Hi Beth: I will also be a first-timer and coming solo. These are good questions that you are asking. I read somewhere that there are laundry facilities in the dorms and so I was thinking that if I ran out of clothes I would just wash them. It mentioned that you may want to bring some detergent. I would like more advice as well from people who have attended before.

Good to know you’re coming to Beantown! I found it to be very friendly and really lovely my first time (I made great friends here, in fact). Good general packing tips: check out the amazing (fashion) blog at “academichic.com” and search in ‘categorical’ for ‘travel’ or ‘packing.’ The women there, though not Lindy hoppers, give great advice about packing varied wardrobes for varied purposes.

Specifically for Lindy hopping…I recommend bringing a lot of the little things that would make your life easier (if you need these things, that is). SO: extra socks; extra [sports] bras; extra undies. These are the things you may change halfway through the day, and you don’t want to wear the same bra two days in a row (elastic needs time to reset). I brought travel-sized Febreze and Downy Wrinkle Release, hung my stuff, and had good results with things like tee shirts and shorts. Pretty sure you should bring a hanger or three therefore…. I also brought like four hand/face towels for wiping my face during workshops and dances, along with some bandannas, which don’t take up much space. Of course you need space for more than pair of dance shoes; the surfaces here vary. Finally, I strongly recommend a folding fan. It gets hot at the evening dances, though I was able to buy one there last year!

Lots of locals will have cars and Beverly MA is like 5 minutes away, so if you get desperate for drugstore supplies, for instance (meds, sore foot stuff, etc), chances are you can easily find a ride.

How casual are people for the lessons and how dressy are they for the socials? Normally when I go dancing I like to wear a dress or a skirt so I feel extra twirly, but maybe leggings are more practical since it’s going to be all day, every day. What kind of stuff were people wearing? Did many people wear the same thing to the lessons and the socials?

Hmmm. I noticed girls changing between workshops and social dances (but not between social dance and late nights per se). There are a couple of nights when many people dress up, but it is rather hot in the main dance space…boys go through a LOT of tee shirts and there are crowds at all the giant fans. Lessons tended to be everything from shorts to workout pants to jeans to little skirts (and boys weren’t changing tees in workshops though maybe sometimes…a change would’ve been…nice :) Dress or skirt for evening main dances for sure, and a ‘nice’ outfit for Sat night main dance. Keep in mind there are other sports you can do, along with napping, swimming, etc…so there might be a few clothing changes in any given day.