Last weekend, I had the privilege of attending a small-town Ladies Night. This annual intergenerational event offered games, door prizes, and a silent auction to raise funds for the local Agricultural Society. A crowd of 150 women from the surrounding areas gathered amidst ticket stubs and plastic drink receptacles. We all enjoyed a thoughtfully made dinner which prepared our bodies for the four hours of passionate dancing that followed. This event was incredible.

What distinguished this fundraiser from others that I have been to was one particularly endearing quality: it was a costumed event. This year’s theme was Greek Goddess, and let me tell you, the guests showed up loud and proud.

Inspired by the energy in the room, I began to think about how excellent costumed events are. Thus, using examples from this event, I’ve compiled a list of three gifts costumed events give to us.

Gift #1: Creativity

When my sister informed us a week before the event that it was costumed, I admittedly started to panic. How was I, in less than a week, supposed to come up with a Greek goddess-inspired outfit that didn’t hurt the wallet and didn’t require online shopping? As a mom of two younger children, I needed to get creative.

The four of us ladies planning to go to the event together took different approaches to completing this task.

My sister’s friend chose to represent a specific goddess—Athena, the goddess of arts and crafts— and scoured her closet to find articles of clothing that fit her muse. She then added a personal touch by customizing a necklace to display symbols of arts and crafts.

I also scoured my closet, but without specific inspiration, I struggled to piece things together. I opted to repurpose an old angel costume from my Halloween tote. With a gold studded belt, some gold jewelry, and a convenient gold-leaf headpiece that was also found in the tote, I was satisfied enough with my outfit.

My mom, a problem-solving Queen, chose to contact our local costume store and was able to find a perfectly themed Greek outfit to rent.

My sister opted to follow our mother’s lead and got her to purchase an on-sale outfit from the costume store for her.

Costumed events make people dive down these avenues of “How am I—Where am I going to find something for this?” Based on the outfits I saw that evening, it was evident that many creative methods were activated in preparation for the event. 

Some women jazzed up their regular dresses with Greek-inspired jewelry. Some showed off gorgeous online-ordered put-together outfits. Others proudly wore cleverly folded sheets tied with a rope—true toga fashion.

My favourite display of creativity? The two women who donned tissue paper, balloons, and Styrofoam to make themselves into servings of Greek salad. Creativity at its finest.

Gift #2: Confidence

You don’t show up to an event dressed as Greek salad without a bit of confidence. Admittedly, I was trepidatious as I was getting ready for the event. I don’t like being singled out or not fitting in. I didn’t want to show up to this costumed event overdressed, underdressed, or oddly dressed. It was advertised as a costumed event, yet I still worried we would be the only ones in actual costumes.

Thankfully, when we arrived at the event, my worries vanished. Every single person was dressed up and proud to be. The variety of outfits on display were adorned by women who looked comfortable and confident in them.

Knowing how the four of us each got to our final outfits made me realize that a bit of each person’s personality was displayed in their costumes. This was a touching realization as it made me appreciate each person for their individuality more than if I were at a non-costumed event.

Some of my favourite displays of confidence were from a group of girls who wore Greek yogurt containers on their heads as their costumes. They were giggling and enjoying the simple things all night long. Another memorable moment was when one of the Greek salad ladies vigorously took to the dancefloor and began showering the other dancers with shreds of her well-worn outfit. It was a display of confidence in confetti.

Gift #3: Camaraderie

The best gift I believe costumed events give is a sense of camaraderie. The concept of coming together and purposefully matching or complimenting strangers is a beautiful one—literally. This event was visually satisfying.

Upon arrival, the feeling of camaraderie was palpable. When I walked into the hall and saw the first handful of women in togas, I was instantly captivated. Not only was I proud to see so many women confidently suited up in atypical outfits, but I was mesmerized by the colours and grandeur of it all. We were goddesses! Yes, that particular point is theme-specific, but the attitude in the room was to fully embrace the theme. That is what was so fantastic. 

