To start off this discussion of fashion let it be known that I do not read countless fashion magazines and I do not have a huge bank account to go shopping every weekend at the high end shops so this post can relate to most girls, cool!
Fashion, a way of self expression and fun way to protect your body from weather (or to not protect depending on how much clothing you choose to wear). That is my definition of fashion. Self expression in fashion is even cooler than normal self expression because you get to wear it on your body for people to see! You can show exactly who you are or who you wish to be at any given time of day.
Now some girls may think you have to have an intense knowledge of the actual rules of fashion to be able to say you are a fashionista showing your style off. Like no white after labor day and the super power of predicting trends, but the secret is out-you don’t have to know a thing! As long as you feel amazing and love what you are wearing you can strut down any run way or hallway owning your style. The best way to find you sense of style is experimentation! Tons of style editors, designers, and bloggers encourage it actually!
The EveryGirl blog even says “your style should reflect and celebrate your life, your individuality, and personality. Own your style, be proud of it, and embrace fashion as a way to express who you are and who you want to be.” on her blog about how to find your personal style.
For me, I don’t shop designer or look for trends, honestly some trends scare me. When I shop I simply pick out the times I find fit my personality and make me feel comfortable. I always grab unique pieces when I can to try to stand out. In fashion one thing you don’t want to try is to look like everyone else, where is the fun in that? My all time favorite buy was a black velvet dress that has a very trendy Wednesday Addams gothic feel to it from Altar’d State (it was also on sale so I was SOLD). That dress makes me feel so edgy, but etherial at the same time-I adore it!
Throughout the past four years I have gotten a finer understanding of my personality and its connection with my sense of fashion. A major trend I found was how I picked out the clothes I was going to wear for the day. I would look into my closet and grab individual items, not because I knew they would coordinate together, but simply because I felt like wearing those items that day. A denim shirt? Yes please. My UO floral dress? Flower power! It is chilly so lets take this patterned scarf. Looks like my solid colored socks are dirty so polka dot socks are a thing. And that would be my outfit. Shockingly I didn’t look like a clown. A friend of mine who was very into the do’s and don’t’s of fashion would even state how annoyed she was that I was able to pull off these looks. The random articles of clothing thing worked for me and it can totally work for you, too.
Through the years I have continued the same fashion process and this past week I decided to document my outfit choices to share with the girl who is seeking to show her cute personality through fashion.
So let’s get started!
Saturday 11.5.15
Yellow sweater: Target
Multi-colored Scarf: Random mall kiosk
Black Legging: Old Navy
Multi-colored sneakers: Target
Fall is in full swing and I wanted to wear some pop (more like blast) of color to brighten my day. I felt so 90’s and loved the choice of wearing these knock off Keds I had forgotten all about because they gave me blisters last time I wore them. My RA complemented my outfit as I was leaving my room to grab a bite to eat. So she got some major brownie points!
Sunday 11.6.16
Cardigan: Target
Burnt Orange Dress: Belk
Teal stockings: Old Navy
Boots (or booties I really don’t know what these would be considered): Urban Outfitters
Sunday means church and dresses are always a must! I love the burnt orange color in this dress because it reminds me of pumpkins so I just had to wear it. Black leggings were getting a little too typical so I tried mixing up things by wearing colored stockings, which the art major in me is geeking at the fact that they were complementary colors to me dress! My friend complemented my use of color and that made the air getting sucked out of my lungs from how tight the stockings were worth it (Reasons I usually stick to leggings). All in all I felt sassy and ready for some sort of business meeting wearing those stockings. I will definitely try them out again with other colored dresses.
Monday 11.7.16
Patterned Cardigan: Target
Burnt Mustard Shirt: Target
Maroon Corduroy Pants: Target (know my favorite store yet?)
Brown Patterned Espadrilles: Shoe Carnival
I just recently bought these corduroy pants and the first day I wore them I instantly wanted to take a nap in them because they were so comfy. Since then I take every opportunity to wear them that I get. So having to get up early of my 9:30 class seemed great to wear the comfy pants. My obsession with burnt colored clothing seemed to continue with the shirt and it is getting chilly so I threw on a patterned cardigan because a plain jane one just won’t do.
Tuesday 11.8.16
Black and White Cardigan: Target
Blue Dress: Altar’d State
Red Wood Shoes: BANGS
WOO Election Day!! To be patriotic I threw on the red, white, and blue. In the beginning of the day I was excited for the look. Dresses and sneakers like BANGS are so edgy I love it! As the day went on however, I think the weight and thickness of the cardigan made my day drab and crummy. That contrasted to much with the thinness of the balance of the dress. One of those days were the look was a W, but how it made me feel was an L. We win some and lose some in the name of fashion. I should’ve worn a pant suit for Election Day, I guess.
Wednesday 11.9.16
Denim Shirt: Target
Pink Skirt: Old Navy
Red Wood Shoes: BANGS
I will be honest, this was my cheat day. This entire week I wanted to try out new outfits, but this wasn’t a new outfit. I had worn this look two months back and had gotten great complements on it so wanted to wear it again for this article. the process of picking this outfit out was the exact same for all the others. I simply wanted to wear pink, denim, and my brand new red shoes on the same day and by golly I did. I love this look so much!
Thursday 11.10.16
Cardigan: Target (also why do I always wear these?)
Green Shirt: Target
Denim Shirts: Old Navy
Black Leggings: Old Navy
Socks: Honestly I have no idea
Black Booties: Belk
This was my biggest experimentation day from this week. I have always wanted to be daring and wearing shorts with leggings, but I always though it made my body look odd. Being super short is a struggle sometimes when you want to take fashion risks. This week was about trying new things so it seemed like high time to try this out. Honestly I was self conscious through out the day. It took me around 5 tries to pick out a shirt that didn’t feel like it killed the look, I would check to see if my shorts looked like they were riding up, and the only reason I am wearing yet another cardigan was because my butt looked odd with the shorts. Despite my timidness about this outfit it made me happy going out of my comfort zone. Will I be seen wearing the shorts and leggings combo again? Might as well keep experimenting with this look to see how I can improve it so yes!
Friday 11.11.16
Maroon Sweater: Target
Grey Ombre Jeans: Target
Tan I don’t know what you call these but they are cute shoes: Belk
On the last day of my adventure week I was spending the day with art friends in Georgia so for comfort sake I did not try to go crazy. I did try to look casually artsy so hope I accomplished that. This day wasn’t about my look, but I was about everyone else’s look. We visited University of Georgia’s Lamar Dodd’s School of Art open house and I saw hundreds of art students there. Man, those kids had fashion. Crazy fashion at that. It was a night full of art and fashion inspiration. The students looked like they lived in Urban Outfitters, vintage shops, and Goodwill. Fierce, experimental, and unique were three words I would give to those students. Major props and major inspo.
See ladies and gents, fashion is about four things: expression of personality, risk taking while feeling comfortable in your own skin, inspiration, and having fun! I live off of mix and matching patterns and colors. So far I have had fun, but seeing those kids at UGA gave me so much drive to try harder to have fun in fashion. I am walking a line of comfortable consistency. We all might be doing that.
So to make it fun waking up in the morning play with your outfits. You don’t have to buy a new wardrobe to make up a new style. I didn’t buy anything new for this past week of fashion experimentation. All you have to do is switch around what you usually wear together and see what it makes you feel like!
If you want to read The EveryGirls blog post on tips to find your personal style click here!!