Wake up at 7:45. Throw on sweats, a hoodie, and flip flops. Throw your hair in a messy bun. Check Facebook. Grab your bag and get to class by 8 AM.

Does this at all resemble your morning routine? I know how tempting it is to get that last fifteen minutes of sleep and run out the door looking like you just rolled out of bed. Fashion is probably the last thing on your mind when you’re trying to remember things like, Where on earth is my physics book? And, Why can I only find one shoe??? However, it is important to put at least some effort into the way you look before class.

The way you dress affects the way people perceive and treat you, whether you care or not. It can also affect your attitude and level of performance in class. If you are wearing pajamas, you aren’t going to feel awake enough to fully participate in a class discussion. If you look like you don’t care, people are going to think that you don’t care (including your professors).

Obviously you aren’t going to head to class decked out from head to toe in your Sunday best (unless you never made it home, you dawg), but there are easy ways to update your outfits so you look a little less messy and … sleepy.

10 Easy Style Updates For Class This Fall

1. A scarf – throw on jeans and a plain colored fitted t-shirt. Add a scarf and voila! Instant fashion. Scarves are really in this year and there are tons of cute ones out there to pick from. You can’t get an easier shortcut to style. Find them at American Eagle, H&M, or Limited Too (yea, it’s for little kids but they have a lot of cute scarves that are only $10!). Read More »

(Note: This pic is from a very old Alloy catalog. One I probably owned and worshiped. Please know that all current catalogs have much cuter clothes.)

I’ll never forget my first Delia’s and Alloy catalog spotting.

My then BFF Shanae pulled them out during our 6th grade Social Studies class as our teacher rambled on about the meaning of Thanksgiving. I was immediately drawn to the glossy catalog of teens wearing bell bottoms and midriff baring tops that my friends and I were dying to get into.

Since that day I’ve a been faithful catalog subscriber to both and will probably remain one until I have kids and start to rethink my hatred against these.

As an avid Delia’s and Alloy shopper, I’m shocked by the large number of college girls that don’t buy from them. Where most of the college girls I know either shop at Bloomingdales or Plato’s Closet, Delia’s and Alloy serve as a happy medium. They both sell quality clothing and each host an awesome online clearance bin (I just bought a $100 dollar fire red peacoat from Delia’s for 40 bucks!).

With so many chic, sexy and comfy options, I don’t understand how college girls aren’t causing mayhem at their local Delia’s store, instead letting all the high schoolers get more bang for their buck. Here I’ve compiled some favorites of mine that are perfect for the college coed. Read More »

I have about a seven block walk from the bus to work every morning. During those seven blocks, I’m usually craving caffeine so badly I’m blind to the world, but on the periodic occasions when my need for coffee isn’t all consuming, I tend to look around at what people are wearing. And you know what I’m noticing? Chicks are walking around in f*cking uncomfortable shoes.

For every pair of sensible sneaks, there are mile high heels, wobbly wedges, pointy-toed witch shoes, flatter than flat flats, and gladiator sandals that eat up half a person’s leg. And you know what? Because I’m a woman and have worn things like this in the past, I can guarantee that 87.9% of the shoes I see every day ARE NOT COMFORTABLE.

Thin-heeled pumps and tall wedges are pretty, and some are even acceptable to teeter around in for an hour or so, but spending an entire day is shoes like that – not to mention walking the streets of New York City – does nothing for us except propagate the idea that for a woman to be considered “put together”, she needs to be in fancy (read: hurty) shoes. Read More »

Oh, summer. Oh, summer and your delicious, delicious shoes.

This is the time of year when I long the most for new shoes. Summer shoes are bright and fun and eye-catching. And it’s warm enough that you don’t have to cover them up with pants, jeans, or other such nonsense.

But sometimes, friends…sometimes summer shoes betray us. Sometimes high heeled sandals bust our heels. Sometimes seemingly-perfect shoes cut up the backs of our feet. So while I can’t guarantee anything, I have combed the internet searching for shoes that at least look like they might not kill you.

Here, dear College Candies, are the shoes I am lusting after right now, that I imagine will leave me with chaste, unharmed tootsies. Read More »

Want to look like Rachel Bilson (well, in this picture, anyway)?

Easy.

Aviator Sunglasses: $15.95 at Sunglasswarehouse.com

Scarf: at Target.com for $24.99 (real cashmere though!)

White Woven Shirt: Forever21.com for $19.80

Sweater: Lux sweater at Urbanoutfitters.com for $29.99

Dark Straight Leg Jeans: Forever21.com for $27.80

Flats: in purple at Target.com for $19.00

Dressing like a fashionable celebrity has never been easier, and instead of spending a disgusting amount of cash on stuff that’s basically just cloth and buttons, you can hit up one of these cheaper chains and buy your “in the moment” styles for the right “in the moment” price.

Walking the streets of New York, you’re bound to see the newest trends out in full force.

Prints, reds, navy blue…they’re all mking a huge comeback this fall. But one color is hitting the streets in a surprising way.Yellow is gaining popularity as fall’s breakout trend, but how to wear it?

It’s easy! The key is to use it as an accent and not having to make it a main statement in your outfit. Wearing yellow as rain gear usually envokes visions of plastic-y rubber galoshes, but it doesn’t have to! Check out Miss Selfridge and it’s amazing yellow raincoat! It adds a punch without needing to be your entire outfit. Read More »

Standing not-quite-tall at 5’1 with a rack that would make Salma Hayek jealous, I really have no business wearing flats. Depending on the rest of my outfit, I tend to either look small and round, or impossibly top heavy and permanently on a tilt towards the ground, chest-first.

Even my closest friends have never seen me in anything resembling a sneaker, and my cute black flats tend to come out only during my commute to and from work, when heels just won’t do.But I can’t help but lust after these cute metallic flats. There’s something very unassumingly charming about them. Since flats are so inconspicuous, you can get away with a gold or silver without looking like you belong on a corner making rent money. Read More »

So the nautical look is like “omg-so-hot-right-now,” and despite my love of Sailor Moon, I haven’t been too thrilled about this recently popular style.

As a girl who is already a little more horizontal than most of the models that sell that stuff, all those stripes just haven’t seemed very appealing. That is, until I went to H&M one glorious day and found myself a pair of these striped ballet flats in pink and white; it was love at first fit.

Little did I know that these fabulous shoes were part of the trend I was feeling so ‘eh’ about! Apparently I was the only one not in the know, but hey, live and learn, and then get these shoes! (Even if you’re still not feeling the nautical wave, you can’t lose by getting a pair in the same style, sans the stripes.)

I love my man. I met him back in 6th grade, and I fell in love. I feel so blessed to have such a long, trusting realtionship. Every year, every season, he brings me so many pretty things. We have really grown together. He knows exactly what I like and every year, even with all my indecisiveness and ever-changing moods and tastes, he has stood up to the challange. And this year, Steve Madden, my main man (in shoes that is… although I would never object to dating a man who could literally make me the little old lady who lived in her shoe) has made me proud again by bringing a plethora of styles to feed my/your foot fetish.

And what’s more is that right now on SteveMadden.com and in Steve Madden stores nation wide there is a major sale going on. (um, who’s excited for the next rainy day?)

Steve’s shoes this summer are so similar to those of the uber–exclusive (read: muy expensivo) designers…. (many are much cuter and for ¼ of the price much more appealing) I saw a shoe JUST like these by Marc Jacobs. Adorable! Read More »