What to wear: Big Top Ball

The circus is coming to St Andrews. Time to pull out your clothes best suited for the Best Show on Earth.

The theme is ‘black tie with a circus twist’ so the key to achieving a little show-time pizzazz is the accessories. Try a hat, heels (t-straps are perfect), feathers (anywhere/everywhere), and/or a pair of lady-like fitted gloves.

If these items don’t exist in your wardrobe, I recommend you spend a fortune to get them to St Andrews stat, because you will be a disgrace otherwise.

Just kidding!

For this ball, playing with proportions is a great way to mess around with the theme without looking like you tried to hard. One idea is to wear a leotard under a big, voluminous skirt. If skirts ain’t your thing, this look is just as cool with interesting wide-leg trousers. Add a pair of outrageous earrings and you are good-to-go.

If you have a peplum-style shirt, try it with a monochrome skirt or wide-leg slacks. And if you have a dress with a narrow bodice and lot of flounce in its skirt—wear it. Tonight, tonight, tonight is the night.

If you happen to own a well-fitted military-style tunic, why not wear it over a slinky, silky cocktail dress. Very fun. And if you don’t have one, I’ll personally ring William Wales for you, I hear he exclusively lends out his tunics to St Andreans.

Beauty: if gluing things to your eyelids is a-okay with you, go for falsies. If you’re feeling feisty (go you), use that glue to put rhinestones on your face (why not? this is a circus). Give those eyes the benefit of your black mascara brush. Blush, or shall we say rouge, is fabulous. Red lips are a good circus look (clowns and that), but if you are already going big on your eyes and cheeks, maybe take it easy on the lips. Maybe.

This is a great night for stripes on men’s shirts, jackets, trousers, etc. Three-piece suits and bow ties are highly encouraged. Wear a top hat and a colourful pocket-square. For goodness sake, those pocket squares weren’t made for no reason!

If you’re feeling extra cheeky, throw on some colourful suspenders and bring a cane. Girls will definitely swoon. Just don’t use that cane to threaten or injure fellow ball-goers.

image © Attire.com

For your face and hair: shave, or alternatively wear a moustache. Spritz on the cologne. Go get ‘em!

images © style.com