Brittany Nelson – CollegeFashionista

ACCESSORIES REPORT: Silver

Our mothers have hammered many mantras into our heads over the years, often reminding us to sit up straight, floss our teeth, and remember our manners. Although these nagging tips are valid, often the older generations try to pass on fashion tips that are simply ridiculous. Yes, you can wear navy and black together; yes, your shoes and bag can be non-matching; and yes, you can mix silver and gold metals. Please ignore what your mother says.

This Fashionista, a modern pioneer of fashion, has successfully disregarded one of these groundless rules and worn a watch composed of both silver and gold metals while simultaneously wearing other gold and silver accessories. I’m declaring this myth busted. This Fashionista has also chosen to wear a very pink blouse in combination with all her jewelry, a great option considering how fabulous pink looks with metals, or even as a metal, if you’re partial to rose gold.

This diversion from fashion standards or ideals just reminds us that ultimately, we are the ones who dress ourselves and we are the ones representing the clothing choices we make, and we should be proud to express our own tastes, whether they conform to a current style or not. This Fashionista has taken a small step off the beaten path to do something different that she enjoyed and was rewarded with a classic and flattering outfit.

Other people are beginning to break these outdated fashion rules as well. Forever 21 even offers a ring that is designed to look like several rings made of different metals stacked on top of each other.

Spotted: Alexander McQueen, always a pioneer brand, mixed silver and gold tones for a frosted, but soft, metallic look in their spring 2012 ready-to-wear collection.

ACCESSORIES REPORT: Decorate Your Hair

When dressing myself for the day, I consider garments, shoes and even occasionally jewelry, but the thing I always forget about is my hair. Hair has so much potential to add to an outfit, it can be braided, twisted, or styled to help create an atmosphere or attitude for your outfit, but even better, you can add things to it! Although the words “hair accessories” may conjure up images of butterfly clips and rainbow barrettes, there really are a lot of cool things out there to spice up your hair do with.

Feather clip-ins were recently a huge hair accessory fad, and although they were cool for about ten minutes, they were soon overpopulating the heads of almost every female college student. This reminds us that, like any other fashion item, we should think more about our personal taste and style when choosing a hair accessory. The point is to express your own individual style, not to just jump on the latest fad flying through Forever 21.

This Fashionista, spotted outside of the UC Davis Design building, is sporting a very unique hair accessory. This hair clip is larger than most, spanning about the size of an outstretched palm, thus attracting a lot of attention and making a bold statement. The red, although intense on its own, is echoed in several other places in her outfit, and this creates a sense of cohesiveness that brings the outfit together.

Most stores have hair accessories sections, but they are often in obscure areas of the store and easily overlooked, so sometimes shopping for them online is easier. If you like the big, bold look, H&M sells a very fun, large flower clip-in.

Spotted: Prada's 2010 fall ready-to-wear collection featured black hair accessories that match black outfits, keeping the same color continuity for a sleek look.

ACCESSORIES REPORT: Adorable Oxfords

The temperatures are high in Davis, and even higher are the winds! Although the warm temps invite skirts and dresses, the wind provides a real challenge, a challenge only the most fashion forward ladies of Davis accept. Weathering the gusts in a very cute mint green dress, right on cue for this summer’s color palette, this Fashionista has chosen to step out in a most sophisticated pair of oxford shoes.

Often, I stare into the depths of my closet, searching for the garment that matches my mood and needs for the day. I then emerge, successful, holding my dress of choice and only to face an even more difficult dilemma, what shoes shall I wear? Sandals are great, but often they feel just too casual, so what’s another great option? Oxfords! Oxfords, originally designed for the men folk, have been happily adopted into women’s fashion but carry a residual element of boyish formality. The distinct personality of this shoe can add depth and interest to any outfit. A flirty floral dress worn with oxfords becomes less flirty and more playful. Paired with a pair of black skinny jeans and a button front top, oxfords allow you to play up the menswear look.

Oxfords are everywhere these days, for males and females alike, finding them is not the problem, it’s choosing a pair! Urban Outfitters offers a fun pair that sports the classic lace front in combination with a fun geometric print.

Spotted: Derek Lam features shinny metallic gold oxfords in his fall 2012 ready-to-wear collection.

ACCESSORIES REPORT: Preppy Blazers

There is nothing like a jacket to add some attitude to your outfit. Motorcycle jackets add instant edge; varsity jackets add a sweet element of nostalgia, and blazers add sophistication and preppiness.

Davis has finally segwayed into the sort of weather where we can leave the winter wools at home and wear our lighter, more fun jackets over whatever we happen to have on. Jackets add warmth, style and a polished look to your outfit and often add the wonderful feature of pockets, a wearable purse for those who travel light and hate shoulder accessories.

This Fashionista has smartly chosen a sleek blazer in a deep navy with classy gold buttons that have nautical anchor detailing. The wonderful thing about a jacket like this is that no matter what you pair it with, you will instantly look classier. A blazer like this bumps up a boring T-shirt and jeans combo from boring to preppy and takes feminine dresses from girly to stylish.

