As soon as Jim walked into the kitchen, he knew he was in trouble.
“Jim!” Kelly squealed, making him stop in his tracks. “You’ve got to help me.”
“Okay…” he said hesitantly as he poured himself a cup of coffee, wondering if there was still time for him to escape unscathed.
“Okay, so… Come here, you need to help me!” she demanded, holding up a sheet of paper.
He grudgingly sat down and sighed deeply as Kelly began to explain, “Okay, so I’ve been trying to get Pam to dress better for like, ever, and I feel like I’m just… stuck.”
Jim nodded, apprehensive to say anything that would send her off on a fashion tangent.
“Which is why I’ve decided to call in the experts.”
“What… does that mean?”
She smiled brightly and held up the sheet of paper she was working on; from what he could tell, it was an application for something. “I’m nominating Pam to be on What Not To Wear!”
His smile seamlessly shifted into his trademark amused grin, and suddenly helping Kelly didn’t seem like it would be so bad after all. He wasn’t exactly sure what What Not To Wear was, but it certainly sounded promising.
“Kelly,” he asked carefully, “you’re sure this has nothing to do with… needing something to set your mind on now that you can’t… focus on a relationship?”
“Are you asking me if this is about Ryan??” she questioned, acting disbelieving.
“I mean… The last few weeks you’ve just been moping around…”
Kelly glared at him sternly, “Jim, I swear to you, Ryan is dead to me. Just like my sister Sohni. This is solely about… making Pam feel good about herself… even though she doesn’t have a man in her life… and is all alone… with no one to comfort her…”
Jim could see tears quickly forming in Kelly’s eyes, so he decided to divert her attention off how alone ‘Pam’ was and focus on the matter at hand.
“So, what do you need from me?” he asked innocently. At this point, his relationship with Pam was still very new and very private, and he didn’t want to seem too eager to help out.
“Well, like lots of stuff that I don’t know,” Kelly told him, her attention back on her pet project. “Like, any interesting stories or anecdotes about her, or like… Okay, we need two photos of her that proves she needs a fashion makeover.”
“Hmm,” he said, leaning back in his chair. He ran through Pam’s normal wardrobe in his mind: button down shirts, sweaters, those black high heels, and of course her pulled-back hair. He didn’t think it looked bad, for a girl who basically didn’t try.
Her wardrobe outside of work, he was slowly learning, wasn’t that different. She stuck to sweaters, jeans, wore her hair down some of the time, but he supposed it was still pretty boring. The few times he had seen her in dresses though, he had been floored. So if this What Not To Wear thing made her look like that more often, well then that was just fine with him.
“Oh, what about when Michael gave her the Whitest Sneakers award?” Jim offered.
“Yes!” Kelly agreed enthusiastically. “Cause really, those sneakers are heinous, and the whiter they are, the more they stand out.” As she began furiously writing in the blank space of the application, Jim couldn’t help but think that this would be the best prank to ever be pulled in the history of their relationship. He couldn’t wait to find out if she was going to be picked.
… … …
The entire office was brought to a screeching halt one morning when they heard the manic screams of Kelly Kapoor from the annex. First a loud shriek, then several successions of “ohmygodohmygodohmygod…” Then silence. The rest of the office went back to normal, but Jim, unfortunately, couldn’t get back to his work. He kept getting interrupted by a barrage of emails from a certain customer service rep:
From: Kelly Kapoor
Subject: OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Date: June 17, 2007 10:17 AM
To: Jim Halpert
WE WON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I’M GONNA GET TO MEET STACY AND CLINTON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D :D :D :D
Begin Forwarded Message:
Dear Kelly Kapoor:
Congratulations! The friend you nominated, Pam Beesly of Scranton, Pennsylvania, has been chosen as a contestant for What Not To Wear!
As part of Pam’s style transformation, our crew will need the help of you and your coworkers to catch Pam’s fashion disasters on camera. We will be secretly filming her for two weeks prior to her makeover, and will then surprise her in your office, armed with a $5,000 Visa card in her name.
