Mirror, Mirror, On the Wall, Who is the Furriest One of All?

For a town that is so P.C. (ok, we have had a FEW hiccups in that department here and there) it is shocking to be invited to an event where the theme is “Come Party With Us Wearing Your Favorite Fur” or some variation of that, but the main gist – of the “Fur Ball” is WEAR FUR.

I have to admit, I am not one for themed parties. I have a hard enough time trying to decide what to wear to run into CVS, so for someone like me, who has limited time to venture all over DC to shop for a costume that fits a particular decade, country, holiday or otherwise, a themed party can be challenging. I can deal with color themes (Red / Pink / Black) pretty well (if we stick to those colors!). Lucky for me, the fur theme happened to fit into my wardrobe. I found something rabbit in the back of my closet. And I do own very few pieces. (PLEASE don’t compare me to Madonna who was recently chastised by PETA for wearing a $70,000 chinchilla. For one thing, I don’t have $70,000 to spend on a coat. Secondly, if I did, I wouldn’t. I have read how awful the process is to kill the little animals. I read the coat was made with 40 pelts. Maybe she can adopt a chinchilla to make up for it. Or go into fur rehab.)

The night started at Café Milano, or Cafeteria Milano, as I sometimes affectionately call it. Not because it has a cafeteria menu, but rather because the clubby atmosphere reminds me of an office building's upscale cafeteria. You walk in, see everyone at their regular tables, come over sit, chat, double kiss, say hi, what is new, who else is here, did you hear the latest, blah blah blah, just like you would in ye ole office cafeteria. (The Palm has that same feel.) Of course, the main difference in the comparison is, Milano brings in a constant celebrity clientele. Not too many office building cafeterias can claim that. I was meeting with my friend Rafael, and he was introducing me to a wonderful couple who are friends of his to discuss some potential business down the road. They own a luxury car rental company called Pure Exotics. We had great fun there, and eventually decided to move the party over to Blue Gin, where THE FUR BALL was already in full gear.

And was it ever furry in there. And very festive. And VERY crowded. And VERY VERY hot. I suppose the mild 50 degree weather doesn’t typically motivate us to wrap ourselves in animal skin that brings our own body temperature up to about 100 degrees, but we all pretty much tried to stick with the theme. Everyone and their mothers, brothers, sisters, and fathers were there. It was a true party. Jamie Hess and his host committee had invited pretty much everyone and they all pretty much showed up. At one point in the night, I heard one attractive young woman who was beginning to “glisten”, ask her friend, “Do you think this could be a fire hazard?” I think it was at that point I had to sneak out and grab a cab. I love Blue Gin, it is one of my favorite night spots (I held my 5th Annual Birthday Bash there this summer.) and they have to be happy with the business they did last night. I think everyone had a fabulous time, fur and all, even though within a few minutes of being in there, everyone started stripping off their “theme”. We hope next year it will be a bit cooler outside AND inside so we all can stick with the fur – but if the host committee wants to change it to a more P.C. theme that fit the season, remember what I said about your basic colors? Think Red and White and Green ... just a thought!