Of Beards and Boas

The concept was simple: ladies had free entry,free drinks and free snacks the entire night. Men were offered the same,on the condition that they were accompanied by women and,well,dressed like them. At the entrance to the pub were baskets full of dresses,feathered boas,skirts,tops and other womenswear beyond our masculine comprehension. There were also a number of polychromatic wigs in a range of hairstyles that could have made up the accessory list for a Lady Gaga concert.

The men were varied in their enthusiasm of dressing up for a girl’s night out. While some merely put on token wigs and boas,others (including your chronicler) really got into the mood of the whole thing and decked themselves up in dresses ranging from the modest to the mardi gras style dresses. We went through multiple costume changes,from a virginal white full length dress to a low cut mini (each with individual hairstyles of course) and several more as the night wore on. We don’t know if it was the mood of the evening or the free wine that was fuelling our enthusiasm,but we went with the flow.

The music for the evening was provided by Sandunes from Mumbai,Kini Rao from Hyderabad and SPACE from Kolkata,all women-centric bands,the last of which had the male members of the group dressed in saris. It was mostly women tearing up the dance floor,while the men in their glam wear huddled in corners,nursing drinks and fragile egos.

After scrambling into umpteen dresses,we gained a new respect for women and their skill of getting into their clothes,which is much harder than it looks. All in all,it was a great experience,this walk on the other side,and an eye-opener in more ways than one. We thoroughly enjoyed wearing our dresses. Till we had to use the toilet anyway.