Attire
Another key aspect of how Fancy Dress has evolved over the years is the attire that students wore to the event. During the original galas, students would design the dance floor and dress up for the events. There are accounts of some of the very early Fancy Dress galas where students dressed up as George Washington and Robert E. Lee, while their dates dressed up as their wives. This dance was once one of the premiere events of its time, so students and their dates would go "all out" with their costumes. This can be see above. The theme of the first two pictures is the Roman Empire, while the third one to the right is the Wizard of Oz. Further, ahead of the event, students at Washington and Lee were responsible for the costume designs. The designs would be drawn by the sudents and sent to New York to be made.
In the late 1960's through the early 1970's, the dance move toward a black tie event. This began with some students dressing up in tuxedos and long dresses, while others were still in full costume. This can be seen in the picture above. As time went on, the themes became less important and so did the attire for the event. There was still a theme for each of the galas; however students decided to no longer dress to the theme. This was probably wise, given some of the controversial themes that were chosen in the 1980's. Today the dance maintains the black tie tradition that it shifted to during this time. The pictures below are an examples of one of the early black tie galas and one of the more recent galas.
