When I walked into the coffee shop to meet Danielle Gasparro, intern for CollegeFashionista.com, she was sporting a brown tweed vest with a turtleneck underneath. She paired this with a maroon velour skirt and layered rose-gold necklace. She explained that this particular outfit was inspired by Seinfeld’s Elain Benes. “Lately I’ve been into really badass 90s chicks like Scully from X Files.”
Danielle is a 23 year old West Virginia native who is majoring in fashion, dress, and merchandising here at WVU. She is just one of College Fashionista’s interns roaming campus writing articles about the latest fashion and beauty trends. If she sees you on campus and likes your style, she might just ask to snap a picture of you and put in on her page.
I sat down with Danielle and asked her about all things fashion (and her opinion on man-buns). Here are a few of her responses:
Q: What is your favorite thing about fashion?
A: I get to take inspiration from different things and different people all the time. I can be something new every single day. With fashion, you never have to stay in one box all the time.
Q: When did you first start to notice you were interested in clothes and fashion?
A: “When I was younger, I would always ask my mom to wear weird things to school like cat ears or headbands with what looked like bug antennas. I always wanted to look different either to make people laugh or just talk about what I was wearing.”
Q: What does your future job look like?
A: “I always want to be working with fashion. I never want to be stuck in a store or in an office. I prefer to be out working with the people.”
Q: Who is your style icon?
A: “Iris Apfel. She’s ninety-four years old and quite glamorous. When I’m her age I want to be that fabulous. She has this quote that I try to live my life by: ‘When you don’t dress like everyone else, you don’t have to think like everyone else’.”
Q: Who is your favorite designer?
A: “Elie Saab. I’m very feminine and I love couture.”
Q: What is a signature piece every college girl should own?
A: “A classic, button-up shirt. It’s one of the most versatile pieces. You can dress it up or down.”
Q: What are your other interests besides fashion?
A: “I really care about social equality, and of course I’m a feminist. I also really like pop culture.”
Q: What is your stance on man-buns?
A: “I’m definitely in favor of the man-bun. I hope they never go out of style.”
Q: What’s a style mistake you see on campus?
A: “Conformity. It makes me sad that I don’t see a lot of individuality.”
Q: What’s your best piece of advice to people who may not know how to dress?
A: “Never say you can’t pull something off. You just have to be confident in what you’re wearing. If you like what you’re wearing, it’ll show. I feel pretty confident when I’m wearing my Breaking Bad tee-shirt even though I don’t look like I stepped out of Vogue.”
Check out her College Fashionista page: http://www.collegefashionista.com/author/daniellegasparro/
And make sure to follow her on Twitter (@gabsmodernlife) and Instagram (@daniellesmodernlife)!