Fashion is constantly changing and it is easy to fall in the trap of buying yourself unnecessary clothes that are cheaply made and are bound to go out of style in only a couple of months. It is so much more rewarding to wear clothes that are cared to yourself and not to what is “trending”. With this also comes a preservation of your money and saving yourself from buying poorly made clothes from fast-fashion stores. This is a win-win situation, so why doesn’t everyone value quality over quantity? When looking at social media, it seems that everyone has the newest clothes and an excess of it. Although this lifestyle is unattainable for most, it feels that we all have to have whatever is new and trending in the moment. Up-keeping this mindset will result in a dent in your wallet and a dent in self-esteem. Being able to be comfortable with the clothes you have and making sure that your closet is built up with practical and staple pieces is what will benefit your future style.

Going off of this, it benefits our environment too. Fast fashion companies overproduce branding clothes that will only be thrown away in a matter of months and this pattern never comes to an end. It is unethical and will only result in poor effects to our world. The quality of fast-fashion clothes are significantly worse because of the cheap manufacturing that goes into this. It is much better to take the time and find stores that use good-quality material for their clothes and deeply care for the environment around them and the costumers that buy their clothes.

Instead of constantly buying new clothes, allow yourself to reward yourself with a new piece every month or couple of months. This will not only save your money, but it will also help you be more aware on what you are actually purchasing and if the item is truly worth buying. This technique helped me stop overspending and helped me be more aware of what was in my closet.

Having higher quality clothes can also result in how long they will last you. You want your purchases to last as long as possible, and buying from fast fashion companies will not guarantee this. Clothes that you know will feel good on your skin and didn’t come from some place that was cheaply manufactured will only benefit you.

When it comes to clothes, quality will always come before quantity. This results in a more ethical and sustainable way of shopping for clothes. Avoid fast fashion brands, such as: Shein, ASOS, Urban Outfitters, and Zara. Start finding some stores that have sustainable values and take pride in how their clothes are made. Quality means sustainability. Quality insures that you get more bang for your buck. Quality will help you create more personal style!

Do you want to be freezing all winter? With the first snow flurries happening here at State College it’s time to start dressing for the winter months. As the days grow shorter and the temperature drops, this means pulling out your winter jackets, shoes, hats, and gloves! Sometimes all this stuff might seem to hinder your outfit, but this doesn’t always have to be the case. There is so much you can do to make these aspects of your outfit compliment each other.  Winter fashion is all about keeping warm while looking still showcasing your personal style, and with the right wardrobe essentials, you can stay cozy and stylish throughout the chilly months.

The first and most obvious essential for winter would be a high-quality winter coat. It is the cornerstone of your winter wardrobe. This will end up being a staple piece, so you have to make sure that you get one that speaks to you but will also keep you warm. For this coat specifically, it would be smart to make an investment in a good quality one that will be sure to keep you cozy and last a long time. Cozy sweaters and cardigans are also another essential for layering and staying warm. This is where you can get fun with different textures and colors that speak to you. Different colors and patterns are also a fun way to incorporate your own style.

Accessorizing is key to a fashionable winter look. You can achieve this by adding a scarf, fun hat, or fun boots! Making your own scarves and hats is a very fun way to be creative and also save money on buying these things. As for boots, A fun color boot (my personal favorite being Hunter Boots) are a good way to enhance an outfit while still keeping warm. Layering is the secret to staying warm without sacrificing style. Start with a basic thermal or long-sleeved top as your base layer, add a cozy sweater, and finish with your coat of choice.

Is winter fashion all about strictly following the rules? No! Winter fashion is all about combining comfort and style to stay warm during the colder months. By incorporating these winter wardrobe essentials and styling tips, you can create fun outfits that showcase your personal style while keeping you cozy and comfortable. So, instead of worrying about how to keep warm this winter, try some of these pieces to revamp your wardrobe.

When it comes to feeling comfy but cute at the same time, athleisure clothes are your kryptonite. Especially in college, it can be hard to constantly take the time to wear a cute outfit; sometimes it makes more sense for more durable outfits when it comes to a busy school day. With that being said, you can still dress up and make these comfy clothes stylish and adhesive to each other. Elevating an outfit while still managing to look presentable and well-dressed takes a couple of simple steps. Many people at this campus take the athleisure clothing route, this can help you gain some inspiration of how people wear this and make it into a cute outfit! 

