Organisers of a local underage mid-term ball have come in for strong criticism online for a Facebook post about their dress code.
The Fusion Ball Kilkenny say they will not allow any girl wearing what they term “deplorable dresses” into this year’s event.
“Keep it neat and discreet ladies” is how the online post advising teenage girls in Kilkenny of a dress code for this year’s Fusion Ball finished.
Organisers of the event scheduled to take place in the city on the 23rd of this month have been on the receiving end of a torrent of online comments since posting the status on Sunday.
It reads that due to the “deplorable dresses at the last ball, it is necessary to fully enforce a knee-length dress with NO PLUNGING NECKLINE dress code for the mid-term ball”.
It also included a number of screenshots from various clothing websites of dresses that organisers deemed inappropriate.
While some commenters were supportive of the measures, most of the more than 430 comments were critical of the message and the way it was worded.
One person wrote that it was a ridiculously dated policy.
However, while the organisers of the Fusion Ball have declined to comment to KCLR on the issue they have put up subsequent statements online clarifying that they have always had a dress code in place.
They also pointed out that boys have to wear a shirt and tie with slacks and shoes.