What to Wear to Halloween in New Orleans

Packing philosophy

Dress for a warm city with a gothic streak. NOAA's 1991–2020 normals at MSY give October 27°C by day and 18°C at night, with 7.1 wet days, the driest month of the New Orleans year, and the first evenings since spring when a layer earns its place. Halloween here is two Saturdays. The Krewe of BOO!, the city's official Halloween parade since 2007, rolls at 6:30pm on 24 October with floats from Kern Studios, and throws come off them as they do at Mardi Gras. The 31st fills the Quarter on foot. Anne Rice set Interview with the Vampire here in 1976, and the city's Halloween still looks like it: black lace, a felt brim, gold. Wear it in cotton, and on a lug sole.

What the dress code actually is

There is no dress code for the Krewe of BOO! or for Halloween in the Quarter, and costumes are everywhere on both nights. What a float parade adds is its own etiquette. Throws come off the floats, as they do at Mardi Gras, so wear a bag across the body and keep your hands free, and do not stand where a mask or a wide hat blocks the view of the people behind you. On the 31st the Quarter is on foot and crowded, so the practical rules are the ones for any New Orleans night out: shoes for broken flagstone, fabric that breathes in a humid street, and nothing you would mind getting a drink spilled on. A vampire in black lace is a local tradition; a costume that mocks the city's own dead is not.

The capsule

1. 
   01

   Black cotton-guipure lace midi dress, elbow sleeves

   Black lace is New Orleans Halloween in one garment, and cotton guipure is the version you can wear at 27°C: it breathes, where velvet and satin trap heat on a humid street. An opaque lining and a calf-length hem make it a dress rather than a costume, and it goes to dinner after the parade.

2. 
   02

   Oxblood cotton-voile blouse, ruffled stand collar

   Wear it over the black wide-leg trousers when the dress is too much. A ruffled stand collar gives the look its nineteenth-century edge without a cape, and cotton voile lets air through on a 27°C / 81°F afternoon. Oxblood is the colour of the capsule, matching the bag.

3. 
   03

   Black high-rise fluid wide-leg trousers

   A wide fluid leg moves air on a warm street and covers the legs when the night falls to 18°C / 64°F. Black works under the oxblood blouse or a costume top, and the turned-up hem stays clear of wet flagstone. Pair it with the lug derbies.

4. 
   04

   Black polished-leather lug-sole derbies

   French Quarter flagstone is broken and pitched, and a thin heel catches in it. A notched lug sole grips the stone and the spilled drinks on Bourbon, and a laced derby stays on in a crowd moving toward a float. Polished black suits lace and gothic dressing better than a sneaker.

5. 
   05

   Black wool-felt wide-brim hat, grosgrain band

   The single piece that turns black clothes into Anne Rice's New Orleans. A stiff felt brim holds its shape in the damp; take it off along the parade route, where it blocks the view behind you, and put it back on in the Quarter. Felt is right once the evening reaches 18°C.

6. 
   06

   Oxblood leather flap crossbody, gold push-lock

   Throws come off the Krewe of BOO! floats, and you want both hands up for them. A crossbody sits at your hip with its flap locked, and a boxy leather bag keeps its shape in a crowd. Oxblood and gold carry the palette of the look into the one thing everyone needs.

7. 
   07

   Gold curb-chain bracelet

   Gold at the wrist is the finishing detail of the black-lace look, and a chain bracelet catches the streetlight on Royal Street. It survives a humid night, a spilled drink and a grab for a throw. Keep jewellery to this one piece.

8. 
   08

   Men's black washed-linen button-down

   For men, black linen is the black-lace look: washed black linen breathes at 27°C where a black synthetic shirt holds heat, and a point collar keeps it sharp for dinner after the parade. Wear it with the black wide-leg trousers and the lug derbies, sleeves rolled until the night cools.

A suggested look — black cotton lace midi dress, black felt wide-brim hat, black lug-sole derbies, gold chain bracelet.

What to avoid

• Velvet or black synthetics — 27°C / 81°F and humid
• Thin heels — broken flagstone
• A mask or brim that blocks the parade view
• Full hands during the throws
• Forgetting the storm season runs to 30 November