BY JENNY PAUL
Thought that frumpy bridesmaid dress your cousin forced you to buy for her special day a few years back would never see the light of day again now that you were at Harvard Law School?
Think again.
Pull that dress out of the back of your closet and strut (or stumble) down Mass. Ave. on your way to HL Central’s seventh annual Tacky Prom on Friday, Feb. 11.
The event will be held in Ropes Gray from 9 p.m. – 1 a.m., and is cosponsored by Student Government. Friends of Harvard Law students are also welcome, though everyone must be at least 21 to attend the Prom, which will feature snacks and an open bar with beer and wine. There is no charge to attend the event.
More than 500 students attended Tacky Prom last year, said Diana Berisha ‘12, HL Central’s 2L/3L events coordinator. It’s the biggest event HL Central organizes during the year, she said.
“Tacky Prom is a great event because it is one of the few social events at HLS that really brings out almost everyone at the law school, gets them to dress up, and have a good time,” Berisha said. “Most 2Ls and 3Ls would probably say it was one of the highlights of their time at Harvard.”
First-years, don’t be shy — students go all out to assemble their tackiest get-ups.
“There’s a lot of people who do pretty impressive old-bridesmaid-dress tacky, puffy sleeves — Napoleon Dynamite style,” Berisha said. “That and ‘80s tacky are the most prevalent. There’s a whole mix of different kinds of outfits.”
This year’s Tacky theme draws from Ke$ha’s “Your Love is my Drug.”
“We chose the Ke$ha theme just because we wanted something fun and current that fits with the Valentine’s Day love theme, but in a tacky way,” Berisha said.
There may be plenty of desert hipster junkie couture with neon tribal paint, but, really, anything goes. According to Berisha, there is no “perfect” Tacky Prom outfit.
“I think for the most part, it’s whatever your own definition of tacky is,” she said.