Jeans and Cocktails

Today, a silly post about dressing up, and how I guess I must be getting old.

Last night my husband Scott and I went to a Hollywood biz holiday party. We were excited that during this recession, some people are still throwing parties. The hosts were a small film production company (that a friend of ours has just started up), an advertising agency, and a company that does movie trailers. The invitation stated "cocktail attire." So I put on pantyhose, heels, a short black skirt and a silk blouse. (Normally I try to avoid pantyhose, but in the winter they aren't so bad.) I briefly considered that perhaps my ensemble wasn't QUITE dressy enough, but I thought I looked pretty good, so out the door we went. We pulled up, turned over our car to the valet, and joined the short queue at the door. That was when I noticed how the other people in line were dressed. They were wearing jeans.

Now I love jeans. I wear them all the time, every day, in fact. I have a home office, so I get to wear whatever I want to work, unless I have a meeting. Which is why, when I see "cocktail attire" on an invitation, I am happy to have an excuse to dress up. I don't do it very often, and it's fun to do every once in a while.

So call me old-fashioned, but I was not aware that jeans are now considered cocktail attire. Who knew? Now, most of these jeans-wearing hipsters were 20 years or so younger than us. And they all work in the TV or movie business. And the jeans were probably the pricey designer variety. But still. Of the 200-plus guests at this party, I counted about ten women wearing skirts. There were also a few in dressy pants, but the vast majority of both men and women there were in denim. Even in LA, where rules are meant to be broken, I was surprised to learn that dress codes pretty much don't exist anymore. Actually, that's not completely true. I am fairly certain that when the invitation states "black tie", you can't get away with wearing jeans.

I think.

Clothing aside, though, it was a great party, we had a marvelous time, met lots of interesting people, and saw many old friends. And next time, I'm wearing my best pair of jeans!

Happy Holidays!