The formal nights.

These are the nights when you put on your finery,when the elegant stand out from the humdrum. Not that there should be any great difference between tho two groups. The shops are overflowing with good quality and reasonably priced clothes,they have stylists to help the unsure and ungainly.So why is this ship full of women wearing throwbacks to the era of Dynasty? Padded shoulders. misshapen tunics and skirts the English language is yet to find a word for. There was a woman the other evening having a formal photo taken,standing next to her partner,the photographer arranging the dress this way and that way,but nothing was right,the dress looked strange and the woman's posture didn't do it any justice,neither did her sandals, more suitable for the beach.Yet at close look the dress was lovely,black, almost ankle length,off the shoulders,but on that self-conscious woman it looked like a sack.To my bewilderment the woman was not carrying a handbag. On a five star ship without an evening bag. The best dressed women on the ships are the  Japanese-simple,elegant,suitably suited and booted for every occasion,as are the Japanese men.You never see them wearing the same outfit twice.I think it is because they are small in stature,so their clothes are small and they can pack much more than an average western person can.And they behave impeccably.Many years ago I read somewhere, that before going abroad they are instructed to behave so as not to disgrace their country.It may or may not be true [I personally think it is],but one thing is certain-many rude,obnoxious Europeans could learn a thing or two from them.Now and then a miracle happens,like today, a man, no, not a man, a GOD, walked by wearing white immaculate trousers,white short sleeved shirt,it had a pattern at the front, quite unnecessary,but the shirt was snow white,ironed to perfection,he had on pale blue suede shoes, was clean shaven,grey hair neat and obviously recently washed and cut.I looked at him in wonderment - was he real or just a figment of my imagination? And then there was the moment the two gentlemen I had seen on the Independence  of the Seas walked into the dining room on the first formal evening, and they took my breath away-dark, elegant suites,shoes shining brightly, The first impression  really is the most important impression.