Please call us at the earliest possible convenience to set up dates for us to capture our secret footage, at:
1-(800) 984-3672
We look forward to hearing from you!
Stacy London
Clinton Kelly
Fashion Experts
Jim was stunned. Pam was that much of a ‘fashion disaster’? He looked over at her sitting at her desk: her hair pulled back, her face free of makeup, and adorned in a light pink, striped button down shirt. He didn’t think she looked so bad, especially when she smiled that electric smile at him, but what did he know? He certainly wasn’t a fashion expert.
He hit ‘reply’ to Kelly’s email:
From: Jim Halpert
Subject: Re: OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Date: June 17, 2007 10:23 AM
To: Kelly Kapoor
Okay Kelly, let’s make her over.
… … …
It was surprisingly easy getting Pam out of the office for a few hours while the What Not To Wear crew came to set up hidden cameras and do interviews. Michael had simply sent her out on a wild goose chase, telling her to find him fresh yams for lunch. She of course protested, but he would not take no for an answer.
“Want to tag along?” she asked, leaning against Jim’s desk in the way he adored so much.
“Ah, I wish I could, but I’m expecting a call from a client,” he told her convincingly.
She rolled her eyes and gave him a smirk, “Fine. Actually do work when we could be having a great time out searching for yams.”
“I’m very sorry to be missing it.”
“Not as sorry as I am,” she replied in a singsong voice, suggestively raising her eyebrows, the implication of what she meant practically killing him.
“Alright, get out of here before I change my mind,” he said, shooing her away from his desk. She gave him a quick wave and vanished through the doors, and not fifteen minutes later, the What Not To Wear crew was in the office.
… … …
“Ohmygod, Pam’s style is so drab. Like, she wears these ugly button down shirts that are so pale and totally wash her out, and ugly sweaters to go over them that really do nothing for her figure. And she had the most disgusting shoes on the face of the earth! They’re like, black and have a chunky heel and look like witch shoes and they just really weigh her down—”
… … …
“Pam is definitely the hottest girl in the office. But just looking at her, you probably wouldn’t be able to tell it… which I don’t know says more about Pam or the other women in this office… But anyway, back to the matter at hand: Pam’s style. Well… one year, for our annual Dunder Mifflin awards ceremony, I gave her the whitest sneakers award. So… But actually, I feel like that might be something she’s doing good, is keeping her sneakers clean. But, if you make her over, please, please do something about her hair. She always wears it back, and I know it would make her look more sexier if she wore it down. That is all I ask of you people.”
… … …
“What do I think of Pam’s sense of style? Well, for starters, she doesn’t button her collars all the way up. Neckline just screams ‘hussy.’”
… … …
“The curly-haired one at the front desk? She’s pretty good lookin’. But if you were gonna give her a makeover, I’d say you put a little makeup on her. And I wouldn’t complain if she didn’t wear a bra a couple days during the week.”
… … …
“Pam’s a really sweet girl, but her wardrobe needs some work. I think it’s so boring because she’s never really had someone special enough to dress up for. I know I never really tried until I met my husband, Bob Vance, Vance Refrigeration. But I feel like maybe some new clothes could give her a sense of confidence to go and ask… the right guy out. Personally, I’d love to see some color infused in her style.”
… … …
“What can I say about Pam’s fashion sense? Hmm… Well, I know she doesn’t try to look good for work, because this isn’t really the job she wants to have forever. Um, she’s really into art, and graphic design, so I think if you could style her in any way, it would be a little more like… what a graphic designer would wear? I mean, I don’t know what that is, exactly, but I know it’s probably not how she’s dressing now… And if anyone deserves it, it’s her.”
Story Notes:
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Author's Chapter Notes:
I finally have some good headway on this story, so I decided to post the first chapter. I really think this is a fun idea of what could've potentially changed Pam's style in between seasons 3 and 4, and I hope I've conveyed it well here. Special thanks to Little Comment for all her thoughts and encouragement. Enjoy!
