Three Washington and Lee students are in the thick of planning and coordinating a tradition over a century old: Fancy Dress. What does it take to make Fancy Dress happen? As it turns out, it takes a village and a lot of money.
Fancy Dress was allotted $65,000 from the Executive Committee last spring, according to the EC’s website. This is the fourth highest amount of money allocated to a student organization from the EC in the spring allocations, behind the Student Bar Association, Contact Committee, and General Activities Board.
“A lot of our money comes from ticket sales and package sales,” said Mariyyah Daniel, ’27. “But most of it is EC funded.”
Daniel is one of the three chairs of the event, alongside Emmy Richey, ’26, and Marina Duff, ’27.
The chairs would not share what their total budget was after the EC allocation, fundraising and ticket sales.
“We’re constantly cycling money,” Daniel said.
With money coming in from different fundraisers and sales throughout the year, the chairs do not know what their total budget will be throughout the process, Daniel said. They will know their total spending after the event occurs.
“I think there’s so many things that go into Fancy Dress that the student body doesn’t know or think about,” Duff said. “Thinking about being on the other side of it, it makes total sense. There really is a lot that happens.”
The Fancy Dress budget pays for the band and the band’s lodging. The organization’s funds also go toward security, decorations, activities, fundraising costs, the tents and much more according to Duff and Daniel.
Fancy Dress began in 1907 after Washington and Lee librarian Anne Robertson White organized the first official ball, according to the Fancy Dress website. Since then, Fancy Dress has morphed into one of the university’s largest annual events managed by students.
“It really does take a village to put on Fancy Dress,” Duff said.
There are 50 general members and 15 executive board members on the Fancy Dress Committee, Daniel said.
Reagan Radocesky, ’26, is one of the fundraising chairs. Planning fundraisers often happens during executive meetings, Radocesky said. Running up until Fancy Dress, the committee will host several fundraisers, including raffles and exam week care packages.
Daniel and Duff said they’ve been working to keep ticket prices as low and consistent as possible while accounting for inflation.
Daniel said she has made an effort to donate tickets to the Office of Inclusion and Engagement, which provides tickets to students who cannot afford tickets. Duff said Fancy Dress often gets backlash from the student body about the cost of tickets.
“The tickets are funding the event itself,” Duff said. “I think sometimes the student body forgets about that.”
Ticket costs for Fancy Dress 2026 have not been released yet. Last year, a single ticket cost $45. The $65 package included a ticket, t-shirt, shot glass and deck of cards.
The tri-chairs work to keep the Fancy Dress tradition alive, Daniel said.
“Literally, today, I’m in class on my iPad, and I get a call,” Daniel said. “I’m just like, this is for Fancy Dress, and they’re calling me in class. But I’m happy to do it.”
“It definitely is time consuming. And I really love it,” Duff said. “I don’t mind doing it at all.”
This year’s Fancy Dress is planned for Saturday, March 21 from 8 p.m. to midnight at the Richard L. Duchossois Center for Athletics and Recreation. The theme is “the Wizarding World of Fancy Dress.”
