[When moving into either a dorm or an off-campus apartment, your wardrobe will face two major challenges: 1. A major lack of funding (to add more to it), and 2. A major lack of storage space. For these two reasons, maximizing what you already own becomes essential. That's why you need to learn to Shop Your Closet. Each week, I’ll show you how to wear 1 item 3 ways – with the stuff you most likely already own! – to get the most out of your purchases.]

I love most things about fall – anything made with pumpkin, cozy sweaters and my TV shows starting back up – but the one thing I’ve never been a fan of is the dampness and rain that comes with all these wonderful things. At least until I invested in a pair of good quality rain boots. Now on those damp days my toes can stay warm and dry, even when I decide to go puddle-jumping (or am forced to when I try to cross a street and find myself ankle-deep in water).

If you have to walk any distance to school, you should own a pair of rain boots. Period. They are functional (keeping those tootsies dry), yes, but super fashionable as well. There are so many colors and styles out there and they’re just plain cute. And when the temperature starts to drop, many styles even offer fleece liners to keep your toes extra dry and toasty all through the winter, making them a very good investment piece!

For this week’s Shop Your Closet, I chose a pair of black boots that go with everything, but a lot of these looks could be adjusted for patterned or colored rain boots as well! Read More »

Who or what inspires your style? Many of us use celebrities (Nicole Richie or Emma Watson) as style inspiration even though, most of the time, they are being dressed from head to toe by the best stylists. Which we don’t have. And sometimes it’s damn near impossible to work their Hollywood looks into our not-so-Hollywood lives. I’ve made it my mission to tap into the mind of a fashion stylist and show you how to take your style inspiration – whatever it may be – and make it more you!

As you may have come to notice, I seem to have an affinity towards style icons that dress like they’re a little peeved about something. And Taylor Momsen is the queen of the peeve. While 17-year-old Jenny Humphrey on Gossip Girl has a few things to be angry about (namely, playing second fiddle to her perfect brother and bombshell step-sister), I’m not exactly sure what’s getting Taylor’s panties (when she wears them, that is) in a bunch. I mean, the girl works alongside some serious dime pieces like Penn Badgley, Chace Crawford and Ed Westwick, fronts her band Pretty Reckless, and models for Madonna’s upcoming fashion line called Material Girl.

But this girl is spicy, outspoken and seemingly angry, and it all comes through in the clothing (or lack thereof) that she dons. Taylor did a complete 180 and went from Upper East Side preppy with her compadre (and fellow style icon) Willa Holland to X-rated rebel. Gone are the girly dresses and frilly tops, replaced by ripped tights, heavy eyeliner and garter belts (?!). But while she’s still not legal, the way she rocks that wardrobe makes me realize that age ain’t nothing but a number.

I’m diggin Taylor’s style because it’s extreme.  Not to the point of Lady Gaga covered in fake blood, but it’s extreme to where you wonder, “What could she possibly wear next?”  It’s a little bit scandalous considering she’s still jailbait, but inspiring because she pairs it with an edgy attitude….and the mouth of a sailor. She doesn’t care what people think or say; she wears what she wants, when she wants. Some may judge her for it, but Taylor doesn’t care. And, quite frankly, I don’t care either. Taylor does rocker chic and she does it well.

And because we’re well past our barely-legal days, we can work her look without worrying about the judgment of others.

Read More »

The following post is courtesy of our gal pals over at CollegeFashion.net. Check them out for all your fashion and beauty needs!

Everyone has (or should have) a basic white button-down shirt. This item is the ultimate chameleon piece–it can be worn with almost anything in your closet, from dress pants to jeans to any kind of skirt.

Although there are dozens of ways to wear a white button-down shirt, many people (me, especially!) get stuck in the habit of wearing it in conventional ways–tucked in to a pencil skirt or trousers, or untucked with a pair or jeans. This week’s Fashion Challenge encourages you to take your trusty white button down and wear it in a completely new way! Are you ready to take on this week’s challenge?? Read More »

Who or what inspires your style? Many of us use celebrities (like Sarah Silverman) or movie characters (like Lux Lisbon) as style inspiration even though, most of the time, they are being dressed from head to toe by the best stylists. Which we don’t have. And sometimes it’s damn near impossible to work their Hollywood looks into our not-so-Hollywood lives. I’ve made it my mission to tap into the mind of a fashion stylist and show you how to take your style inspiration – whatever it may be – and make it more you!

Emma Watson isn’t just that charming Brit that plays that one chick in that Harry Potter flick.  She’s grown before our eyes from the awkward 11-year-old Hermione to the classy, well-mannered face of Burberry with a personal style that, thankfully, doesn’t resemble anything you’d see in the halls of Hogwarts.

