I hate to go all crazy department store on you (It’s January 28th? Time to set up a Memorial Day swimsuit display!) but the fashion industry is always 6 months ahead of us normal folk. The elite designers of the trade have challenged us with innovative, advanced looks that put oh-so 2011 trends, like flare legged jeans and feathers, to shame. What? You can’t afford Roberto Cavalli? No worries fellow broke college students; I’ve recreated the looks with budget friendly brands. Prepare to rock 2012 with these inventive spring trends:

Betsey Johnson Spring 2012

What’s Out: The Blazer/Skinny Jean/UGG Boots

What’s In: The Blazer/Tank Dress/Suede Lace Ups

This Betsey Johnson original is a giant step up from the boring blazer over skinny jeans with a pair of classic cut Uggs. Pair a tank dress with a fitted blazer and a layered necklace. Channel your inner-Betsey with some suede lace up heels and a lightning bolt ring.

Badgley Mischka Spring 2012

What’s Out: Leather Jacket/Sequin Top/Jean Shorts

What’s In: Leather Jacket/Bandeu Top/ Hot Pants

This year, forget the overdone mini skirt, tank top tucked in, leather jacket over top club wear. Please welcome back the ever so risqué: Hot pants. The undies-shorts hybrid will give the illusion of legs for miles. Pair your favorite leather jacket with a bandeau top and match with a hot pair of shoes. Is that Amber Rose over there rocking her model bod? Oh wait, that’s just you donning this beautiful ensemble.

Kanye West Spring/Summer 2012

What’s Out: Blue Denim/Fitted Tops/Nude Heels

What’s In: Patterned Bottoms/Loose Layers/Bold Heels

In 2010, colorful denim became a top trend. This year, hold the focus on your bottoms as opposed to the top of your outfit. Pair pattered denim with a solid colored top, a bold colored pair of heels, and a minimalistic piece of jewelry.

L.A.M.B. Gwen Stefani Spring 2012

What’s Out: Neutrals/Long Sleeve/Clutch

What’s In: Metallics/3 Quarter Length/Totes

Ditch the Khakis, coal, and corduroy for some expressive metallic this season. Go for a basic top with 3 quarter length sleeves that allow room for funky bracelets. As much as I love a good clutch, it’s a bitch trying to fit everything into one-so welcome back boxy totes!

If 2012 is the end of the world, then Betsey Johnson, Badgley Mishka, Kanye & Gwen Stefani have definitely saved the best trends for last. Step out of your comfort zone with these looks and make Spring  2012 your most stylish season yet!

It seems like celebrities these days have to be Jacks (or Janes) of All Trades. If you’re a singer then you’re a dancer and if you’re a dancer then you’re an actor. Then comes the fragrance, and then, of course, the clothing line, the last of which can get a little creepy crazy. I mean, everyone remembers the Avril Lavinge era of hoodies and men’s ties right? No? Just me.

Well, if you do remember  the terrifying time then you remember just how ridiculous some of these fashion labels can get. So it’s easy to write off every celeb clothing line as a fashion disaster waiting to happen. And while that may be true for some, that’s not the case for all celebs turned designers.

Don’t believe me? Check out these five celebrities with fashion labels you’ll love.

initiating the gallery...

Attention, ladies. I’ve got big news.

Reese Witherspoon is launching her own fragrance.

…

Okay. So I guess the news wasn’t really that big of a deal after all. I mean, what celebrity doesn’t have a fragrance these days? No, really, what celebrity doesn’t? Reese Witherspoon is actually the 465th celebrity to ever do this. That’s a lot of celebrities and definitely a lot of scents, which has gotten me thinking: How exactly do they create these scents? What are the ingredients? They must be relevant to the celebs themselves, right? You know, to set them apart. Well, if that’s the case I’ve got a few ideas on what must be in each of them.

What would be in your signature scent?

[Welcome to Celebrity Chic on the Cheap, where our style guru takes a celebrity look and breaks it down for you, our poor college fashionista. What does that mean? It means that while the celebrities (like rockstar Rihanna) are spending $5,000 on an ensemble you don’t have to.]

