A Harvard man and a Yale man were walking down the street. The Harvard man was better—dressed.

The Mr/Miss Eleganza photo contest outside the Science Center was meant to be another promotion to hype the show. “The idea is to get people, get the campus excited about fashion,” explains Eleganza committee member Anthony A. Pino ’10. Pino helped create the backdrop for the contest, a sharp white background with “Eleganza” printed in diagonal lines. “We wanted to give it an awards show feel, like the Oscars,” said Pino.

But despite the glitzy setup and the enthusiastic efforts of publicity head Dara Johnson ’10, things seemed pretty slow on Tuesday morning. Whether it was because of the weather or because of midterms, the students streaming by the entrance to the Science Center were certainly not beating a path to the set. A few passers-by allowed themselves to be photographed in T-shirts and jeans, while another posed with her no-nonsense black messenger bag slung at her side.

Luckily, there were a few true fashion-mongers here and there. Christopher S. H. Paik, ’09, Nathaniel B. Gunawan, ’07, and Matthew B. Bird, ’10, all sported sharp, stylish oufits, prompting prompting publicity director Carmen P. I. Collyns ’10 to demand, “Why didn’t you audition for the show!”

Gunawan, who says he admires Jude Law’s “street” approach to suits, wore layered button-down shirts with a suit jacket and tie, while Paik was attired in a neat V-neck sweater, stylishly distressed jeans, and bold black-and-white sneakers.

“I don’t really give a fuck what people think,” insisted Paik, but he admitted to having RSVP’ed to the photo contest’s Facebook event.

The photos will be posted on www.Eleganza2007.com, with winners to be chosen by vote.

—Erin C. Yu