Emma didn’t always have that prep-school drop-out look she’s known for now.  In some older pictures during the early 2000′s, she dressed like any average 11-year-old – a little but awkward and unsure, but still a little experimental.  But as time went on, she experimented more and more, discovering what worked and what she liked and what expressed her (not Hermione’s) personality best.

And, like magic, she succeeded and has become a force to be reckoned with, both while walking the red carpet and walking to class.  Emma Watson’s style is classy and refined, with the occasional edgy rocker moments thrown in.

I love Emma’s style because it evolved.  She tried out trends, pushed the envelope and made some mistakes. It took some time but, as we have all seen, it most definitely paid off. Today designers are courting her, photographers are hounding her and college girls from the Midwest are trying to pull together outfits to look just like her. Read More »

She's ready for the Mustachio Bash-io.

Who or what inspires your style? Many of us use actresses (like Lisa Bonet) or movie characters (like Lux Lisbon) as style inspiration, even though, most of the time, they are being dressed from head to toe by the best stylists.

Which we don’t have.

And sometimes it’s damn near impossible to work their Hollywood looks into our not-so-Hollywood lives. I’ve made it my mission to tap into the mind of a fashion stylist and show you how to take your style inspiration – whatever it may be – and make it more you!

At one point in my life, there was a time when I did think Sarah Silverman was absolutely high-larious on her show, The Sarah Silverman Program. Unfortunately, those days have long since passed, but I’m still left with something about her that I admire.

Besides her ability to nonchalantly rock a mustache at a super-formal event, surprisingly, it’s also her style.

Just to be clear, though: it’s not Sarah’s red carpet looks that I covet. While she has been known to work corsets, ball gowns and sexy frocks to big-time events, that side of Sarah’s style doesn’t interest me because, 1) she often makes major fashion mistakes and 2) she looks so…not Sarah (and really, painfully uncomfortable).

The Sarah Silverman style I love is her everyday, low key, totally casual, I don’t give a sh*t, look. On a normal day Sarah doesn’t do much to make herself look like anything special.  Her typical uniformed style is a track jacket, jeans, Converse and her hair in a ponytail.  Ravishing?  Ehhh, maybe not to some; lord knows Joan Rivers wouldn’t have nice things to say about it. But I think that style is Sarah and it sets her apart, in a good way.  Most celebrities in movies or on TV have to constantly make sure they look perfect, almost like the audience should strive to look like them.  But Sarah, on the other hand, would rather just be real and look like the audience themselves. Read More »

Who or what inspires your style? Many of us use actresses (like Sanoe Lake or Lisa Bonet) as style inspiration, even though, most of the time, they are being dressed from head to toe by the best stylists.

Which we don’t have.

And sometimes it’s damn near impossible to work their Hollywood looks into our not-so-Hollywood lives. I’ve made it my mission to tap into the mind of a fashion stylist and show you how to take your style inspiration – whatever it may be – and make it more you!

If you haven’t seen The Virgin Suicides, go see it! RIGHT NOW!  Directed by Sofia Coppola, another style icon, you can see how the 5 Lisbon sisters’ lives unfold in this dreamy and mysterious story (so mysterious, it almost seems true).  Originally based on the book by Jeffery Eugenides, the story is set in the 1970s in a town about 15 minutes away from where I live.

All of the sisters live in the kind of home where it’s a huge deal if they can actually be allowed to go to their Homecoming dance.  If these girls are late for curfew, they’re pulled out of school and under house arrest (unlike me where when I’m late for curfew my parents just…go back to sleep). Yeah, it’s not easy being a Lisbon sister. But despite  the strict dictators watching their back, the sisters manage to create their own distinct identities and styles, Lux especially. Read More »

Who or what inspires your style? Many of us use Hollywood A-listers (like Diablo Cody) or movie characters (like Annie Hall) as style inspiration, even though, most of the time, they are being dressed from head to toe by the best stylists.

Which we don’t have.

And sometimes it’s damn near impossible to work their Hollywood looks into our not-so-Hollywood lives. I’ve made it my mission to tap into the mind of a fashion stylist and show you how to take your style inspiration – whatever it may be – and make it more you!

Sometimes in this (awesome) summer heat, the last thing on our minds isn’t what else we can add to an outfit to showcase our style, but how many layers we can remove without flashing too much skin or, worse, a nipple. And if I had to name one person who balances this all out perfectly, it’s Sanoe Lake.

