A Tulane Student's Guide to Mardi Gras Style

From my experience, Mardi Gras at Tulane is about three things - parties, booze, and outrageous outfits. For months leading up to the grand 4 day event, my friends and I scoured thrift stores, malls, online, and local stores for the best, most colorful, eccentric outfits out there. Here are some tricks we learned, and the outfits we ended up with.

1. You don’t need to spend big when it comes to Mardi Gras outfits

After all my searching, my top places for clothes were Amazon and Forever 21 (also has great plus size options). Although there are lots of nice NOLA boutiques to get colorful leggings and sequins tops, you can find very similar look-a-likes for a lot less (namely the aforementioned spots). I suggest looking for the cheapest options, especially when you know your outfit will probably be covered in drinks, sweat, rain and mud by the end of the day.

Emily (left) is wearing purple tube top from Amazon. I am wearing Free People bralette, Forever 21 jacket and pants and temporary metallic flash tattoos.

Click for temporary tattoos

Click for purple sequin tube top

2. The more color (and sparkles!) the better

This might be different advice than what you would get from a local, but when it comes to a Tulane Mardi Gras: color, patterns, and glitter are everything. This is a special time when the regular rules of fashion and social acceptability go out the window, and nothing you can wear is too absurd.

Picture of my roommates and me. Amanda (left) is wearing top from Forever 21. I am wearing top from Forever 21 and bottoms from Amazon. Paige (right) is wearing the same bottoms from Amazon and top from Amazon.

Click for silver shorts (would recommend sizing up)

Click for silver sequin tube top

3. Be ready for the weather!

We all know New Orleans is rainy, but nights get chilly too. I didn’t want to ruin my nicer raincoat in the messiness that comes with parade routes, so I decided to just be wet one day. The next day, some friends and I bought rain ponchos for a dollar at a local convenience store. On the last day, when it was cold, I wore a faux fur jacket from Forever 21. This was my most expensive, but favorite piece I bought.

4. You can DIY clothes to make them fit your look

I ended up cutting up a lot of pieces I found. This is another reason it’s good to not spend too much on Mardi Gras clothes. This top from Forever 21 had huge sleeves on it, but New Orleans is so warm and I wanted a tank top, so I made it happen.

I (right) am wearing a top from Forever 21 (I cut the sleeves off myself), and shorts from Amazon. Janie (right) is wearing outfit from Amazon.

Click for green leggings

5. Definitely swap pieces with your friends

The best thing my friends and I did was have a joint Mardi Gras closet. We swapped clothes everyday, so none of us ever ran out of new outfits to wear. This also helps when you're on a budget (which most of us were) - you don't need to buy 4-5 outfits to have a new one each day. I used pieces I already owned as well. Plus, sharing clothes with your friends/roommates is fun anytime of the year!

Addie (left) is wearing shorts from Forever 21 and top from Pink by Victoria's Secret. I (right) am wearing t-shirt from Urban Outfitters (borrowed from a friend), fishnet tights (borrowed from a friend), and shorts from Gap.

Mardi Gras is fun for lots of reasons, and the outfits are definitely one of them. Most of all, wear what you want; you really can’t go wrong.

Look out for another blog post to come regarding tips for the actual event!