Creative Alliance’s Marquee Ball

Even before she became marketing and communications director at Creative Alliance — which is known for its creative events — Heather Keating, 38, loved a good theme party.

“My friends and I started getting into throwing fabulous theme parties about 20 years ago. The first one wasn’t a typical Halloween party. It was a ‘seedy 1920s’ Halloween party. Instead of a typical New Year’s Eve blowout, we did a mile-high New Year’s Eve party that was based on 1950s and 1960s airline attire. The research behind that just wowed me. So I started to adopt those more vintage styles into my wardrobe,” she explained.

Now most of Keating’s dress-up attire — which she said she wears to more than just theme parties — is vintage-inspired.

The Patterson Park resident started researching her outfit about eight months before this year’s Marquee Ball: OZ! and found inspiration from both the 1939 “The Wizard of Oz” film, and the Broadway musical “Wicked.”

“The scene when Dorothy and her friends get to Emerald City and they’re being cleaned up to see the wizard; each of the attendants are all wearing these fabulous green 1940s outfits. And the Broadway cast from ‘Wicked’ is wearing some of the most structured green outfits. So combining those two was my goal,” she said.

While Keating said she may not wear the outfit in its entirety out and about, she definitely will use the pieces in combination with more current fashion. “The green skirt, definitely. And I’ll wear the jacket with really skinny jeans and some wedge heels,” she said.

HER ENSEMBLE: Neon chartreuse double-breasted jacket she ordered from Bulgaria on etsy.com. Emerald pencil skirt with attached peplum from amazon.com. Neon green fishnet stockings from welovecolors.com. Seychelles navy wedge pumps she embellished with zippers up the back and faux flowers — “I was hanging out with girlfriends and we had a craft night. I went gluegun crazy.” Green feather fascinator on a trip to New Orleans. Hairstyle done at Flaunt Hair Boutique.