Not familiar with her? Well, this part-surfer part-actress is part-Japanese, part-English and part-Hawaiian, the perfect combo for her breakout role in Blue Crush. (Which, like to admit it or not, you know you stop to watch when it’s on TNT on a Saturday.) In the movie, you don’t get to see much of Sanoe’s style as she’s either wearing a hotel maid uniform or rocking her bathing suits (and the occasional board-short).  But off the movie set, Sanoe takes her cool, laid-back surfer style with her, which makes for some pretty gnarly (in a good way) style. She’s a surfer girl from the waves to the street, and she does it well. Read More »

Who or what inspires your style? Many of us use musicians (like Debbie Harry) or movie characters (like Annie Hall) as style inspiration, even though, most of the time, they are being dressed from head to toe by the best stylists. Which we don’t have. And sometimes it’s damn near impossible to work their Hollywood looks into our not-so-Hollywood lives. I’ve made it my mission to tap into the mind of a fashion stylist and show you how to take your style inspiration – whatever it may be – and make it more you!

Diablo Cody is one cool lady.  Not just because she has a wicked awesome tattoo on her arm of a pinup girl, the fact that she won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Juno, her previous profession of being a talented “clothing-remover,” or the fact that her name means “devil” in Spanish.  All of those help make her pretty neat, but there’s just something about her, something I can’t quite put my finger on, that oozes awesome.

And she wraps it all up perfectly in her uniquely fabulous look.

Diablo is pretty under the radar when it comes to her style, but I fell in love with it the first time I saw her being interviewed for Juno.  It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen before; the innocent ’50s housewife meets the rock-and-roll dominatrix. She’s got the whole pin-up vibe going on, but still manages to look totally modern. It’s romantic yet somehow dark and edgy. Think animal prints and spikes meet polka dots and ruffles, then get married and live happily ever after.

It shouldn’t work, but it does.

Read More »

Who or what inspires your style? Many of us use musicians (like Debbie Harry) or movie characters (like Elvira Hancock) as style inspiration, even though, most of the time, they are being dressed from head to toe by the best stylists. Which we don’t have. And sometimes it’s damn near impossible to work their Hollywood looks into our not-so-Hollywood lives. I’ve made it my mission to tap into the mind of a fashion stylist and show you how to take your style inspiration – whatever it may be – and make it more you!

I’m probably not the first person to break the news to you that Annie Hall and (500) Days of Summer are essentially the same movie. (And if I am, I’m sorry.) Diane Keaton and Zooey Deschanel play basically the same character and each movie illustrates love, going back through time to figure out what (or who) went wrong with back and forth over-analyzing.  But to me, the most important aspect of these movies (besides the “groundbreaking” lessons I learned) is they both demonstrate the iconic style of the fashionably quirky female protagonists.

In Annie Hall, Annie and Alvy attempt a relationship.  They break up.  They get back together.  The process repeats, blah blah blah.  It was a great movie no doubt, but half the time I was watching, I was more focused on how I can dress like a women trying to dress like a man without looking like a man.  Does that make sense? Let’s hope so.

For those of you who don’t know, Annie Hall’s style was revolutionary for its time. Before this movie, it wasn’t extremely popular for women to be rockin’ a tie, vest and high-waisted, wide-legged khakis without getting “WTF are you thinking?” looks from their peers. Annie Hall pushed the envelope, blurring the lines between male and female style, forever changing the landscape of women’s fashion. There’s a difference between something a man would wear and menswear, and the character of Annie Hall proved that. Katherine Hepburn may have started the “pants-on-women” trend, but Annie took it to a whole new, somewhat crazy, level. And it worked, because it was classic and bold at the same time. Read More »

Coolest girl at camp, hands down.

Who or what inspires your style? Many of us use celebrities (like Willa Holland) or movie characters (like Elvira Hancock) as style inspiration, even though, most of the time, they are being dressed from head to toe by the best stylists. Which we don’t have. And sometimes it’s damn near impossible to work their Hollywood looks into our not-so-Hollywood lives. I’ve made it my mission to tap into the mind of a fashion stylist and show you how to take your style inspiration – whatever it may be – and make it more you!

Many know her as the one-name, Blondie. As I was growing up, I knew her as the one other woman my dad probably loved besides my ma. But was Paola (my mother’s 2nd name after “Mom”) ever jealous?  Hells to the nah.  She idolized her too!  Debbie Harry has been turning heads since our parents were our age (before the days of Ke$ha-style auto tune and daily Facebook creepage).  How could she not with her voice “like buttah,” cheekbones that could command foreign nations, and especially her iconic style that would make single men drool and married men hide their wedding rings in their pockets?

Oh, in case you weren’t already aware, Debbie Harry was the lead singer of the band Blondie in the late ’70s/early ’80s era of glam-punk persuasion.  She set the bar for those who wanted to add some glam to their rebelliousness, or some edge to their sweetness.  Although it’s been said that Debbie Harry prefers to NOT be referred to as a style icon (how humble), whether she likes it or not, people want to emulate her signature look. Read More »