It’s been awhile since Gwen Stefani reigned pop music (yet I know I’m not the only one who still gets “this shiz is bananas, b-a-n-a-n-a-s” stuck in her head), but she definitely hasn’t been slacking on being a fashion icon. Despite the fact that she has two kids, she never seems to leave the house looking anything less than perfectly coiffed and styled. Gwen’s look is so visually inspiring and fun, with tons of vibrant colors and ’80s-inspired festivity.

We’re getting deeper into the doldrums of winter, but our wardrobes definitely don’t need to be as dreary as the weather, right? Let’s all take a hint from Ms. Stefani and turn up the heat for the long, cold winter ahead.

Shopping Deets: Leopard Pants – ASOS, $24.14; Tunic – Forever 21, $10.50; Jacket – PacSun, $24.99; Boots – Target, $49.99; Bag – Target, $24.99.

Who doesn’t love a great cowl neck sweater? So dramatic, but so simple. Combined with this great contrasting pea coat, the top half of this outfit is so refined and conservative. Then, hello, leopard print! Animal print always makes a comeback in the winter, but instead of going for shoes/tops/scarves, try these amazing skinnies. They’re eye-catching, spunky, and totally awesome. Paired with neutral colors on top, they’re toned down enough to wear to class without looking like you tripped and fell out of a terrible music video from 1983.

Finishing off the look is a pair of badass knee-high black boots and a black crossbody purse that don’t compete with the crazy print of the jeans. This look is the perfect mix of feminine, quirky, and risk-taking, just like Gwen Stefani.

Get more celebrity looks for less here.

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You should be happy you weren’t dating in the 1930s

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How are Gwen Stefani’s kids so cool?

Celeb says what?!

I’m pretty shocked they’re still together

Let’s hope Miley’s new tattoo is fake

Lady Gaga keeps on topping herself

Remember years ago when Gavin Rossdale, Gwen Stefani’s delicious British boy-toy, was accused of having a secret love child even from before the times of No Doubt or Bush?  I heard about it around the days when I still wore a Catholic School uniform to represent my “style” and didn’t believe it was true.  Then I never heard about it again.

Until now.

That little mistake’s all grown up and her name is Daisy Lowe. Daughter of designer/songwriter Pearl Lowe and Gwen Stefani’s main trick, Gavin Rossdale, Daisy might be the coolest “Uh Oh!” ever.

Daisy Lowe hails from across the pond (like fellow style icons Emma Watson and Alexa Chung) and was first discovered as a model. Not shocking, given her gorgeous parental units. What is surprising though, is that Ms. Lowe’s body is as far from the typical model’s body as you can get. Yes, this girl’s got some curves and she’s not afraid to show them off. Like, really show them off. As in get naked, cause a scene to start a revolution. She even told a British newspaper that she’d felt the sting of rejection from a fashion house for having a heavier body than a model should have yet she still refused to lose weight.  Boom. Roasted.

Daisy Lowe’s giving some of the non-waifs some faith in humanity.

And it’s opening many doors for her. Daisy is the face of Converse and has worked with Agent Provacateur (probably because she isn’t afraid to shower her provacative side). She was recently featured in the Vogue’s “Today I’m Wearing” feature, documenting her daily style for their May 2010 issue. And if that’s not enough, there are some rumors that she’ll be rolling out her own edgy and sexy clothing line as well.

But until then, we’ll just have to settle for pulling our own pieces together in a way that would make Daisy proud; with a  little sexy (without the trashy) and a dash of wild-child (while still refined).

Dress, Shoes, Earrings, Coat, Perfume

So maybe the colors aren’t the same and the shoes aren’t what she has in the picture, but the outfit still works with her look.  The key to Daisy’s wardrobe is all in the shapes. A draped dress, no matter the color, gives a little mystery and sensuality because it bunches in the most flattering places. The black trench coat over top covers everything up without looking frumpy like that North Face Fleece you usually favor. (And frumpy is not something Daisy does.)   The studded white flats add a little edge to the otherwise feminine outfit, giving off the rocker-vibe Daisy clearly gets from her pops.  And, if you want to go all out, the flower earrings and Daisy roller-ball by Marc Jacobs are just a fun nod to our inspiring style icon.

