Ugly Shirts

My housemate Joanna turned 24 on Sunday and in honor of the event we had a party Saturday night. She was responsible for the theme and picked: The Ugliest Shirt You Can Buy in the Bazaar for 100 Rupees. She’s brilliant, I tell you.

We all took our mission quite seriously and headed to the Buz Saturday afternoon in search of tasteless clothing. It actually proved to be slightly more difficult than we had expected, as many of the shop-keepers had an elevated opinion of their wares. We found multiple perfect shirts—truly hideous and cheaply made—that for inexplicable reasons were priced in the 300-400 rupee range. It was somewhat alarming. But, in the end, we prevailed.

Several of the best outfits were sported by my own dear housemates. Jamie (who is tiny) found a child’s dress and wore that as a shirt. It was a tank-dress with two different polk-a-dot patterns (red and white on the straps and black and white on the main part) with a lovely ruffle at the bottom and a frightening doll/child appliquéd on the front. Complete with yellow braid hair. Courtney’s was a lime-green over-sized t-shirt with polk-a-dots and a pair of Dalmatians inside a large heart. Joanna herself settled on a striped button-up in a bewildering array of colors. Though in the end she managed to look cute. Some people can just do that.

I will confess, though, that I secretly believe my outfit was one of the best. I couldn’t find a shirt that I liked enough (or hated enough) so I bought a nightie. The Bazaar in Mussoorie is filled with ugly nighties. Usually polyester, stretchy and beyond unattractive. We can’t figure out who buys them—we hope it isn’t erstwhile Indian men looking to surprise their wives on Valentine’s Day. In any case, I found a stunning green, yellow, and orange check one with a bit of green lace at the neck. I then artfully cut it to shirt-length, with one side coming to a point at about my thigh. Fab.

We ate, drank, danced, and handed out prizes for the worst dressed and a good time was had by all.