Style Dilemma: Black Champagne

Sequins and Sparkle by dcceline

Funny things happen on Twitter. You share things and thoughts you wouldn't tell close friends. You "meet" people. You learn about celebrity deaths before anyone else. You put a number sign before a string of words that would normally be a sentence and confuse the heck out of non-Twitter-users but makes you LOL.

You plan fake funerals with vats and vats of champagne and black sequined dresses.

True story.

So a few of us are going to have a Black Champagne party. We'll drink bubbly, eat salty, and probably talk salty, too (a few of us have been known to make a sailor blush once in a while). And we'll wear sequins. Because we can.

It's supposed to be black sequins, but when I went looking, the sequin selector on the Nordstrom site (seriously, they have "sequins" as a filter option on dresses, which. just. rocks) pulled up a few other colors, like gold and silver. So I included them. Then there's the deep blue "cold shoulder" mini I obsessed over last Friday (the charcoal/black version is the first one in the second row), but refused to try on because I was on a Bra Mission.

The silouhettes range from fitted to forgiving, with room for only bubbly or room for a whole tin of gift popcorn. Since I've only met literally one of the 7-8 women who will be at our Black Champagne party, I have no idea what might suit them.

But it's sequins. So a girl just can't go wrong.

If you want to find out more about the Ladies of the Sequins (because we're a fascinating bunch), watch for the #BlackChampagne hashtag on Twitter.

Rapid Returns...more sparkles

Just because I could...every working girl (read into that what you will) needs a glittery card case. Mine's pale pink. (More LOFT)

Shop in Style: Ahem, Vintage, Ahem

This is so not in my cards right now, and even if the tax refund check weren't already pledged to practical things, I'm pretty sure I couldn't convince H I need yet another bauble, but just in case any of you are in the market for something stunning and sparkly...

What: Chas Schwartz & Son Estate Sale

Where: Mazza Gallerie, 5300 Wisconsin Ave NW (though this Saturday) and Willard Hotel (11-17 May)

When: It started already - oops! - through 17 May - by store hours or, if you're really serious about purchase, by appointment.

Why: It might be trite, but it's true - diamonds are a girl's best friend. Especially if they're in a one-of-a-kind vintage setting.

Before you go, check out the legendary Washingtonian jewler's history and vintage periods tutorial. The site needs pics (c'mon, this is 2008 - a girl needs something she can print out and leave lying around the house - or take with her to the store so she can be sure she's making her own investment on the right piece), but you can be certain that their collections are worth a dignified visit.

Pinnacle of American Style?

I'm going to take a wild guess that a bunch of you reading will say: "What! are you talking about?!" as you read on...

Miss America is tonight at 8:00pm EST on CMT.

If anyone else was as, uh, relaxed as me this weekend, and flipping through for trash TV, and just happened to flip to MTV, maybe you stumbled on the pre-pageant reality show. I'm a sucker for pageants. (No, it has nothing to do with my unrealized dreams of pageantdom, I promise.) Also a sucker for reality TV. Especially when no one's around to "catch" me watching (MIL & H were away this weekend).

I'm wondering what it'll be this year. There's so much talk about modernizing the organization, the competition with Trump's Miss USA/Universe organizations, and just the relevance of it all (they've now given up on calling it a "scholarship program," and finally reverted to calling a spade a spade).

Will they succeed? Will we see the girls beyond the sparkle? Is it about now? Or is it a lovely tradition that's about to fade into history?

Watching the reality show this weekend (repeated a bazillion times on VH-1, MTV, and CMT all weekend), I'd say not. The scene that says "it's still here, and here to stay" is the spot on the mini-pageants they did in groups - spotlighting the decades the pageant's exsisted. The girls and judges laughed at themselves, and poked fun at their own sterotypes. If they can do that, then maybe they'll still be around as role models beyond Mario's debut (or was he there last year?) as host.