The temperatures are dropping, scarves are being worn for warmth (not style), and your late summer glow has been replaced by rosy cheeks and a runny nose. The freezing weather makes it ever so difficult to unwrap yourself from the tight embrace of your down comforter and do anything remotely productive. Luckily, with winter break just around the corner, you can avoid the harsh realities of class, work, and responsibilities for a few weeks.

Break is exactly that.. a break. With all the required reading you’re given during the semester, it can feel like ages since you sat down with a book…for fun. So, we’ve compiled a list of 8 must-read classic English, classic American, and popular contemporary novels that should be enjoyed over break.

And, in light of the recent casting of Carey Mulligan as Daisy Buchanan in Baz Luhrmann’s adaptation of The Great Gatsby, we’ve picked a celeb for each novel that would be perfect as the hero or heroine. So check out our list, choose your favorite, snuggle up with a mug of hot chocolate, and escape from the world (and the cold) for a few hours by creating your own mental movie with the help of these texts. Read More »

[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 are spending $5,000 on an ensemble (even a lazy Saturday outfit), you don’t have to. All you have to do is click on the goods and - boom - you can buy the entire look. For cheap. Yes, we know - there is a spot for her in heaven.]

I don’t care for Katy Perry that much. I only like every other single that she releases, I think her taste in men is beyond questionable, and I thought it was highly ridiculous to claim that as a Christian, she was highly offended by Lady Gaga.

Yet, I cannot deny that I am completely fascinated by her style. She’s fearless, experimental, and not afraid to switch things up. She’s the only (non-Gaga) woman I can think of who is as comfortable wearing a bra made of cupcakes as she is dressed down and looking like Zooey Deschanel’s doppelganger. And I love that.

You know what else I love? This stunning polka dot number Katy recently sported on a stroll through London town. Gimme, gimme, gimme. 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 »

Who or what inspires your style? Many of us use celebrities (like Alexa Chung) or movie characters(like Queen Gorgo from “300″) 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 don’t know who Zooey Deschanel is, please kindly let me remove the rock that you’ve been living under to do a little educating.  This girl acts in movies.  This girl sings in her band, She & Him.  This girl sings in her movies she acts in.  Besides all that, this girl made it cool to dress like you went back in time reincarnated as your stylish mom growing up in the ’60s.  And she’s got girls (and guys) mildly obsessed.

There are so many ways different people describe Zooey’s style; they call it “quirky,” “indie,” or “very Zooey.” I think all of those are true, but I think there’s more. Zooey Deschanel’s style reminds me of a shy librarian that was given a subtle makeover.  It’s dainty yet a little bit sexy, a little risky at times with hints of old school vintage. It’s a strange combination, yet she always pulls it off flawlessly. Read More »

This week was a good, if not totally random, week for music. I mean, who groups Daughtry, Jack White’s the Dead Weather, and the soundtrack to 500 Days of Summer in one category? I do. And I love them all.

Though, in totally different ways.

Chris Daughtry I love in a good-boy rocker kind of way. Jack White I love in a creepy weirdo fascination kind of way. And the 500 Days of Summer I love in a Zooey Deschanel kind of way. I love music in lots of different ways and this week is a prime example of how much my love can vary. Read More »

Do you ever feel like you’ve heard so much about an artist that you don’t even bother to listen to them? Maybe it’s just that I like to discover music on my own, but if someone over-talks a band or a musician, I sometimes feel like I know them and don’t take the time to listen to them. This week I took the time to listen to a musician I’ve been hearing about for years: Pete Yorn. And I gotta say, I finally know what all the talkin’ was about. I also discovered a totally new artist(s), God Help the Girl, and went back to an old favorite who performed some of his classics live, Michael Buble. Read More »

A while back, the editor of this very site put out a query: “Give me a Top 10 list of your favorite High School Movies.” I told her I wanted in – after all, who doesn’t love to indulge in a little HS drama? So I sat down and started listing. Only I discovered that including just 10 was more impossible than winning 8 medals in one Olympic games. And I am no Michael Phelps.

So, I listed 10. The first list of what would soon become many. After posting, many of you seemed quite angry with my decisions. Your comments were full of ALL CAPS and lots of exclamation points!!!! You were upset that I had left some classics off the list. Perhaps you didn’t notice the “Part 1″ in the title, or perhaps you just needed everyone to know of your love of The Breakfast Club.

Not that it mattered; I was clearly coming back for round 2. So here it is – another 10 gloriously angsty high school flicks. Get that Smart Pop ready, ladies; these high school dramas are gonna rock your lockers! Read More »

This week is all about the boys. Cute ones at that. Between Jason Isbell, M. Ward, and Sam Roberts, you’ll forget all about last week’s Valentine’s Day and find yourself falling in love all over again. Even if you have a man, come on; can he sing like any of these guys? No matter what, you’re not going to be able to keep from swooning. Read More »