Mr. Otte, You’re Trying To Graduate! Aren’t you?

I love costume parties. It’s such a different approach to Dress Codes and Occasion that I definitely welcome. After all, in a world where nothing matters and everything goes, having a prompt is welcome— especially when it’s for fun.

So that’s what Spencer did! To celebrate his graduation and upcoming 10 week internship, he told us to come over and dress up in outfits inspired by The Graduate (1967). The theme was definitely a little on the nose, but we were all into it. The Graduate actually a great film ripe with fantastic fashion inspiration, like Benjamins ivy looks or Mr. Robinson’s rich guy casual wear. What made this funny was that my friends came across my old article on the film when they were looking for inspo.

I knew immediately what I was going to wear: Benjamin’s ivy separates that he indifferently wore to his party…and to get seduced by Mrs. Robinson. It’s such a good look consisting of a navy blazer, yellow OCBD, gold block stripe tie, and grey trousers. I basically owned all of those things, which made doing this looks easy, but I also think that this specific look has a festive or Going Out feel to it. It’s probably because of the solid jacket and shirt combo; my everyday ivy looks typically rely on striped shirts and foulards, which I find a bit more “casual” for a party.

Spencer and MJ both opted to wear their yellow corduroy jackets, which were western and ivy respectively. MJ went for the disheveled look on the poster (with the repp tie fastened properly) here as Spencer went for the more casual outfit when Benjamin goes to Berkeley. James and Mac riffed on MJs and Spencer’s outfits respectively. I really like what Jay wore, which was the other iconic look from the film: the off white anorak and chinos. He actually cheated though, since he had to borrow my 1960s military anorak but thankfully I’m a nice guy.

Everyone looked great and Spencer was certainly pleased with their efforts. I mean considering everyone’s appreciation of menswear (at least to varying degrees), it was an easy theme to dress for. Even the girls got in the spirit with a vaguely 60s look! As you’ll see in the photos below, it really was a fun party filled with lots of drinks and catching up; with Spencer living an hour away, we haven’t actually seen each other in a little while. Since I’ll be off to Italy on family vacation quite soon, this was one of the last chances I had to see him before his internship.

So as you could expect, I took a lot of photos. I even did it on a slow shutter speed for a filmic effect, which I honestly quite like! These new-to-me style of photos and the flash snapshots really make for a fun collection of memories. But don’t worry guys, we’ll still be doing episodes of the pod while he’s gone! And he’ll be back for my epic bday party.