The Good, The Bad, And The Muddy: Understanding The Welly Wardrobe
Having spent most of my summer weekends at 21st birthday parties, I found myself asked repeatedly, ‘So where are you at uni?’ To which I’d diligently respond, ‘Do you know St Andrews? Yeah, it is very far away’. The conversation would usually follow one of two courses: conversations about golf (no, I don’t play) or them going off on some tangent about how they either really want to go to Welly, or they want last year and had 'so much fun, mate, not that I really remember it'.
Going into my third Welly, I'd like to think I’m starting to train my eye to work out who’s who solely by their styling choices… So if you’re trekking up north just for the weekend or you’re a fresher who isn’t quite sure what they’re in for, this might be the guide for you.
The Out of Towners
Recognisable by their muddy boots and wine-stained shirts are the various university shooting teams who have made their annual migration up North for the St Andrews Challenge and (more importantly)... Welly. While they spend part of their evening in the confines of the Clay Tent, they will inevitably venture into the rest of Falside Mill where they will be genuinely shocked to hear you actually go to St Andrews. Often armed with a bottle of wine and hopefully a full pack of cigarettes, they’re some of the most entertaining characters of the night.
The St Andrews Standard
The student body tends to lean towards either mini dresses in black, red, or blue (somewhat in accordance with our logo, come to think of it) or some sort of striped bow tie that matches the rest of their club/sports team. There’s something of a tribe mentality to St Andrews students at Welly; we’re among the slowest movers because suddenly one of your friends has decided she needs to talk to her library crush and another one is dapping up a fresher he loosely knows through Sunday league. However, it is these soon-to-be-forgotten conversations which make all the haggling on the Ticket Exchange for the past week worth it.
The Tartan Army
Tartan usually tells you quite a lot about a person, their family, and the region they might be from. At Welly Ball I’m not quite sure this is the case; instead it seems to be a mere suggestion that the owner of said pair of trews has some sort of Scottish ancestry, though they may not be particularly sure what side of the family it’s on. I’m personally a huge fan of the kilt X Wellington boot pairing, though I can only hope that the kilt is as traditional as it gets and they have got something on underneath!
The Kate Moss Wannabes
Having abandoned their fashion show committee jackets at coat check to reveal dresses which are a bit too short, a bit too sparkly, and a bit too sheer to really be considered black tie, is the more fashionable crowd of St Andrews students. Myself included, scouring Vinted has been a main source of procrastination during deadline season. While the dinner jacket is rather limiting as far as avant-garde wardrobe choices go, the possibilities are endless when it comes to mini-dresses and how you might choose to accessorise.
The Committee
This year the committee will be recognisable by their Le Chameau’s as well as their lanyards. While the look of relief on their face that everyone seems to be having fun may be their usual accessory, this year Le Chameau’s sponsorship of the event is making the committee truly ready to Welly and dance the night away as they hear ‘This is the best Welly Ball yet’ for the umpteenth time.
You’re likely to come across each of these characters at some point on Saturday night. But regardless of which subcategory you have found yourself in, I’m sure you’ll have a welly good time…
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