The Archers: Tally-Ho for the Hunt Ball! Will Justin return from Scotland with the Gay Gordons? Will Adam feel a right Charlie? Discussion #81

[DadDadDad]

Thanks, R4, for the title (again!).

I'm your temporary host while PseudoBadger is on her sabbatical / prison term / secret mission.

Old hands and complete newbies all welcome.

Spoilers (eg Radio Times descriptions of future programmes) not welcome.

When will Matt reappear? Before / during / after the wedding?

The floor is yours...

What are these balls that you all go to? Are you all secret hunters?

There is (thank god) no opportunity at my place of work to dress up for a social occasion outside working hours (or in them). The same goes for my husband, before he retired.

The dressiest thing I could imagine attending nowadays would be a wedding, and I can't remember the last one of those I went to.

I haven't been to a ball recently. They were mostly DS's Rugby club or the PTA. There are fewer and fewer chances to dress up these days (eg DH's works Do is tie-less now) so I quite enjoy the odd occasion when it arises.

I wear the same dress to every function until it's no good any more. The dresses I buy aren't anywhere near as good quality as dh's suit. And quite frankly, idgaf if anyone else comments on it!!

Women's appearance is subjected to a lot more scrutiny.

I don't think it's sexism either. The people scrutinising other women's appearances are usually women themselves. I (personally) have never known a man to especially notice an outfit or to comment unfavourably on it. I'm sure some do but women are far more judgemental ime.

The last ball I went to (DS's school leavers ball, since you ask) I wore a prom dress I bought online for £75. I was very pleased with myself.

Me neither. Perhaps we're the odd ones Lass

The thing is I take a huge interest in clothes. I will look at what everyone at an event is wearing (to compare with what I'm wearing and go off and have a wee cry- if I'm not the best dressed)
but I am very unlikely to remember , far less care, if someone recycles a dress
(unless they upstage me of course)

Is it wrong that I've just glanced at the clock - impatiently?

*I think many women have a ridiculously over-inflated idea of how much attention people pay to their appearance.

Can you (general you) remember what other women were wearing at a particular event? I don't. Unless an outfit was spectacularly fabulous or spectacularly terrible no one will remember.*
Jane Austen said almost exactly this in Northanger Abbey so it's nothing new. She was making the point that the young women looking for a husband spend time and energy deciding on which particular sprigged muslin to wear and the men don't even notice.

I hope the script writers are paying due attention to R4. She lives in actual Borsetshire after all. It’s not just hunt balls there, they have PTA ones too.

The last ball I went to I wore a halterneck, backless, black one piece catsuit which cost me £30, killer heels and Philippe Ferrandis jewellery. I felt like a Bond villain/ninja assassin channelling Studio 54 Bianca Jagger years, and I looked smokin'. It's not about money, it's about the care you take over it. All this "oh, I'm above fashion, it's sexist/trivial" is a tad condescending. Dressing for the occasion honours it and the other people there: make your world more beautiful, people!

Is Philippe Pherandis jewellery posh then?!

I felt like a Bond villain/ninja assassin

That reminds me of the Rugby club Christmas Do one year. It was fancy dress with a theme of Heroes and Villains. A few of the dads turned up as James Bond but one in particular stood out.

He wore a wetsuit and flippers. All night. He got very hot!

So we're actually talking about a dance, not a ball? I think of a ball as something like Cinderella attended, or the all-night very loud events my son attended at university, not the ceilidhs of my youth.

Wetsuit and flippers! I'm sure it sounded like a good idea at the time ...

That one was just a fun knees-up in the clubhouse. The Ball was in the summer in the marquee - the only time of the year that the groundsman would allow it on the hallowed turf.

Oh...ohh

Ohhhhhhh indeed.

Nick, Justin or Adam? Oo-errr.

Nasty bit of sneaking there Ian. None of your business.

Ooh. Goodness.

Blimey.

or Alistair.

Please please not Nick.

Oh I hope it's not Nick.

Adam.

DH says Justin.

Nic's too much of a saint

Let's hope that it was Matt's own taxi (not Rex, he's in Scotland).

As soon as Matt appeared, drunk, I knew he was going to meet a nasty end...( was expecting a car crash on the way to the airport).