Although it might be tempting to go for the name brands of sporty clothes, but you can find even better quality clothes for cheaper; more bang for your buck! It is important to start with staple pieces in your closet that have lots of versatility and are good quality pieces so they last long in your wardrobe. This can include a couple of good pairs of shorts, sweatpants, and other comfy bottoms that you feel good in. As for tops, I always enjoy basic and big sweatshirts that are easy to throw on without obstructing an outfit. You can have fun with colors here. Many brands make sweatshirts with nice graphics that can spice up your wardrobe if you don’t want plain colors (This can also be where second-hand shopping can come into play!)

Since it is starting to get into the colder months here at State College, a go-to coat is always needed. A personal favorite for me is just a black puffer. You can never go wrong! Since coats are more on the pricy side, a more reserved pattern and style will allow you to pair them with more outfits and will help you keep warm on your walks to class. For fall, it’s always nice to have a couple of flannels or lighter jackets to help you layer for the day’s unpredictable weather. 

When putting together an outfit, it’s important to remember that comfort can come before style. Taking into account your goals and schedule for a specific day can help you curate the type of outfit you want to wear. Fashion isn’t always wearing the most extravagant thing. Knowing what you are comfortable with and how to execute this is also important if you want to elevate your style. 

Style is great and all but what makes it so unique and complex is you! When everyone starts to get creative and personalistic with what they where is what lets the true colors of style shine. It might be really easy to just copy someone’s outfit you saw online or buy what the mannequin is wearing, but sometimes it is good to push yourself to wear clothes that speak to who you are. Personal style is a way where you can allow yourself to get creative with the outfits you make. It can be a fun way to find out more about yourself.

Getting inspiration from different places can help you enhance your style. Whether this be social media or people you see on the street. It is so interesting, especially in bigger cities, to see the diverse styles people have. Whenever I visit New York City I leave feeling so encouraged to build my style more. Not only is creating your style fun for yourself, but it is fun for the people you see around you as well. We need more color and light-hearted fun in the world, and expressing yourself through what you wear is a perfect way to achieve this!

Now that you have the inspiration, it is time to start getting pieces that reflect your personal style. How do you do this? Find new stores that you’ve never shopped at and find clothes that will brighten up your closet! Adding these fun elements that make you feel comfortable in your wardrobe can immediately enhance your personal style. Now was that so hard? After these simple steps, your personal style will start to take form. Fashion is supposed to be fun, and when everyone is wearing the same thing this limits the fun. 

Once you start to show off your style, this can lead to you inspiring other. Sometimes it can be hard for people to take the jump and start wearing clothes that other people might not be wearing as much. Especially at this age, and a school as big as Penn State some people might not be ready to start expressing who they are on the outside. But, leading by example by doing it yourself can help inspire others around you.

Clothes are supposed to be expressive and enjoyable, so let us take the step of reverting back to this. We all have a personal style, we just need to find it!

An odd spot for a model? Yes, but this is where my roommate resided for a shoot this evening. The theme of the shoot was called “Calls From Home”. Through the Valley Magazine here at Penn State, my roommate Loralei had the chance to show her model skills. All week I got to hear of what went into one page of a magazine. The hair, the makeup, the place, the lighting, the camera, you name it. This can all seem very exhausting, but the hard work does pay off. The model industry everywhere has many stereotypes, but that’s when you only know the surface.

Today, models and the whole industry have evolved out of the “stereotypical model”. Yes, some of the industry remains unchanged which needs to change. There has been an influx of diversity and personalities all over the spectrum, this creates a healthy environment that encourages fashion to be more inclusive. This allows for fashion brands to become more creative as well. Instead of a boring catwalk with models showing no emotion, more brands have been switching it up with creative shifts in their runway shoes. Take Moschino for example, their unique and colorful line of clothes is shown off through eccentric walks and personalities. This is refreshing to see after the cookie-cutter runway show. 

Over the years, the style and look of a model has changed so much. In the early 1900s, we saw many modest and “clean-cut” models, in the late 1900s the idea of “supermodel” was becoming apparent and many big-name models started to take charge. From the 2000s to the present, there have been many changes in the fashion industry. This empire takes many quick turns and shapes that it is hard to keep track of what is “in or out”(just watch Devil Wears Prada and you’ll know exactly what I mean). 

