Ellie Jupp
Going out is arguably one of the most important, entertaining and life-altering components of being a university student. However, it does come with its own set of limitations: breaking the student bank account. Ellie Jupp has put together through interviews and experience the debate of if these amazing nights out are worth the fancy dress and club themes or if they are indeed just leading students into a financial mess!
Sports Wednesdays
The infamous university student tradition. In the city of Nottingham, that usually means a crazy ‘Crisis’ or an unhinged ‘Ocean Wednesday’. Popular with but not restricted to those in sports societies, a Wednesday night is the highlight of the week for lots of avid partyers and club-goers based here in Nottingham— from the process of getting ready and dressed up into all sorts of silly costumes, to closing down the dancefloor at 3am to everyone’s favourite cheesy tunes.
But with all the immense fun often comes a burden to our bank accounts, with the costs of buying new outfits each week, the expense of alcohol, the club entry, the transport, etc. The question is— are Sports Wednesdays worth it?
“I usually spend around £25 on society bar crawls, drinks and entry, which is cheaper than going without a society. Joining a society makes the night better, with familiar faces and a real sense of community. Definitely worth it!” — Lucy Wilson, 3rd Year at Nottingham Trent University
So why is dressing up a big part of the Sports Wednesday experience?
From cops and robbers to rhyme without reason, and hundreds more in between, every theme has its fun. From interviewing some fellow students of mine, some of the most favoured and popular ones seem to be: 
- Pixar characters
- Rhyme without reason
- Hawaiian
- Schoolgirls
- Cowboys/Cowgirls
- White lies
Value for money
Ocean vs. Crisis
One cannot step into Ocean Nightclub on a Wednesday night without seeing every single person in the building dressed up in some form or another. To not dress up, you’d stick out like a sore thumb. While Crisis isn’t as known for its strict ‘fancy dress’ code and often people attend in their regular clubbing outfits, it’s still a common theme among those attending with their sports society, as well as the fact the Crisis social media pages advertise their own themes for the semester, such as this term’s upcoming ‘Throwbacks’, ‘Pub Golf’ and ‘Full Moon Party’, which a lot of people choose to follow. While a lot of themes can be followed through everyday items we all have in our wardrobes and minimal spending, others require us to fork some cash-out. For example, not many of us would be able to make a police outfit out of t-shirts we already own, or somehow pull off being a cowboy without first having to purchase a cowboy hat.
“WHEN I FIRST STARTED UNIVERSITY […] IT WAS DEFINITELY A REGULAR HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK AND BROUGHT ME SO MUCH CLOSER WITH PEOPLE IN MY SOCIETY AND MADE ME HAVE A BIGGER CIRCLE OF FRIENDS. THIS MADE ME WILLING TO SPEND MONEY ON AN OUTFIT” — LAUREN SHIRLAW, MASTERS STUDENT AT NOTTINGHAM TRENT UNIVERSITY
So where are the students of Nottingham getting their hands on such rogue dress-up items? That would be a store called Luvyababes, located in the Victoria Centre. Any accessory, hat, wig, pair of glasses, or full-on costume you could possibly need for your Crisis or Ocean Wednesday, they’ve 99% got it! Very convenient, as it’s local to us all and has all we need in one relatively fair-priced shop. But depending on how much you need, it all adds up, doesn’t it? Is there a way to still take part and not spend a fortune on all the different aspects of the night?
“I definitely spend less on ocean outfits now and Ocean Wednesday as a whole because as I’ve gone through the years at university, I’ve learned about different ways to keep the cost down, whether it’s borrowing costumes from friends, or keeping them and reusing them for other themes, or hearing about NTU’s fashion society’s sustainability ocean clothes swap, there are definitely ways to keep it cheap, and with drinks as well, I’ve learnt now what bars to go to for the best deals. But when I first started university, especially my first and second year, I loved it and it was definitely a regular highlight of the week and brought me so much closer with people in my society and made me have a bigger circle of friends. This made me willing to spend money on an outfit, it was exciting going to Luvyababes and picking out costumes, and a way to feel included in the social scene in my society. I think it’s worth the money when you originally start university but as you get older and have developed your social circle it’s more of a rare occasion to have fun with your established friend group.” — Lauren Shirlaw, Masters Student at Nottingham Trent University
As a frequenter of Wednesday night outs, I’d rather not calculate how much money I’ve spent in Luvyababes! As an ice hockey player in the Nottingham Mavericks, I am more partial to an Ocean Wednesday (The Trent night) than UON’s Crisis at Rock City, my society being mixed with NTU students. And from personal experience, I can say that it rarely comes about an occasion on which I don’t have to spend money on my outfit for a Wednesday night.
“I would roughly spend £50 – £60 including drinks, costumes and a ticket on Crisis, which I think is worth it most of the time, especially when socials are occurring less often.” — Meg Marshall-Horn, 2nd Year at University of Nottingham
It all adds up along with the cost of the rest of the night, and sometimes I’m sure many of us wonder why we couldn’t just wear what we already had to save ourselves a little bit of cash, right?
But, on the other hand— isn’t that where half the fun comes from? Planning the outfits, getting ready with friends, the silly pictures. I certainly think so. And Sophie Rowcroft agrees:
“On an Ocean Wednesday, I usually spend between £20-25. I think it’s worth it as everybody dresses up which gives it an element of excitement that a usual club night doesn’t really have, drinks are fairly cheap and entry costs £7.”— Sophie Rowcroft, 2nd Year at the University of Nottingham
On average, entry to Ocean Wednesday costs roughly between £6 and £7, Crisis being slightly on the higher end of the scale at roughly £9. Both being a sum that adds up to the total cost of the night (first the costume, now the entry— and we haven’t even considered the drinks yet!)
I’M SURE MANY STUDENTS HAVE LIVED THE EXPERIENCE OF WAKING UP ON THURSDAY MORNING AND CHECKING THEIR BANK ACCOUNTS, ONLY TO WONDER HOW ON EARTH THEY MANAGED TO SPEND AS MUCH AS THEY DID.
Speaking of drinks—depending on how much of a heavy drinker or ‘heavyweight’ you are, you could end up racking up quite a bill on getting buzzed. Shots averaging between £2-3, mixed drinks roughly between £5 to £8, and everyone’s guilty classic VK can be charged anywhere between £2 and £4. Now listed as such, that doesn’t sound too bad, right? But I’m sure many students have lived the experience of waking up on Thursday morning and checking their bank accounts, only to wonder how on earth they managed to spend as much as they did (I’m guilty!).
“I spend probably about £30 on alcohol on an Ocean Wednesday, £10 on an outfit, and I definitely think it’s all worth it, it’s the best night in my opinion.” — Amelia Cowley, 2nd Year at Nottingham Trent University
So ultimately, Sports Wednesdays are a staple of student life, offering the perfect blend of creativity and chaos. And while the costs of fancy dress, entry fees and drinks can certainly add up, many of us students believe the experience is worth the price we pay. The thrill of dressing up, the shared excitement with friends and teammates, and the memories made on these nights seems to outweigh the financial strain for most. Whether its Crisis or Ocean, the tradition remains a defining part of the university experience—one that students will likely look back on with fondness (and perhaps a little regret when checking their bank statements).
Ellie Jupp
Feature image courtesy of Nereid Ndreu via Unsplash. Image license found here. No changes were made to this image.
In article image 1 courtesy of @wearecrisis via Instagram. No changes were made to this image.
In article image 2 courtesy of Jack Kimber Photography via trentevents.com. No changes were made to this image.
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