Gwen Stefani, style icon and fashionista extrordinaire, has quite possibly gone blind.  Recently spotted out and about with her son Kingston, she looks fabulous from the waist up.  But, scroll your eyes down to her…pants? skirt? skort? jeggings? diaper?  Train wreck!

Seriously, did she get lost and end up in Beyonce’s closet? What could she be hiding in there?  Her other son, Zuma?  Now, I know every girl has a pair of “fat pants” in her closet.  Those extra-comfy, extra-forgiving stretchy numbers that carry you through the less slim days.  But Gwen, unless you cleared an entire tray of Double Downs the night before (and it all went to your FUPA), go put on sweats like the rest of us.

Wait, the Miss USA pageant happened?

Congrats, Gwen Stefani!!

The SATC ladies are closer than ever.

In a perfect world…..

Another Roman Polanski victim?

The perfect beach solutions for every body.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Well, most likely not to you, but to that fabulous woman who pushed your giant head out of their little birth canal raised you, taught you, loves you and continues to support dollar pitcher nights you. She’s pretty fantastic, right? Of course she is, and that’s why she deserves those flowers/breakfast in bed/coupon for a “day free of doing the dishes” because you’re too broke to actually buy her something.

But she’s not the only awesome mom out there. (Duh, have you met mine?) We’ve been exposed to lots of really rockin’ moms in our lifetimes, and CollegeCandy is going to count down the bombest 7.

In no particular order, the 7 moms we’d want as our own (if, you know, we didn’t already have some pretty rocktastic mamas):

Heidi Klum

Not only is she an awesome hands-on mom, but she’s an awesome hands-on mom and does it all. Including walking in ridiculously tall, obscenely gorgeous heels. She produces a TV show, she designs jewelry, she looks smokin’ hot both pregnant and not pregnant (even though we haven’t seen much of the “not pregnant” in the past few years) and despite pumping out a whole litter of children, she still looks way better in a bikini than my never-been-preggers body ever will.

Stiffler’s Mom

OK, so I don’t want her as my mom (ew), but I do wanna be her one day.

Mrs. Nefler

This Beverly Hills diva was dealing with a terrible divorce and still found the time and energy to give up her life of luxury and be her daughter’s Girl Scout troop leader. I know I was praying for her to be my mom when she took the girls to camp out in a hotel, beat those evil Blue Feathers at their own stupid game, and invented that genius camping backpack that doubles as a clothing rack!

Gwen Stefani

Much like Heidi, Gwen is one hot mom. She pretty much reinvented the whole idea of “mom style” (no unflattering butt pockets on this woman’s jeans) and proves that you really can do it all. Plus, have you seen her kids? They’re both well under 5 and way cooler and hotter than I’ll ever be.

Lorelai Gilmore

Come on, did anyone watch Gilmore Girls and not want Lorelai as their own mom? She was so cute and quirky and cool. And she always had hot boyfriends. (OK, so maybe that’s not really a “cool mom” factor, but it’s still true. Girlfriend had it going. on.) Plus, she and Rory had the best relationship (and witty banter!) ever, something every teenage girl wants for her very own.

Mrs. George

Mrs. George: [serving the Plastics fruit drinks] Hey, you guys! Happy hour is from four to six!
Cady: Um, is there alcohol in this?
Mrs. George: Oh, God, honey, no! What kind of mother do you think I am? Why, do you want a little bit? Because if you’re going to drink I’d rather you do it in the house.

Nancy Botwin

Like most moms, Nancy would do anything for her family. Unlike most moms, Nancy’s “anything” includes selling a whole lot of pot. God, I bet those family dinners are awesome.

And this time he lets people ask him questions!

What song was #1 the day you were born?

Kal Penn’s leaving the White House.

American University student journalist starts a firestorm.

Some of the dumbest things we’ve seen all week.

Um, Gwen, what are you wearing?!