finally broke down and bought a tuxedo last year after being faced with renting one for the sixth or seventh time in the last five years. My wife’s family keeps having these affairs where evening dress is expected for all guests (weddings, even bar/bat mitzvahs). Just seemed silly to keep paying $70-$80 bucks to rent one when I could buy one for $120 – only have to wear it twice for that to be cost effective.
I have a a few dressy type suits and a mother of the bride dress but really only one cocktail type dress.
I bought it in a consignment store cause it was in perfect condition and fit perfectly also. It was full length, black, fitted to the waist where it has an overlay of extremely fine lace with silver threads. It also had very ugly poufy cap style sleeves. The poufs were as big as pumpkins. Ugh.
I took it home and redid it. It is now a short cocktail dress, sleevless with a matching stole that I made from the material that I cut off. I look fabulous in it if I do say so myself but have never had an occasion to wear it.
so is the invite in the mail?
I have both my prom dresses (one Player’s Racing Blue, one a horrid shade of gold-tinted mossy green that I bought on sale the week before prom when they had absolutely no selection in my size), plus a silver tulle-and-silk full ball-gown skirt that goes nicely with several shirts I own, all of which can also be worn with jeans. I love that skirt so much. I would wear that skirt all the time if I could.
I have a competition ballgown (plus an old one for sale, if anyone’s interested), and two floor-length dresses that I use for non-costume competitions. I also have a floor-length sheath dress that I never seem to have occasion to wear, because I can’t dance in it. I have an assortment of formal wraps (including my grandmother’s furs) for parties, etc. Getting too cold during competitions is not a problem.
I think we’d all look dreamy and I LOVE the Taco Bell idea. My evening gown is black lace over black satin, spaghetti straps and a deeply scalloped neckline, with a black satin stole to cover up in case I’m feeling modest—HAH! I bought it on clearance last year and have had no ocasion to wear it yet.
Raven—jewels of office sounds beautiful. A man in a tux is a good thing.