Sorry, no photographic evidence of my looking like a girl last night, particularly because of the following:

1. My hair, which is in this awful 'tweener stage of I-don't-know-what-I'm-doing-with-it-so-
I'm-kind-of-growing-it-out-except-now-it's-reminding-me-of-why-I-don't do-that-ever, looked like shit by time I remembered the camera. I mean, one side of it was holding kind of while the other completely fell. (Yeah, I know everyone thinks my hair looks the same at all times, but trust me, there's little that can be done right now. My mousse is too weak to give it any body, but my other goo is too heavy to hold it up, and then it ends up all gummy and gluey and not shiny unless I add some of this to it, but doing that wipes out any hold I might've has with the other stuff, and it's just pandemonium.) and,
2. My suit, though nice, is too long in the arms and pants, so since I didn't have time to have it altered, I looked like I was swimming in a sea of black. Also, the jacket, besides being too long in the arms, seems really overwhelming even though it fits nice in the shoulders. Not sure if it needs darts in the sides or something, but there's something just not right.

The good news is, I found two gorgeous antique pins at the antique show I covered in Crown Point today. Now if only someone can tell me where the hell to pin them, because they look dumb on the lapel.

Of course the ball didn't disappoint in the matters of fashion atrocities; it IS NWI, after all. Lessee ... it took merely walking up to the reg desk to see the poor sap who bought into the "Yeah-you-can-wear-it-again" bridesmaid ensemble (and in burgundy, too. I don't think it gets more cliche than that). There was also "bought-in-the-prom-dress-section-on-clearance," a vibrant melon strapless confection with a silver glitter-covered sweetheart bodice and a long shawl to match -- she even had the updo to match! -- and one we don't see often, the "interesting-Asian-dress-that-ol'-girl-built-like-a-brick-shithouse -really-shouldn't-think-about-pulling-off." One woman showed up in cream wool pants and a smart pink sweater set, while her husband was wearing tux. And don't EVEN get me started on the scads of women who still think it's Ok to wear hose with open-toe shoes. Fer chrissake, ladies, do you REALLY think wearing fabric not more than 1/10th of a millimeter thick IS GOING TO KEEP YOU WARM IN NWI!?? Seriously.