Dear Kelsey,

Is school the kind of place I really need to put in the effort to look good?

Love,

  “Lady on the Go”

Dear Lady on the Go,

Please take a cue from the lady of the Ga. In a Japanese interview, Lady Gaga was asked, “Don’t you ever wear sweats?”

Here is her reply:

“I don’t like sweat pants, I believe in living a glamorous life, and I live a glamorous life. And the good news is you don’t have to have any money to do that. I actually see a lot of young girls and boys in Tokyo that live a glamorous life, they live the fame.”

This is what I think you should do, Lady. You should live the fame. And I hope it isn’t in sweatpants. This is not to say that you should wear pounds of makeup, six-inch stilettos and Versace gowns every day to school. But you should take pride in your appearance.

Gaga said fashion is the first way to stake your strength as a woman. She is speaking mainly of life as a woman in New York, but so what if you are in Cupertino? Nobody says that you can’t pretend.

Okay, just to be fair, I will assume that glamour isn’t your top priority. School probably is though, right? You seem like the kind of woman who is focused, and that’s why you are curious as to whether or not you should take the time out of your busy schedule to keep up appearances.

In this case: you should still “put effort into looking good,” not for vain and selfish purposes. But consider this – you go to school to learn, right? Why don’t you create your whole attire based on your schooling? Dress like a collegiate at school and you will feel like a collegiate. Wear tons of makeup and you will end up looking like a jester.

You know you can still look fierce in a pair of kitten heels at school. My Vogue told me that they are back in season. Save the ugly Ugg boots for at home and save the platforms for the bars.

Let me give you an example. As a journalist in training, I spend hours of my time deciding what to wear in the morning. Not because I want to look like Clark Kent or because I want to attract all of my gorgeous editors, but because I need to look professional. This is my future career. What happens when Sarah Palin makes a surprise visit to my campus and I am wearing flip flops and yoga pants? I don’t get my interview. And I don’t get my job.

Look to the future; don’t just look for the easy way out.