From what we can see in today’s fashion, models and the idea of “models” are changing. Getting to have a first-hand look into the hustle and bustle of what goes into being a model from my roommate helped me come to this conclusion. You can go so many directions with how you want a brand to be represented and what story you want it to tell. Sometimes all a brand needs is a run-of-the-mill fashion show. Sometimes switching it up and coming up with fun ways to incorporate the line of clothes allows for the brand to reach more people and gain traction. But, when it comes down to it just remember- Walk the runway, don’t let the runway walk you. 

You are getting ready to go out for the day, you put on the perfect outfit but something isn’t quite right. If you’re feeling this way you might be forgetting an aspect people often overlook when it comes to getting dressed–accessorizing. This one simple thing can elevate an outfit so much more and create a more individualistic look. When thinking of accessories, you might think there is only so much you can do and that there are limited options; but this idea of accessorizing includes so much more than the mundane. It includes jewelry, belts, purses, scarves, makeup, hair accessories, and even statement jackets.  

A common assumption that people create within accessories is that “it’s only for girls”, but this is not true! Anybody can elevate an outfit and it isn’t just catered to women. Take a simple out such as a pair of blue jeans and a white shirt, now add a unique belt, a statement watch, and any bag of your choosing (to elevate this even more, have the belt and purse colors match). With a couple of accessories, you just took an everyday outfit to something that makes your new look more original and catered to your style.

An accessory that I have been using more and becoming more intrigued with is belts. Belts help you tell a story within an outfit and can assist in splitting up the fluidity of your clothes to create a tiered outfit. My local vintage store has a colorful and eccentric array of belts that can be chosen from. Getting these belts from places like a local vintage store lets you pick out accessories that are distinctive and even more special. These pieces will be in your closet for a long time and can start to become a treasured piece in your wardrobe. For as long as I can remember, I adored my mom’s jewelry collection because of the stories she had behind each accessory and how they held such sentimental value to her. Taking the time to collect sentimental accessories will allow for the memories to last and create more than just a “random thing” in your closet that you have lying around.

So, after reading this take the time to find an accessory that speaks to you and will add a creative element to your next outfit. Accessories added to clothes are the cherry on top of any outfit. Knowing this, make your “sundae” with a mixture of new colors, accessories, and pieces of clothing that you love, good luck!

When it comes to clothes, there are many factors that come into play when building your closet. Some of these factors include material, price, and timeless versus trendy, but one of the most important— color– and how you style outfits through different color schemes. When picking out an outfit, you may not even notice it but there are some combinations that many people enjoy. This could be a monochromatic look, pastel, bright colors, or a neutral outfit. The colors that you choose to wear can portray different moods and set a tone for how you want the day to go.

What colors you choose to wear can also heavily be influenced by the setting that you will be in while wearing the outfit. For example, there is a time and place for bright colors and a differing time and place for neutral tones. In my personal opinion, I feel like people have been reverting back to more muted colors in their wardrobes in hopes of creating a long-lasting wardrobe instead of having to cycle through new clothes every couple of years. Having a healthy mix of different colors in your wardrobe and finding what you feel the most confident and flattered in is important. For myself, I tend to gravitate towards navy blues, whites, grays, and light pink. The fun thing about picking out clothes is finding out what caters best to your personal style and getting to explore various areas of color and material.

The colors you tend to wear can also change within a season. Winter is mostly deep reds, black, and beige. Spring is a lot of pastels, light blues, and pinks. Summer is white, navy, and brighter colors. Fall is oranges, neutrals, and grays. These different colors are connected to certain areas that relate to the season. This is what starts to build on to the importance of color and make it less of a two-dimensional topic. Many fashion designers and brands use color to cater to their consumers. For example, when you think of Ralph Lauren, you think of muted colors that are sophisticated. This could include deep blues, baby pinks, and hues of brown. But, on the other side of the spectrum, Gucci is known for more of an eccentric play on designs and colors.

In fashion, color is more than a hue or shade that we see; it’s a story of many characteristics that create depth within an outfit. So, next time you pick out an outfit be more mindful of what the color of your clothes means to you. Maybe you will even purse-shoe your dreams of an ideal color scheme!

