The Grand Affair Ahead of the 2025 edition of Fancy Dress, take a visual walk down memory lane with the beloved W&L tradition.

By Laura Lemon
March 14, 2025

What do Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, a Trojan horse and medieval attire all have in common? They make up the eclectic fabric of Fancy Dress history.

On the night of Feb. 12, 1907, the Washington and Lee University gymnasium first transformed for the Bal Masque-themed gala event, with evergreen hangings, Japanese lanterns, the VMI orchestra and silver urns of coffee and chocolate. University librarian Annie Jo White threw the first Fancy Dress because of a rumored $42 surplus of theater funds, and in the 118 years since, it has transformed into a staple annual event.

On Saturday, March 15, students will filter into Duchossois Athletic and Recreation Center like generations before them, dressed in black tie for the “007” Fancy Dress theme. To celebrate, scroll through the decades of elegance and dancing.

In 1927, students dressed up for the theme of “Carnival at Venice.”

In honor of the nation-wide bicentennial of George Washington’s birth, the 1932 Fancy Dress transformed Doremus Gymnasium into a Colonial ballroom. This year also marked the first network broadcast of the event.

In 1948, men and women dressed to the theme of “Hampton Court Under Charles II.”

In 1955, the Fancy Dress committee traveled back over 1,000 years to the height of the Greek and Roman empires, with the theme of “Odyssey Through the Empires.” A replica of the Trojan Horse was displayed inside Doremus Gymnasium.

Everyone dressed to the theme of “The Wizard of Oz” in 1956.

Louis Armstrong played during the 1958 Fancy Dress.

The theme of the 1968 Fancy Dress in Evans Dining Hall was “High Society.”

“Salute to Hollywood” was the theme of 1976.

The Arc de Triomphe framed the band in Evans Dining Hall for the 1977 “Passport to Paris” Fancy Dress.

The 74th Fancy Dress was “On Broadway.”

Four thousand people crowded into the Warner Center in 1984 to dance to the music of the Lester Lanin Orchestra.

A student works on the decorations for 1991’s “A Royal Festival at King Arthur’s Court.”

To honor the 100th anniversary of Fancy Dress, the committee decorated the Colonnade and campus in the “Black & White Masquerade Ball” theme.

Keith Trump ’14 and Jennifer Ritter ’13 dance during the 2014 “Lost Cities of Gold” Fancy Dress.

The 2016 Fancy Dress committee made it a “Party on the Moon.”

The 2022 edition of “Night at the Museum” marked the first Fancy Dress after a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The only other times Fancy Dress didn’t mark the calendars were during World War II and the Vietnam War.