Seniors Kayleigh Coll and Andres Cabrera have put a spin on the common idea of “Casual Friday.” Instead of dressing in hoodies and sweatpants, the duo dresses up to celebrate “Formal Friday.” “Everyone’s always doing Casual Fridays. So why not be a contrarian? Why not do the opposite? And you also get to finish off the week with a bang,” said Coll.
Coll said she started the tradition in her last year of middle school after being convinced by friends to show off a $3 prom dress from a thrift store. She wore a prom dress, high heels, a full face of makeup, straightened hair and a big puffy coat—the kind that Marilyn Monroe wore.
“I got a bunch of looks. People kept staring at me, and I was like, ‘I’m never doing this again.’ And then by the end of the day, so many people had been staring at me – everyone was like “Whoa, who was the crazy lady, you know?” And then afterwards, I was like, ‘You know what, screw you. I’m gonna do this every week.’ And so I did. And I tried to get
other people to do it,” said Coll.
Carbrera, who participates in Formal Friday after Coll persuaded him to, said that although Formal Fridays began as a way to be better friends with Coll later became something more for himself. Now, Coll and Cabrera are partly consistent with Formal Fridays.
“Obviously if you wake up and you’re exhausted, it’s just not worth it,” Cabrera said.
Although many may think that dressing up every Friday takes a lot of time and money, Cabrera said that this is not true. In fact, it is the complete opposite.
“I haven’t spent a penny on Formal Friday yet, but it’s mostly convenience. Do I feel like a suit today? No? Let me check my colored shirts,” said Cabrera.
The phenomenon of “Formal Friday,” although fairly new to Inglemoor, is not new for many of the teachers. AP Statistics teacher Justin Geib participated in this trend before joining the staff. He started dressing formally as a student teacher, first by wearing a shirt and tie. This led to him wearing a suit every Friday and eventually it became a daily occurance. On some occasions he wears a tuxedo.
“I think they get a bad rep for being uncomfortable,”said Geib. “But if you get a suit that fits you well, then they’re perfectly comfortable and you don’t have to worry about ‘Oh there’s a parent meeting or there’s something else.”
Wearing formal attire was also a way for Geib to express himself. From owning a pi tie to wearing tailcoats, Geib’s formal attire makes him stand out from the rest of the staff.
Geib said,“It’s fun to wear formal attire once in a while, so I think if people are apprehensive of it, just realize that no one’s really going to judge you for wearing formal attire you know? Or they’ll be like, ‘Oh that’s kind of cool’, so I think that it’ll be more positive than [people] might think.”
