At last, the preliminaries were over, and I pulled the really pretty stuff on! The gown from Byrne was a lovely minty pattern shot through with silver threads, and just legal for the television cameras if I made it onto the tube. I smiled at what might happen to my reputation if I had a Janet Jackson “wardrobe malfunction” and one of my boobs leaped out from the deep slash of the bodice, but the gown was too nice to turn down. I paired it with white opera gloves from Sweet Tea, Hortensia heels from Glamistry, and the latest suite of jewelry from Lazuri, named Paris.
Jem nodded at me as I pulled on the bracelet and made sure the catch was done up. “Important jewelry, check. Perfect makeup, check.”
I laughed a little. “Dress ready to slide off my nipples, check. Or is that, ‘Nipples ready to pop out of my dress’? That oughta catch the photograpers’ attention!”
“You shoulda went strapless, then,” Jem replied with a grin as she turned off her e-cigarette. “No worries on this gown, even if I take a deep breath.” Jem had chosen a billowing purple ball gown from Gaall for tonight’s affair (we both purchased our dresses at the December round of Swank); and a queen would turn green at the fortune in diamonds circling her neck and wrists, as well as dangling from her ears (all done by Zuri Rayna), called Winter Symphony. KC Couture heels were on her feet, and she was elegant indeed tonight.
“Yeah. Could you have said that if you had gone dressed as Rita Hayworth, out of Gilda? I’ve done her twice in the blog; I know that dress.”
Jem deigned not to answer, but she giggled as she waved the black envelope in her hand and tucked her e-cigarette into her clutch. “You got it all together, Harper?”
“From the shoes to the perfume. And Conan has the limousine out front. Let us rock!”
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Are you getting ready to rock? The group opens in just three days. I will say that there won’t be any changes in substance from previous years’ editions of the contest; the three of us couldn’t come up with ideas we felt improved on the basic theme of the night. So if you’ve participated before, just review the rules and go for it. If you haven’t entered in the past, read the rules. It has been pointed out to me that they’re long, but we’re talking L$50,000 in prizes here. We’ve worked to make them as clear as possible, and we will answer questions.
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