Have you never heard of the 'Black Tie and Boots Ball"?? It's the Texas Ball and EVERYONE wears boots!...ballgowns and all! It's a gas!
I went to that last time after lucking out and scoring a ticket. It was a blast to be sure but the thing was WAY over sold and WAY over crowded - too many people (most of them effete DC sociallites and bootlickers) to really have fun at. The main event of the night was supposed to be Bush's preinaugural appearance, but the room was so full that you couldn't move around and could barely even see him. After a minute or two in the speaker hall I went to the concert room downstairs and spent the rest of the night listening to the Beach Boys about 5 feet away from the stage.