Fancy dress gets girls drunk

Men drink more than women, except when everyone’s in fancy dress. That’s the rather bizarre conclusion of a recent study into student parties.

Although all previous research into alcohol consumption at gatherings has found men drink substantially more, it appears that at fancy dress parties women overtake them.

This is particularly true when the fancy dress has a sexual theme, according to the study by the Centre for Alcohol and Drug Studies at San Diego State University.
Lead author Dr John Clapp, director of the study, said:

"It is rare to find any situation where women drink more than men, and these events tended to have sexualized themes and costumes.

"Given that some theme parties can be highly sexualized, future investigation of the mechanisms that may explain this effect is warranted."

Of the parties studied, 15% had a theme. Some of these were sexual in nature, including lingerie, ‘anything but clothes’ and ‘just had sex’.

Among men, the average Breath Alcohol Content (BrAC) of men did not vary between fancy dress and non-fancy dress parties - 37 mg alcohol per 1,000 ml of breath compared to 36 mg/1,000ml.

But female guests in fancy dress had average BrAC readings of 49 mg/1,000ml, compared to 33 mg/1,000ml when they dressed normally.

The authors of the study attended the parties themselves to carry out the studies, rather than rely on the somewhat hazy memories of the students after the event. Nice work if you can get it.