Inaugural Dress Code, Part II

As women go to great lengths (even a special web site) to make sure they will be uniquely dressed for the Inaugural balls, men are doing what they always do--suiting up like penguins on parade.

According to reporting by the New York Times blog, The Caucus: "Whether they buy, recycle or rent their inaugural formal wear, most men will choose a black tuxedo."

There must be something deeply psychological about one gender's need to look different and the other's to appear the same, but you don't survive to my age by publicly speculating about such loaded questions.

Instead, let me offer some advice based on years of making do with the same tuxedo: Don't waste money on alterations. Just count on suspenders and leave the waist unfastened. An expandable cummerbund is your best friend for concealing the passage of time on formal occasions.

Inaugural Dress Code

What won't Change on the night of January 20th is the traditional fear of showing up at the ball wearing the same dress as someone else, but the Obama generation even has an answer for that.

A web site called Dress Registry allows Inaugural Ball goers to record what they plan to wear and avoid the embarrassment Laura Bush endured in 2006 at a Kennedy Center do when she showed up in a red Oscar de la Renta only to discover three other wearers of the identical creation. (Tactful as always, she retreated and came back in a black dress.)

The rolls are filling up fast with designer names, colors and descriptions (plunging, strapless, etc), along with photographs to help the "Yes We Can" generation avoid an "Oh no!" moment when they celebrate the beginning of a new era in Washington.

As any student of democracy can tell you, equal doesn't necessarily mean the same.