By Jim Knippenberg
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Looks as if its reputation is intact. The Cincinnati Men's Chorus, we mean, and the reputation for drawing the most outrageous - and creative - costumes of any of the city's Halloween parties.

Not that there were many parties this year. Unlike past years that saw three and four dress-up benefits the weekend before Halloween, this year had only one major one.

Close to 250 paid $60 and showed up Saturday for the Saints and Sinners Ball at Newport's One Riverboat Row for a silent auction on the first floor and throbbing dance music on the second, presided over by Carol Sherman-Jones in a battery-powered brassiere.

Most guests were in costume. Two guys in a swirl of pink as Mary Kay ladies. A group of four in huge flouncy wedding dresses cut way the heck low in the back. A pregnant nun.

Plus construction workers in star-spangled hard hats. Aliens, monks, guys dressed as the Wizard of Oz's Dorothy, guys in 6-inch stiletto heels, the largest fake bosoms in North America, lots of vinyl, lots of leather, lots of skin and one bizarre garter belt. Don't ask.

Covington businessman David Herriman and Cincinnati restaurateur Shirley Bernstein were honorary saint and sinner.

E-mail jknippenberg@enquirer.com