Dressing Up for an Inaugural Ball Isn’t Priceless — It Costs About 20 Bucks

Looks like I'm going to an inaugural ball tonight.

A friend offered me tickets on Saturday.

I told him I don't own a tux -- ostensibly, it's a black tie affair -- and it was too late to rent one.

But my friend said that, given the state of the economy, tuxes aren't the only acceptable garb this time around. Plain ol' dark suits will abound and won't be sneered at.

I don't own a suit, dark or otherwise. (Well, I still own my wedding suit, but the scales tell me I'm half the man I was when I got married -- plus the man I was when I got married. So it's just a keepsake.)

Actually, heading into the weekend I didn't have a dress jacket or even a clean pair of long pants that fit me.

But I figured I'd give my nearest thrift shop a shot. I was there for 20 minutes and walked out with a black wool suit, black shoes and a fab Lou Rawls live LP.

Total cost: $20.54

Looks like I'm going to an inaugural ball tonight.

Tags: BALLS, Barack Obama, Inaugural, Inauguration, LOU RAWLS, ME, THRIFT STORES