"Getting it wrong" fashionwise Did you ever go to a social event, looking good, but realizing that you're overdressed or underdressed compared to almost everyone else, and then caring more about that than you thought you would?→[More:] I guess this happens to everyone sometimes, but it seems to happen to me more than it should. I guess part of why it bothers me is that it reminds me of that clueless feeling many of us got in school when we just "weren't with the program" and wondered how on earth the cool kids always knew how to dress and act.

I just went to a small reunion, and it was like that again. I was somewhat overdressed...I assumed something that only happens every 10 years and costs $45 would be a little more dressy than it actually was. It's like I use a different mental logic from everyone else. Were other people thinking, "It's just another social event"?

Maybe I could have called people to get a feel for what to wear, but in my experience people tend to say "Oh, I'll just wear any old thing" and then they show up dressed to the nines.

I did enjoy the reunion, and everybody was very warm. I'm glad I went. It was cathartic in some ways, and may even lead to a renewed friendship or two. And I do enjoy dressing up, so that increases the odds of my winding up overdressed.

I guess this post is just about how sometimes I get tired of being the one who can never get it quite right. You fret about what to wear, trying on various clothes in your closet that you haven't worn in a year or two and deciding that they no longer quite work, maybe you go out and buy something new, and then for all your efforts, you still get it wrong.