Dear all, the gala is coming up again. What exactly is a gala? At its core, it\u2019s a party you attend in formal evening wear. But in our student world, of course, many more little rules have been invented. It\u2019s enjoyable for both yourself and others if you follow these rules, especially those regarding appearance. At the gala, we all agree to behave in a gala-appropriate manner. I highly recommend doing so\u2014not just because it\u2019s fun for yourself, but because if you don\u2019t, you risk ruining the party for others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The most important thing: the clothing<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s start with clothing. In general, for men, the rules become stricter with increasing formality, while for women they become more relaxed. It\u2019s always important to come to the gala in proper formal wear. If you don\u2019t, not only will you make a fool of yourself, but it\u2019s also an insult to those who did make the effort to acquire the correct outfit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are two types of dress codes: formal (“white tie”) and semi-formal (“black tie”). At Koornbeurs, we don\u2019t make things too complicated\u2014both are allowed. I\u2019ll first explain white tie for men, as it\u2019s the most official and complex dress code. That also makes it the most fun to wear, probably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For men, white tie means wearing evening tails. This outfit consists of five parts. Starting from the bottom: first you wear a white evening shirt. This is a complicated shirt since not all the buttons are visible from the outside. It also has a standing collar (tailors call this a “wing collar”). Around the collar you wear a white bow tie. You can tie it yourself if you like. At Koornbeurs, no one will hold it against you if you wear a pre-tied one, but there are people in the outside world who would laugh at you for it\u2014so it\u2019s worth learning to tie it properly. You also wear a white waistcoat. This waistcoat is cut very low and has no back. The black suit consists of black trousers and a tailcoat\u2014this looks like a very short jacket with long tails, as if someone turned a mullet into a suit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Black tie for men means wearing a tuxedo. It\u2019s called that because you wear a black rather than a white bow tie. The waistcoat is also black with black tie. And the jacket is a \u201cnormal\u201d dinner jacket. The rest is roughly the same as white tie. Your shirt should have cufflinks, though I\u2019ve never bothered with that because mine was super cheap. Your shoes should be shiny patent leather, but as long as they\u2019re black, nobody will notice. Please don\u2019t wear sneakers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For women, clothing at both white tie and black tie is roughly the same. At its core, it\u2019s an evening gown. This is sleeveless and long (down to the ankles or floor). For white tie, a ball gown (with a full skirt) is also allowed. Where for men it\u2019s \u201cthe more formal, the more black-and-white,\u201d for women it\u2019s the opposite. Especially for white tie, flamboyant accessories like jewelry, gloves, and a shawl are appropriate. You can choose your own accessories freely. But a watch is not allowed\u2014after all, a good time knows no time. (This applies to men as well.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n How do I invite my date?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n This is done by the gentleman\u2014except in leap years, when the lady takes the initiative. The gentleman sends his intended companion a letter written in silver ink on blue paper. The lady replies with a letter written in gold ink on pink paper. In her letter, she invites him over for tea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During this tea appointment, you do not talk about the gala. However, the lady gives the gentleman two hints. The first is in what she serves with the tea. If it\u2019s nothing, she doesn\u2019t want to go to the gala. If it\u2019s a plain biscuit, she wants to go, but nothing more. If it\u2019s a big piece of cream cake, she wants to go to the gala and also spend the night with the gentleman. There are many possible variations\u2014just think about what a filled cookie or a slice of lemon cake might mean. The second hint is in the color of the dress, subtly but clearly visible. This is necessary because the gentleman must make a boutonni\u00e8re (corsage) that matches it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fun fact: during a leap year, this whole process is reversed and the lady invites the gentleman.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n On the day itself<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Before the gala, the gentleman ensures he has two identical corsages. Traditionally these are flowers, but you can make something creative yourself. The corsages are pinned on the left chest: the lady wears hers with the flower pointing down, the gentleman with the flower pointing up. The gentleman pins the corsages when picking up the lady.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lastly, we\u2019d like to note that since 1961, it has been allowed in Koornbeurs to \u201cdance mixed.\u201d So you are not being unchaste if you ask someone other than your own date to dance. Be sure to take advantage of this.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Dear all, the gala is coming up again. What exactly is a gala? At its core, it\u2019s a party you attend in formal evening wear. But in our student world, of course, many more little …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":2252,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2254","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-varia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forum.koornbeurs.nl\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forum.koornbeurs.nl\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forum.koornbeurs.nl\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forum.koornbeurs.nl\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forum.koornbeurs.nl\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2254"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/forum.koornbeurs.nl\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2254\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2255,"href":"https:\/\/forum.koornbeurs.nl\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2254\/revisions\/2255"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forum.koornbeurs.nl\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forum.koornbeurs.nl\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forum.koornbeurs.nl\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forum.koornbeurs.nl\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}