Flowers, Feathers, and Faux Pas - New York Botanical Garden Winter Wonderland Ball

Vintage dresses, with the cream-colored gown dating from the 1950s.

Designer Chris Benz in the center.

Feathers!!

Beautiful beading

Last night we attended a New York high Society fête at the New York Botanical Garden's Winter Wonderland Ball. The pastoral setting sparkled, as did many of the guests. With the dress code being "winter white and black," we were intrigued to see if this look (particularly the white) could be succesfully accomplished. Oh we of little faith! With a few exceptions, most gowns were Cinderella-worthy. As seen above, feathers and fur were the among the themes of the evening, which seemed appropriate, the ladies like elegant doves and minks of the garden.

Unlike those mingling and laughing throughout the gardens, StyleShifter and StyleShifter Junior lack years of training amongst the elite, meaning that the evening was spotted with both triumphs and a few gaffs. Luckily, the only  memorable faux pas were cleverly timed with one at the start and the other towards the end. Early on in the event, as StyleShifter posed for some photogs, the renowned Bill Cunningham of the New York Times approached with his camera! StyleShifter forgot her sultry smolder, and grinned widely, striking pose after pose enthusiastically. Mr. Cunningham took two steps forward with his notepad, and turned to the entirely unaware duo sipping cocktails to StyleShifter's right, asking them for their names! A dream delayed, but no matter, we bravely soldiered on, achieving a small success when Mr. Cunningham snapped a candid of StyleShifter Junior later in the evening (now we await tomorrow's paper to check if it made it into his montage).  As the night drew near to its end, we were presented with an entree surrounded by a red sauce. Seems like someone in the kitchen has a sense of humor given the many signature cocktails served by this point and the abundant white garb! Naturally, there came a point when red sauce united with white outfit, although we shall spare you all the gory details. After shimmying on the dance floor with some socialites, it was time to bid farewell before our carriage turned into a pumpkin.

For more info, see http://www.nybg.org/ - annual holiday train show running until mid-January.