At the beginning of my trip my friend Tirza asked if I thought my style would change while I was in Barcelona. At this point, I had yet to find a clothing store in the city that I actually liked, so I responded with an emphatic no – forgetting that all fashion starts in Europe.
Many of my friends would describe my style as preppy, but I would categorize myself as preppy chic. Although I did not believe that I would stray from my preppy uniform, I was clearly equivocado.
Not long after my conversation with Tirza, I quickly traded in my Polo oxfords for a trendy tunic, my American Apparel leggings for J Brand skinny jeans and I luckily had already left my dreadful Ugg boots at home and was now sporting knee high brown leather boots. I guess my preppy-self was not going to hold up on my Euro adventure.
As every European knows, boots are a staple of a woman’s wardrobe and they soon became a staple of mine as well. So much so that I began a hunt for black military boots, which is actually a very tricky task. I needed to find a perfect balance between wearable boots that looked trendy and chic, but not combat bootish. I wanted boots with a little spunk, and by spunk I mean jewels. Although I got close to buying a few pairs of boots, I was always reluctant and thus am still on the hunt.
Shortly after trading in my traditional wardrobe, I started to discover more European stores like Masimo Dutti or even the beloved Top Shop. I will admit I did shop a lot at Zara and H&M, which are both found in the U.S., but definitely have better stock in Europe. One of my first and most memorable purchases was a cape from Tophop. I finally felt on my way to becoming a European fashionista.
As I have slowly immersed myself back into American civilization, I have taken on the view of “slow and steady wins the race.” So, I am living and wearing this motto. Besides the fact that my closet is not back at full stock, due to the massive amounts of laundry I have, I finally wore a poncho jacket I purchased in Barcelona out and about. I was a little nervous because even though poncho jackets were popping up everywhere in Europe, rivaling the traditional Barbour jacket, I was not quite sure America was ready for its debut. I could not have been more wrong! I received loads of compliments.
With three simple purchases, I was already transforming my wardrobe. Now instead of the daunting task of converting my style to encompass a European flare, my new looming task it to figure out how to assimilate my European collection with my traditional American pieces.
My abroad experience was not only a personal growth experience; it was also a fashion learning experience. So now as I sit here with fashion magazines covering my bedroom floor, trying to figure out how to fuse my new self with my old self, both in fashion and personal terms.