NEW ORLEANS — It's the one time of year you may catch more guys than girls in dresses. Red Dress Run is Saturday and you can bet the French Quarter will be a sea of red. Some guys are new to dress shopping, but they're not shy when it comes to flaunting their finds.
"I'm looking for a red dress for the red dress run," Stephen Moore said as he entered Miss Claudia's Vintage Clothing and Costumes. "I've never bought a dress before."
Dress shopping is something he probably never thought he'd do.
"It's classic New Orleans. That's exactly what I thought," he said.
Moore is new to New Orleans.
When asked his preference he said, "Something that's going to make me look not too big."
Moore is not the only guy shopping for his first dress right now.
"I could definitely be seen in that," he said about a flapper dress.
After a little shopping, he realized he's a little pickier than he expected when it comes to picking the right dress.
"I'm not crazy about that," he said about one dress. "It looks like something my grandma would wear."
He tried a few on.
"I feel weird in it," he laughed.
There are still racks full of red dresses at Miss Claudia's, but it's a small selection compared to what they had a few weeks ago. The majority of customers have been guys buying their first dresses.
"There's a flurry of men coming in looking for every kind of red dress you can imagine," said Claudia Baumbarten, owner of Miss Claudia's Vintage Clothing and Costumes. "Some like plain dresses, simple dresses, some want to be really frilly."
Every shopper is looking for something different.
"I like that it shows off my chest hair actually," Moore jokes as he tried on a dress.
After three tires, he found a pick and is now ready to strut in his new dress alongside hundreds in the Red Dress Run.
Goodwill Industries is also a popular spot to find dresses. They had countless racks of red dresses days ago, but as of Friday morning, they're wiped clean. They claim a majority of shoppers buying those dresses have been men.
Red Dress Run is an annual 2 mile run through the French Quarter. To sign up, click HERE.