I recently received a Save the Date for my five year high school reunion in July, and I need a little assistance. In high school I was, in short, a loser. Not the like get-beat-up-for-lunch-money-and-had-hygiene-issues type of loser, but more the girl with a very insular group of friends that may or may not have dressed up like an elf for the Lord of the Rings premier.
I've left my Frodo days behind me. However, I know that my reputation probably has not faded all that much, due to a pointed lack of interaction with most of my graduating class. In fact, my sister works with a classmate of mine that I don't remember ever speaking to, and he recently asked her if I was still as weird as I was in high school.
My college years have left me with a wardrobe full of sweatshirts, t-shirts and bar shirts. None of these seem to echo the youthful yet sophisticated, psuedo-professional (gotta love this recession) woman I have become.
Please, please, please help me figure out a reunion-worthy outfit that will help me to break free from the chains of my nerdy past, as I fear that this whole event may turn into a straight to video Romy and Michele sequel.
Signed,
Frodo, Five Years Ago
Dear Frodo,
So, how unfair is the 5-year high school reunion? I mean, five years is not nearly enough time to heal old emotional wounds or accomplish anything that will make anyone jealous:
"So, what have you been up to?"
"Working at Starbucks and going to school."
"Oh yeah? Me too."
"Cool. Remember when you poured a bucket of pig's blood on me in front of the whole school?"
"Oh yeah! That was funny."
"No it wasn't."
More importantly though, a person's undergraduate college years is not exactly the phase of life when you're focused on amassing a wardrobe of good quality, chic-yet-professional clothing. As our dear Frodo says, it's a time of jeans, sweatshirts, and free t-shirts from bars near campus.
I’ve put together three outfit possibilities that I think you’ll be able to replicate with affordable pieces from places like Target, Old Navy, and Forever 21. But take my fashion advice with these words of caution that my mom imparted to me after her own high school reunion: "Guess what? The people who were dickheads in high school are still dickheads."
So don't try too hard to win over the dickheads--they're a lost cause. Just be your awesome self and see what happens. Good luck! And here's some style inspiration:
I call this one the “I just came from my vaguely intimidating corporate job and didn’t have time to change but don’t I look fabulous anyway?” This look involves pretty minimal accessorizing, but focuses on great-fitting basics and colors. I'd be totally impressed if I saw a former Legolas-wannabe strut into the reunion wearing this outfit, wouldn't you?
Next up, we have a more formal option:
This shows that you put some effort into looking good for the night, and wow do you clean up nice. I kept my example simple, because I think an outfit like this screams for some awesome personal accessories that come with brag-worth back stories. As in, "Oh, you like my earrings? I got them while studying abroad in Spain. I'm pretty cultured."
And finally:
If I were gonna be really lame/clever I would title this outfit “Too Cool for School” or something like that. Basically, I think your third option is to just dress yourself up like a total badass and act totally nonchalant about the whole event. Then get burgers with your friends afterwards and shriek and giggle about how quickly the hot quarterback transformed into an Artie Lang lookalike.
How about you guys? Did you go to your high school reunion, or do you plan to go? What did you wear? And most importantly, were the dickheads from high school still dickheads?
