Gala Glam vs. prom dress

I love dressing up - it's the little girl in me who used to play with dolls - My mother used to say that the dolls were better dressed than we were! And I am a performer and I live in Hollywood - so over the years I have developed the habit of collecting pieces of fancy clothing  when I run into them and they are real bargains.  Sometimes they sit in the closet for a while - but almost all of them get worn, eventually!

Well, last night was such an evening.  Through friends who work at the Los Angeles Music Center we got invited to the gala opening at Disney Hall of the L.A. Symphony season - a black tie event!  And, I had just the thing to wear....No you are wondering what this has to DO with frugality - well - for one thing, the tix were FREE.  (on the internet the tix were $1,500 to $10,000!!).  It was a performance by Essa Pekka Salonen, the L.A. Philharmonic and the famed American opera diva, Renee Fleming. Whew.  What a beautiful concert.  (And we parked in an adjacent parking lot for $8.00 instead of the Disney Hall's $18.00.) 

I wore a fabulous gold brocade jacket that I had picked up a year ago in a resale shop in Santa Barbara - I think it was on sale - It is actually the sort of material they make obis out of, and just gorgeous.  I wore that over an empire waist black jersey dress I had gotten at my local Out of the Closet (I think it was even new) for about $10 and shoes from my shoe archive - and a necklace I had splurged on at an Oxnard craft faire - and my 99 Cent Store earrings and a purse from an Oxnard thrift shop, a ring I had gotten at HSN. 

It was, as my husband said, the $200 outfit - but I was holding my own again the thousands of dollars gowns of the rich gala ladies - so much so, that I was ushered into the VIP area and treated to free champagne!  It was fascinating to observe all those people - more so because I am an actress, and I catalogue people to draw upon later.  Who knows if I will play a rich socialite some day soon? 

It was like being Cinderella at the ball, and I really did enjoy myself.  Who needs a prom? 

But it underlines what I have said about prom dresses and gala attire in general.  I had acquired the pieces separately, with a mind to building an outfit (or 2 or 3) - at a bargain price.  I didn't have to pay hundreds of dollars for a polyester dress I would never wear again! I would rather invest in these pieces, which I can wear over and over. ( I have a silk brocade smoking jacket I got for $35 which I wore to the opera, and has many more wearings in it.  I have a beaded black shirt, I have also worn to the opera with black pants.)

I have a collection of jewelry to choose from to accessorize my outfit(s), too.  I even have a copper sequined jacket which was a steal which I haven't WORN yet.  But I will...

And I can do my own hair and makeup - that comes from working in the theatre...Actually when I do it, it turns out better than any makeup artist's job, because I know my face better than they do. 

So all of this is possible on a shoestring by developing your own taste and skill!  And at the last minute, too.  So remember that girls when you are whining about prom dresses... and it will serve you well later when you have to do glam on a budget.

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