Prom: Grad Style.

“Renee, we nominate you for most comfortable shoes.”

Two of my high school teachers said this to me while chaperoning my senior prom. I had worn brown leather Teva sandals under an incredibly funky dress. Descriptions honestly don’t do the dress justice: green long sleeves, four different types of natural-looking fabric, two patched tulips, and purple stitches—see? sounds ugly… but it wasn’t. The dress was funky elegant in its own way. It just wasn’t what everyone else was wearing to prom.

But I somehow had the guts to be individual, and the dress and my extremely long, curled hair won me the compliment of being a “woodland nymph princess.” There’s really no higher compliment one can give to a wanna-be citizen of Middle Earth.

Last night’s grad school prom was different. First of all, grad prom is not official. It consists of two of your classmates saying, “Hey, it’s February and boring—let’s have prom!” Second of all: those students select a bar to host the prom. Already, prom has changed.

Part of me wanted to wear the funky dress from high school, but it is in Michigan, and I’m in Pennsylvania. Instead, I wore what I perhaps should have worn to my high school prom: an elegant green bridesmaid dress, and ended up being the most normal looking person there.

Please picture for me, if you will, prom with MFA students—those artistic writerly types. There were outfits with sequins, plaid, or cowboy hats. An outfit straight out of “The Addam’s Family.” A white tux with sleeveless undershirts. The funky dress would have fit right in. Well, it’s nice to know I’m in the right place now.

(I’d post pictures, but my camera has been giving me the silent treatment. Lo siento!)