Name: Preetha Iyengar
Home Town: West Palm Beach, FL
Class of: 2014
AH: What are you currently wearing?
PI: I got the dress at Anthropologie. I got the belt at Anthropologie too. And I got the cardigan at… Anthropolgie. But I bought them all separately! The bracelets I collect when I travel, because I travel around the world a lot with my family. They break frequently, but I just get more when I travel and replace them.
AH: So, do you have one from each country?
PI: It depends – I have a bunch at home too. These are just the ones I wear all the time. One’s from Greece, another is from South Africa; this one’s from Peru; this one’s from Mexico; this one’s from Rwanda; this one is from Fiji. The thing is, the ones I get from different countries usually break within the year, so it’s usually my more recent travels that are on my arm.
AH: That’s awesome! It’s like you’re wearing your heart on your sleeve but with your travels. Wait, so how many places have you been to?
PI: 47 countries, on all 7 continents. My family usually travels 6 weeks in the summer and 2 weeks in the winter.
AH: You’ve been to Antarctica?
PI: Yeah, I went a couple of years ago with my family on vacation.
AH: What was it like?
PI: It was amazing. I think if you were to go on any vacation, I would recommend that one. It’s so remote; it’s amazing. You don’t see places that are so untouched by humans. We took a boat there with 100 people, like a cruise, but not a Carnival cruise. We flew down to Argentina, to Ushuaia, which is the southernmost point, and then took a boat down, which took about 3 days. But it was awesome. The whole trip was probably 15 days. It wasn’t even that cold there; it was probably in the 30s. But the sun was only out for maybe two of the days we were there, so it was really cloudy. The water’s so blue and the mountains are covered in snow and there are penguins everywhere. It’s probably my favorite place I’ve been to.
AH: Do you have a bracelet from there?
PI: I have one! I actually got one from there. I’m not wearing it right now because it broke. It was a really long time ago, but I did have one! They have bases there and the Cuban base had a gift shop. It had postcards and bracelets and I was wearing mine for a really long time before it broke.
AH: I can’t believe you got a bracelet from there though; that’s so cool. Your style seems really meaningful. Do you have any style inspirations?
PI: I’ve always liked to put things together on my own, but I do like Zooey Deschanel’s style. The clothes she wears are so cute. But I like to pick things from different people, and not just necessarily follow any one person’s style. I wear dresses every day though. And I love patterns. Sometimes I like solids, but usually I have some sort of basic pattern on.
AH: So, what does style mean to you?
PI: I think it’s something you can express your personality with. I really think it makes a difference, because you can tell a lot about a person by the way that they dress, like how much care they put into it and things like that. Not that you should only judge someone based on what they’re wearing, but I look at it as another way to express my creativity. It’s another canvas.