In our group of four specifically, our camaraderie started from the moment we heard about the event being costumed. We conversed on social media about outfit ideas, sent pictures, and asked for advice.

On the day of, we amusingly squished into one bathroom so that we could do our hair and put on our makeup together. Dressed in our outfits, we asked for touch-up advice and traded accessories. Even throughout the night, I witnessed the occasional exchange of jewelry from other ladies.

Being united in theme felt like we were all a part of a team. When raffles were being drawn, we were cheering each other on, even though it meant we were cheering against ourselves.

There was a general understanding of taking care of each other. As women, we know how important that is. At a costumed event, the intentionality was only heightened. The verbal affirmations from one goddess to another, the sharing of the mop that was brought out to clean spills on the dance floor, and the group effort in clearing off the tables at the end are prime examples of the camaraderie displayed that evening.

As the dancing continued into the early hours of the next day, the group of strangers, some slightly influenced by their used-up drink tickets, were dancing together as if they were friends all along.

Costumed events have the potential to be expensive, awkward, and isolating. However, I think those attributes are more untrue than true of actual costumed events. The people who choose to engage in them are people I want to be around: creative, confident, dependable people.

I am already planning to attend next year’s Ladies Night. I’ll just be sure to ask for the theme earlier on.  

Comment below on which gifts you agree with or which you would add.

I live on the island of Newfoundland, off the coast of the country we call Canada. It’s my annual spring clean exercise when I wonder why I have multiples of everything and then I remember the weather here.

The fact is you need something for different weather conditions. Take coats. I have a fall coat you can fling over a shirt. Then there’s the late fall jacket, which allows you to wear a second layer plus a tasteful scarf. Then there’s the raincoat with a zip-out liner, followed by the early winter jacket, the heavy winter jacket, the damp-cold-while-shoveling coat with breathable vents, and the bitter cold where even breathing causes frost in your lungs winter coat.

But I had not realized that in the journey to my 60s, I acquired a multitude of heavy-duty footwear including my favourite: bright red ice-walkng boots with built-in crampons. They all keep me warm and steady on my feet so I can ably meet the challenges raised by wet, snowy, rainy, ice conditions.

I’ve always liked shoes of all kinds. As a rule, I wasn’t a high-heel-wearing person although I admired those who carried off the extra height with grace and style. Two summers ago, I rolled my ankle badly enough that I wore ankle supports for a month whenever I travelled and I ended up breaking my no-buy rule to buy a new pair of extremely sturdy walking shoes.

Then last summer I rolled my ankle again while wearing my favourite sandals. It didn’t hurt as much as it did the first time, but it got me thinking about the fragility of hips, knees, ankles and toes. Summer is coming and I know I will want to wear my sandals and light outdoor shoes again. So I started doing some research.

I always knew post menopausal people are at risk for osteoporosis so preventing fractures while working out is important as is increasing bone strength with weight-wearing exercises. What I didn’t know is how much our stability and balance also decline as we age. Your ankle strength plays a significant role in keeping you upright, maintaining your balance, and adapting to changes in walking surfaces. While we should keep our hips in alignment and protect our knees, we also need to take care of the little bones that connect your feet to your legs.

Weak ankles are a significant fall risk. According to this article on ankle strengthening exercises, the risk of continued or increasing weakness post-injury is greater than we think. “Every year, an estimated two million people sprain, strain, or fracture an ankle. Between 30% and 70% of them will be left with chronic ankle instability. That makes the joint weaker and more prone to injury.”

While I regularly iced and elevated my bruised and tender ankle when healing, I did not incorporate any specific exercises to make my ankle stronger. Focusing on building strength and improving balance, posture, and foot positioning will be a priority for me as I approach the summer.

How about you, blog readers? Have you noticed any differences in how your ankles are behaving the older you get? Let us know in the comments. And if you have any favourite ankle exercises, tell us about those too!

MarthaFitat55 is working on ankles of iron instead of buns of steel this summer.