The frigid temperatures on New Year’s Eve had a definite chilling effect on fashion, bucking the trend in recent months of women dressing down — meaning some had been showing a little more skin, to the point of sporting bare midriffs again.
On this night, however, it wasn’t until about 1:30 a.m. that I saw my first little black dress, on a woman coming out of the Agave Kitchen, as there were very few skirts to be seen anywhere, unless they had thick leggings underneath. More popular, and perhaps a bit warmer, were blouses and legwear that were gold-foil and metallic-glitter dominated. A different twist was the head-to-toe seamless garment of a woman at Dick’s that had a similar gold glow, but was much more sleek and thin-fabriced.
My vote for the best use of what is mentioned above, is a woman who did indeed wear a short skirt, along with black boots, but one leg had black tights and the other gray, along with a plaid sweater. As they ducked out of Pudge’s and headed north, she complained that she was so cold her legs and face were frozen. The answer: They hopped to it and headed for entry into the Hop & Barrel brewery just up the street. They perhaps should have been joined by some of the Twin Citians, who were much more abundant than local regulars on this night, and were out on the street without coats.
But when it comes to outrageousness in style, you can’t beat the Smilin’ Moose. In the back end of the dance floor, there was a woman showing off her belly, with the word “chaos” written twice on her upper shirt, one time for each breast. A short distance away, another patron was attracting attention for the look on the other side of her dress, a backless style that ran all the way down to near her tailbone. More traditional there was a guy decked out in a three-piece suit that made him look like he might be just coming from church, except that his stylish buttondown shirt was black. The place was packed to the point that one section where there normally are almost a dozen tables, had them all removed to create more space. Across the way, someone was trying to negotiate her way through the packed dance floor while carrying a tray of shots. Good luck with that. That also was needed by the person crossing the street to get to The Moose while using a walker. Better luck with that outside than in.
But back to Pudge’s. A crew of almost a dozen people there lined up for the biggest selfie ever — OK, they did get someone else to take the shot for them. Just ask the guy on the end who for some reason was pointing at the back wall when the flash went off.
On the topic of photo opps, a woman at Agave had a tight belt around her waist that accenting her celebrity look-alike status. Namely, it made her booty appear to have the same shape and size of Kim Kardashian.
Lastly, I encountered a Minnesotan at around 2 a.m. who was concerned about her having time for last call. Uhm, no problem, since this is Wisconsin, where bars can stay open on New Year’s Eve until its so far into New Year’s Day that none of the drinkers can remember New Year’s Eve.