We ranked the five best outfit themes at YOLO last week

Hint: They obviously weren’t a blue shirt and chinos

6 months ago | UPDATED 6 months ago

If you’re a regular YOLO-goer, you’ve likely witnessed all the quintessential elements of a Wednesday night at the SU; Freshers getting sloshed off a couple VKs, sweaty bodies in the silent disco, or the massive queue that you find yourself standing in for most of the night.

But amongst all the madness, one thing you can always look forward to about YOLO is seeing (and judging) everybody’s outfits. Last week we saw some great efforts from many different societies, but we’ve narrowed it down to our top five.

From Oompa Loompas to German Barmaids, here are the ones that made the cut.

5. Peaky Blinders – Aerial Fitness

There aren’t many things sexier than dressing provocatively-early 1900s with a flat cap on your head and a cigarette in your hand. That is, until you add in the fact that these beauts also know their way around a pole.

The Aerial girls effortlessly emulated the criminal Brummie gang, landing them in our top five. The only reason they’re not higher on the list is that we’ve seen this theme a fair few times before. However, we’re sure Cillian Murphy would approve, and really that’s all that matters.

4. Willy Wonka – IMG Dragons Netball

Last Wednesday the Dragons brought us to a world of pure imagination *wink wink*. The versatility of the theme provided funny-but-cutesy costumes such as the blue-nosed bubblegum lover, Violet Beauregarde, as well as the slightly less cute (but always chucklesome) orange-faced Oompa Loompas.

For perfectly showcasing the duality of women, the Dragons sit comfortably at our forth-place spot.

3. Mean Girls – Surf Society

On Wednesdays, they wear pink. Last week the surfers channelled the iconic 2000s film with their all-pink attire, showing us they’re not a regular society- they’re a cool society.

With rumours of a Mean Girls reunion movie floating about, what better time to portray the infamous Plastics? Such cultural relevance (mixed with the endless hilarity of surfer dudes cross-dressing as teenage girls) lands Surf Soc in our top three.

2. Barbie – Feminist Society

Taking the silver medal is the feminist society, who showed us life in plastic really is fantastic. Keeping with the pink theme, they celebrated the most popular feminist film of 2023 by dressing up as Barbies and treating YOLO as their Dreamhouse. From Cowboy Barbie, to Workout Barbie, to Lawyer Barbie- Fem Soc proved that girls can be anything they want to be (whilst still looking fabulous). We reckon Margot Robbie would be proud.

1. Oktoberfest – JOMEC Netball

And finally, taking the first place spot (which has everything to do with their festive costumes and nothing to do with the fact that I’m a JOMEC girl myself), is JOMEC netball! With beers, barmaid outfits and bunches in their hair, these girls emulated German realness this October. The only drawback is the ametuer pint-downing, but that’ll come with practice.