What to wear to Welly

I attended Welly Ball my first year, worked behind the bar last year and I plan on doing the same this year. It’s a lot of fun, and unlike a lot of big events in St Andrews where you see the same people that you see in Ma Bells, Welly Ball is full of fresh faces.

But the question everyone is asking: “What do I wear? Wellies? Barbour? Ridiculous! With a suit? With a dress? Surely not!”

The answer? It’s all in the name darling – it’s called Welly Ball for a reason. Wear wellies! They’re fun, comfy and practical for Kinkell, where mud will find its way onto your outfit even if you could’ve sworn you didn’t go outside for that cigarette.

As a fresher, I went for a short cocktail dress and my trusted Hunter wellies with those bright coloured fleece socks that fold over the top. I wore thick wool socks over my knees as well. This meant I got to have some fun with the colours; after all, it’s better not to take yourself too seriously. For a jacket, I wore my Barbour with a simple grey zip-up hoody (it get’s cold out there). This is probably the only event you’ll attend where you can dress to impress but do so practically. There are no eyebrow-raising judgments at your lack of heels – instead, there’s the shared sentiment amongst the female-attendees that stilettos are simply no match for a pair of comfortable wellies.

A warning: don’t wear wellies with a long dress. In fact, don’t wear a long dress full stop. Reasons? Just one. Mud. If you want to wear that long dress ever again then think twice before you wear it mid-November in St Andrews.

Now it’s down to colour. If you have patterned wellies choose a block colour dress that will accentuate the colours in the wellies. If you have plain wellies, the world is your oyster.  However, be careful of floral dresses – it’s not summer anymore.  Don’t worry too much about clashing colours, a black dress is perfectly fine with blue wellies!  The wellies speak for themselves really. They don’t follow the same rules as normal shoes, which should either subtly complement an outfit or, if the footwear is more a work of art, be the star of the show. Wellies, funnily enough, are actually quite flattering for girls anyway – a chunky shoe makes a figure appear slightly slimmer, compared to hunched over girls balancing on ice picks.

Guys? Well, you still have to wear suits.  My friends had a bit of fun with the idea and bought some bright spotted wellies which were, quite simply, fabulous! I’m pretty sure they both took girls home that night as well… take note gentlemen! Obviously the keen game-shooters wore their Chameaus, but let’s be honest, after all the wine and gin, the brand of rain boots a man chooses to wear isn’t a deal-breaker.

Have fun with the idea of game-shooting, gin-drinking posh countrymen, it’s a great event and you’ll meet tons of new people.  Remember the time of year, and how temperamental the weather is in St Andrews.

And trust me on the wellies.

Written by Alexandra Fitzpatrick, standout writer