It was a real weekday at Bernice’s.
A New Orleans socialite held a swanky cocktail party—that also happened to be her own wake.
Flamboyant philanthropist Mickey Easterling died on April 14 but instead of a lying in a boring coffin, the 83-year-old was dressed to the nines and holding a Champagne flute during a jazzy soiree at the Saenger Theater last Tuesday, according to The Advocate of New Orleans.
“It’s a really nice way to say, ‘The party’s over.’” her daughter Nanci Myke Easterling told the paper .
More than a thousand mourners including musician Allen Tousaint, attended the bash, paying their respects to Easterling, who was clad in an extravagant party hat, feather boa, and clutched a cigarette holder firmly in her cold left hand.
“She loved the limelight. She loved the attention,” her daughter said. “She was flamboyant. She had flair. She was outrageous.”
Easterling’s makeup artist said that he dressed her for the specifically for the occasion.
“My goal was to make her look even prettier than she was in real life,” Steele told the Advocate. “Because she was a larger-than-life person.”
The occasion was reminiscent of another wake for Treme Brass Band member “Uncle” Lionel Batiste’s in 2012.
The deceased drummer was wearing a suit and sunglasses while leaning against a fake street lamp.