Sustainable fashion is an aspect of clothes and style that I adore. It means so much to make eco-conscious decisions and reflect it onto what you wear. With so much overproduction of clothes, there are so many second-hand shops and thrift store to our access that fights the mass production and waste of clothes that can ultimately affect our planet. There’s no better feeling than adding a unique piece to your closet and when someone asks where you got it, saying it’s thrifted; It’s one of a kind.

We might not even know it, but clothes tell a story and have so much background when you buy second-hand. Getting to own a piece that possesses so much character is a rewarding experience. Shopping secondhand also means supporting local stores that are around you instead of feeding more money to big corporations that are causing overproduction of clothes, air pollution, and so many other harsh effects on our earth. It might not feel like it at the moment, but where you choose to shop and what you choose to buy does play a role in the state of our earth. This is why it’s crucial to be conscious of where you shop. A good tip to do before you go shopping and are unsure if a store is eco-conscious and sustainable is simply to look up the stores and see if they have sustainable goals or how and where they produce their clothes. Within only a couple of minutes, you have taken a responsible step into saving the earth and were environmentally friendly!

Another pro of shopping secondhand is that your money goes further. So many stores, including some popular ones (Zara, Urban Outfitters, Abercrombie, etc.), have such expensive prices for their clothes; All while still being unsustainable and bad for the environment. So many thrift stores and vintage shops have affordable prices that allow you to get more bang for your buck. It’s so frustrating when you find those cute jeans you were looking for at Zara, check the price tag, and then have to rethink your purchase. On the other hand, it’s so rewarding when you find the cutest sweater at a thrift store and expect it to be more expensive than it actually is.

With this being said, there are endless reasons why you should shop secondhand and start to think more sustainably about where you shop and what you wear. Build character in your closet with clothes that tell a story.

Some of live us in rural areas, and some roam the city. Some of us care about what we wear, and some of us don’t think twice about what we put on. All of us display different styles. Is this because of where we live? Is it because of the friends we have? So many different factors play into someone’s personal style. Personally, living on a lake and in a small town, my style has stayed simple and not too out of the box. However, I still created my style through many ways including inspiration online, through my friends, and my travels. Everywhere you go and every new experience plays into who you become. Yes, that statement comes off as very deep, but I truly believe that evokes people to create individuality in their style and what they choose to wear.

From an outside perspective, style might seem like an irrelevant and stagnant topic, but once you dive deep into all the different factors and situations that have affected someone’s personal style you see it in a new light. I hope to get at least one person who reads this blog to change their perspective on what fashion and style consist of, and how much individuality comes into play. Whether you think about it or not, you decide what combination of clothes you wear each day, so this means everyone has a personal style. Some people optimize the effort put into it, and some do not, and that’s okay! This is what shows your true uniqueness.

The people around you impact your personal style too. Who we surround ourselves with reflects who we are as people. This also incorporates our style. When we see what others around us wear, we tend to get inspired and want to add that piece to our closet. This ties into “what’s trending” and how trends rise and fall. We get inspired through people’s passions and this can mesh into personal style.

Another crucial influence on what we wear is location. People in cities may bring a different perspective on style than someone who lives in suburban or rural areas. Growing up around these areas and seeing what you are surrounded by can sway what you tend to wear. Take New York City for example, this city is so diverse in many ways and everyone is constantly changing up their style and ideas. NYC versus a small town in rural Pennsylvania will each have their own character of clothes and their own ways of displaying personal style. These two towns might also feel two different ways about clothes. New York might be seen as more materialistic than a small rural area.

With all being said, so many types of ideas come into play when talking about personal style. There isn’t just one answer to why people wear what they do. This is what makes fashion and style so unique to each person.

My first passion blog topic idea is personal style and fashion-related topics. This can include the newest trends and what can be considered “timeless” or “trendy”. I can highlight the different worlds of fashion and how different it can be based on many demographics including age, gender, culture, etc. Knowing how big the world of fashion is, can allow for a broad variety of topics that can go in-depth with many different opinions and thoughts. Topics such as “micro trends”, runway fashion, streetwear fashion, and many more. With a topic as diverse as fashion, lots of creativity can flow with this blog.

My second passion blog topic idea is music. I am a fan of all genres of music and exploring these many genres could allow for good discussion amongst peers and can lead to people enjoying new music that they would have never thought of listening to. With so many artists releasing new music for the world to hear, there is a wide variety of blogs that can be posted and songs that can be analyzed. With genres from classic rock to R&B, discussions can be had a the most influential artists and upcoming artists.