It was the tenth roll out of Texas pride in the nation's capital, in the form of the Black Tie & Boots Gala. It's exactly what it states, a formal black tie event where the preferred footwear is western boots. Unlike most Inaugural week balls, this unofficial event actually includes dancing to live music, and with copious amounts of food and drink...Texas-style.
It's all hosted by the Texas State Society, a cultural group for displaced Texans in DC that was founded in the early 1900's. The TSS sold some 10-thousand tickets to Black Tie & Boots this yea,r at 275 and 300 bucks a pop. It gives an idea of how popular it has become since the first ball in 1981, when Texan George HW Bush became Vice President of the US.
Bush 41 was the catalyst for this famous Texas tradition at every Inaugural since.