Formal: The Painless One

Forgive the lateness of this post and my echoing absence from the blogosphere. I have been totally absorbed with recovering from my op and getting my shoulder back. I can happily report I am now typing two handed, although it tires me, but I still need at least 10 hours sleep a night. As you can imagine, this cuts into blogging time.
ANYway, the reason this post is entitled 'The Painless One' is because there is another Formal looming (tomorrow) and we are at 'car door slamming' stage.

 Who could believe that this sweet, bonny child:

 happily sitting as the hairdresser makes her even more beautiful:

 and the make-up artist does her 'thing':

 so that she begins the night looking like this:

 is ACTUALLY an enfant terrible with an unquenchable thirst for shoes and clothes which contain less fabric than a tea towel and cost more than the annual GDP of a small African nation!????????

She did look lovely however:

 with her attentive beau (who has recently gone off travelling to Asia but that's another post!).

 It was lovely to see that they've re-introduced the quaint 'corsage' custom,

  after which we were off to the 'before' party. Yes, they have 'before' parties.

There were the obligatory poses with friends, during which I was given to wonder whether some lessons in 'choosing fashion which flatters' should be re-introduced to the curriculum.

I know, I know I sound awful but really...such pretty girls with some very unwise choices!!!

I was particularly surprised by the 'low key' nature of some frocks.

Consider the blue flapper number on the left, the greenish one next to it which reminds me of 'resort' wear, the underwhelming short silver number at the centre with Minnie Mouse shoes and the heavily patterned blue dress fifth from the right which, although I know it was her mother's and therefore sentimental, also resembled something you'd wear to the beach. And do not even start me on the sweet girl in the sofa dress (third from left).

So there you have it. I am not the nice person I pretend to be. I would secretly like to take them ALL shopping and get them lovely, appropriate dresses which do justice to their inner and outer beauty.

But aside from all that, the girls had planned ahead for the 'after party' and subsequent sleep over:

 and departed in a state of high excitement on their 'ride'.

 And that was the first Formal.

The impending event (this Saturday) has been overshadowed by the BA's all consuming need to wear something different! After all, the photos of this dress have been all over facebook!

Will the Flaming Sword survive this most recent challenge? Stay tuned to see how it plays out.