Housecoat holiday Part of the problem in deciding on an outfit this year is that New Year's Eve won't mean, for many, the formal, blowout gala they'd envisioned. Personally, I was thinking about flying to Florida but the flight costs triple what it usually would, and the hotel has a four-night minimum reservation required. Even Champagne has doubled in price. Juliet Kelley, director of merchandising for sportswear at Esprit, agrees. Not a lot of people have big plans.
Bookings are down.
It's just too expensive. Another thing that's down, Kelley says, are sales of formal party dresses at department stores. But then, ball gowns are only for socialite types of functions nowadays. Everything's gotten more eclectic, sleeker, more casual. But that doesn't mean partygoers are doomed to wearing jeans for the countdown to the final year of this century.