Fancy Dress through the years
By Morgan Holt
April 13, 2011
Rooted in a community of tradition and history, it is not surprising that Fancy Dress has been an integral part of Washington and Lee for the past 104 years.
FD began in 1907 when resident librarian Anne Robertson White created the ideato “host a themed gala for the W&L community,” according to this year’s letter from the co-chairmen, senior Katie Geddes and junior Joseph Doyle. Since then, the W&L community looks forward tothe annualcelebration.
While still much-anticipated, the event has changed since its foundingover 100 years ago.
In the past, FD was known as one of the two biggest college parties in the South, according to alumnus Jeff Hamill ’81. The other, Easters at UVA, was last celebrated in the spring of 1982.
Hamill, a member of the Kappa Alpha Order, remembered a full week of fun based around fraternity events, starting with a Wednesday night party. On Friday night, KA hosted a band at the fraternity house and dates usually went out to dinner. Saturday afternoon involved a cook-out with a different band. Saturday night consisted of a formal dinner andcocktail party followed by the actual Fancy Dress in Doremus gym. Students relaxed after a busy week on Sunday morning with a “recovery” brunch with a band, according to Hamill.
“FD weekend was by far the biggest fun and most ambitious social event of the year,” said Hamill. “It was a marathon party and we were so proud that our little school could host such a legendary college party. Everyone at a southern school knew about Fancy dress.”
Alumnus Tom Sackfield ’84 agreed, saying the event was the “biggest party weekend by far of the year.” According to Sackfield, dates came from around the country, with Hollins and Sweetbriar as frequent attendees.
“Virtually nobody had hotel rooms, so that was always interesting to see where the dates slept,” Sackfield laughed. “I don’t know how I even remember it, but it was crazy fun.”
Laura Purcell, who graduated in 1994, said that sororities would also host formal dinners for the women and their dates on Thursday night. In addition, Friday’s classes were always cancelled.
“The actual event was more like a traditional ball,” Purcell said. “There were often live animals outside to greet you as you arrived – I remember there were live camels outside the gym for the Magical Carpet Ride FD.”
Hamill recalls attending FD a few years after graduation in 1983 with his now-wife, who was unfamiliar with the W&L social culture.
“She commented on Sunday that we were professional partiers and that she had never seen a group that could go at that pace from Thursday through Sunday,” Hamill said. “She was astonished at the scale of the party.”
Hamill’s daughter, Alex, is a current sophomore at W&L and has attended the past two Fancy Dresses. Listening to his daughter’s reenactments of the event, Hamill is skeptical of FD’s importance for the current student body.
“It just doesn’t seem as big,” he said. “Perhaps it’s because the drinking age is now 21 and social concerns about student drinking are very current.”
Purcell came back in 2007 to attend the 100th Fancy Dress and admits that she too was “disappointed.”
“It seemed just like my high school prom,” Purcell said. “There was no orchestra or big band. There were minimal decorations. The students were dressed more casual. It was just average.”
Alumnus Gerrald Giblin ’81 agrees that a lot has changed. In his time at W&L, FD “weekend” would last from about Wednesday night until late Sunday evening. Dates came from around the country to accompany the all-male students and there were almost as many non-W&L students as W&L students in town for the week, he said.
“I don’t hear stories now of out-of-town friends making it,” Giblin said. “I don’t think the weekend is nearly as big now as it seemed to be then.”
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