Name: Chantal Strasburger
Home Town: Austin, TX
Class of: 2013
AH: What are you currently wearing?
CS: My shoes are from Primark, which is a store in London. It’s super cheap and kind of a mix between Forever 21 and something even cheaper than that, but it’s great. The skirt’s from Value Village – if you haven’t been there, I recommend it; they have awesome bargains and this skirt was literally $1.99. It’s about fifteen minutes away from here, but it’s one of those places where you have to really hunt for the good items because there’s lots of awful stuff there too, but when you find something good, it’s really good. This top is from Free People, and the necklace is from Top Shop, in London, but it’s really loud so I can’t wear it to class. We visit family in London often because my mom’s British. Actually, I think my earrings are from my mom, and my headband is a cutoff of a shirt that I have, which I also got at Value Village. And my jewelry is from lots of random places. Some of these bracelets are from Turkey, and some are from China – I studied abroad there the summer after my freshman year in college. I also went by Tibet afterwards, which was amazing! I bought a ton of bracelets for my friends when I went there, because that’s the thing to give. And this purse is from Avalon Exchange. Gold is my thing; I love it!
AH: Do you wear any of this every day?
CS: I actually don’t; there’s nothing I wear every day specifically, but I always have lots of jewelry on, like rings, and I like to switch it up. I don’t like having one staple piece.
AH: Do you have any favorite item?
CS: I have a great gold necklace that’s like a collar that I wear a lot. Really anything that’s gold. Also, if I see something with sequins, I have to buy it. I have eight sequin jackets, mostly from thrift stores; I just love shiny things. I have a friend that nicknamed me “Chantagold,” and that’s my DJ name for KWUR also. Basically, if it’s sequin or gold or metallic, I want to own it.
AH: How would you describe your style, if you could put it into words?
CS: Ah, the age-old question. I wouldn’t give it a word. It’s definitely not preppy, or necessarily always put-together. It’s kind of just whatever. I like mixing things up, and definitely incorporating a lot of thrift store finds, but I like putting them with nicer items so it’s not just homeless chic. One of my friends says I look homeless a lot, which I take as a compliment! But yeah, just anything that’s different. I like statement pieces. If I’m in a store and I see something that I know no one else has or is one-of-a-kind, I have to have it. I’m also a fashion design major, so I’m starting to make clothes. I made my mom a cape for Christmas, and I’m hoping to start making more of my own stuff. But yeah, I can’t really put a label on my style. If I like it, I buy it. I don’t want to put any rules to it, so it’s really just anything and everything.
AH: Do you have any favorite, inspirational brands or designers or places you draw your ideas from?
CS: I do love Top Shop. I went to the one in New York recently, but the one in London is just incredible. There are so many floors filled with stuff that you just want. I actually get in a really bad mood when I go in because I just want everything and I can’t have it all because it’s actually rather pricey. But they always have the most current and up-and-coming things going on there.
AH: Where is there better shopping: here, London, or China?
CS: China is extremely cheap, so is Tibet, so you can get a lot of stuff, but it’s not necessarily high quality. They have fabric markets, so you can go in and point and they’ll measure you and make stuff for you, and it’s really inexpensive, but, again, not exactly the best quality. I definitely love buying stuff when I travel, because when I bring it back, the pieces always remind me of the trip. I like things that have history behind them and actually mean something. I also love anything on the Loop. Avalon is always great, but it’s a little overpriced for what it is, but that’s fine. A lot of my stuff is also from my mom and my sisters. I have three sisters; one’s older and two are younger and we share a lot of our stuff.
AH: Do they have the same style as you?
CS: Ish! I think I took a lot after my older sister, and then my younger sister is more sporty, more J.Crew. But I think we all get influenced by each other.
AH: That must be a very colorful household.
CS: Oh, it is. Yes, you have no idea.
AH: What does style mean to you?
CS: Well this is a very good question because, and I’m about to give you a shameless plug, I co-founded and am starting Armour Blog and Magazine. I don’t know if you’ve seen it, but it’s the street-style blog for WashU. I’m doing it with my friends Jacob and Felicia, and so for the blog portion we’re just stopping anyone – Jacob takes the pictures – and if we see someone with what we describe as “style,” which is just anything that shows who you are; something that’s different, something that’s not just because you got up in the morning and went to class and didn’t think about anything, but actually putting effort into what you’re wearing, and finding ways to make that an outlet for your personality. So we have that, and we have a magazine coming out next week, on Thursday, which is really exciting. It’s the first issue, and I think it’s going to be really awesome.
AH: How do you get one?
CS: Well, good question! We’re actually sponsoring the happy hour on Thursday that CPC does, so if you come to that you can see some. But we have to wait until next year to get SU funding, so we only got a limited amount, but it will also be online (www.armourmag.blogspot.com). But it’s going to be really great; it’s all about styles and “what is style?” We don’t really call it a “fashion” magazine, because I feel like that word has too many connotations of labels and brand names and pricing, but with “style,” well, anyone can have style. Even if you are homeless, you can still pull something off. I’m also in Kuumba; they do a look book every year, and the second annual look book is coming out in a couple of weeks, and that’s more in-depth. We asked people to come to a house on Forsyth last weekend and we took lots of pictures of tons of different people. That will also be online.
AH: How did you get the idea to start it?
CS: The look book was started last year, before I was in Kuumba, and then I was asked to be in it, so I posed and then I got to know Kuumba through it. My friend, Jessie Kritt, was the founder of the look book part of Kuumba, and I helped direct it this year. It’s a really good way to look at WashU’s style, because I think that it’s easy to classify WashU as not really having much of style. I think it’s lacking a culture of style. There are a lot of sweatpants, which is fine, but it’s so much more interesting to see people when you can learn about them through what they’re wearing. So, these are all ways that are good at promoting the conversation of ‘what is style’ and ‘what is personal expression.’ I like having this new thing on campus to start getting excited about, because I feel like WashU could use some help in this area. So hopefully these will help get people talking and interested and thinking about what is their own style, and maybe even putting a little bit more thought into how they present themselves to the world. Teaching by example. If you see someone wearing something crazy maybe you’ll think, “Hey, I could pull that off!” Hopefully these goals will be obtained soon, but we’ll see!