If the outfit you are wearing is already pushing a bold style, perhaps some studded and unusually colored jeans or a corset top, this preppy blazer will create an interesting and complementary juxtaposition. Juxtapositions in fashion are always intriguing and usually successful, the girly/edgy juxtaposition being a tried and true fashion trope. So, if you like trying new things, why not use this ultra-preppy blazer to make some fashion waves of your own? Try out preppy/animal print, or preppy/neon for some fun new combinations.

J.Crew is a haven for all varieties of blazers, and this school boy one with piping around the edges is super cute and preppy for every day wear.

Spotted: Juicy Couture features a similarly styled blazer with piping in hot pink for their fall 2012 ready-to-wear collection.

ACCESSORIES REPORT: Rugged Boots

While other universities are nestled in the heart of thumping, thriving urban cities, UC Davis stretches and spreads itself across flat, expansive fields, a lump of academia among agriculture. Although this more rural location does not define the wardrobes of those who attend it (some people look like they’re perpetually headed to the city) the geographical surroundings certainly add an optional flavor of earthy ruggedness to everyday college attire.

Stilettos are a rare sighting on UC Davis campus; instead students trek from The Coffee House to the Silo in Birkenstocks, boots, or sneakers, usually preferring comfort to style. While sturdy, dirty leather boots would make a fashion statement on the streets of Los Angeles, at Davis, they serve both fashion and function, allowing students to move from the on campus farms to classrooms with ease. Any pair of lace-up leather boots adds edge to an outfit, but there is an extra credibility that comes with mud caked on from your own school’s farm.

In non-metropolitan Davis, it's too easy to sink into the overly casual jeans and a sweatshirt outfit, but instead of succumbing to the masses, take inspiration from your surroundings and learn what you can from the fashion around you. Farm fashion is great. Who doesn’t look great, guy or girl, in a pair of sturdy boots, well-worn jeans and a soft flannel?

This Fashionista certainly understands the Davis vibe, rocking her brown leather Dr. Martens (mismatched shoes laces for extra interest) with pegged jeans, a floral button-front top and a cardigan.

There really is nothing like a pair of Doc Martens, this brown pair will look great with any pair of skinny jeans and a top of your choice to achieve a laid-back rugged style.

Spotted: Designers know how to work rugged on a runway; Céline featured heavier, rugged black boots in her fall 2001 ready-to-wear collection paired with flannel and fur.

ACCESSORIES REPORT: Trek in Style

As studying, learning, functioning students we must choose a vessel to transport all our school material to, from and all around campus. I’ve already covered the oversized tote bag that does an excellent job at toting school supplies in style, but the most common choice for any student is the backpack.

Backpacks are tricky, and there are quite a few style cramping numbers out there, but if you look hard enough and are certain of your own style aesthetics, harmony can be accomplished. The backpack is something you have to see and use every day so it should be something that you love to look at and makes you feel stylish while still performing its function of carrying books. Standard Jansports are alright, and come in a variety of prints and colors, but when it comes down to it, they are just standard, boring Jansports.

When seeking out a stylish backpack, first consider your own style, what do colors do you wear most often? Is your style preppier or more outdoorsy? Choose a backpack that fits closely with your most prevalent style and your backpack will feel like a great accessory to your outfits instead of a mandatory addition.

This Fashionista has chosen an excellent backpack that subtly adds style while still remaining functional. The body of the bag is a casual tan canvas that meshes well with any outfit while still providing a softer look than nylon. The oversized zippers and extra pockets add a fun utility feel and give a slight nod in the outdoorsy direction, allowing room for sportier outfits.

Luckily, there are tons of backpacks out there for students to sift through. If your style is consistently center around bling, then American Apparel’s metallic backpack in multiple different colors might be for you. If you live in cut off shorts and love leather detailing, Urban Outfitter’s woven backpack with leather trim will fit perfectly into your wardrobe.

Spotted: Backpacks recently made a splash on the high fashion scene when Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen’s crocodile backpack for their label, The Row, sold out despite its $39,000 price tag. They do, however, sell a very stylish leather version that has one less zero at the end of the price.

ACCESSORIES REPORT: Friendship Bracelets

Fashion is a cycling beast, always regenerating old styles into new trends, bringing back things you thought you left in grade school and putting them straight onto the runway. Although some people complain that there is nothing new in fashion these days, I think what is happening is even more interesting and challenging. People are looking what has already been done, what has already been loved and worn and trying to understand how to bring back that same affection for the piece but in a new setting and a new context.

Friendship bracelets were last seen in the context of summer camps, craft stations and Girl Scout swaps. They were coordinated to our favorite colors and worn in matching sets to symbolize friendships. One of the best things about friendship bracelets is that they were almost always a gift, made only for our closest friends. Now that we are past age 12, and busy dragging our selves in-between lectures, studios and labs, most of us have probably forgotten the endearing craft of bracelet knotting. Even if we no longer have the time or skills to make these bracelets for each other, we can buy them, and a gift is still a gift.

These fun woven bracelets can be stacked, combined with other wrist jewelry, or sported solo. No matter how you wear these bracelets, they look great and bring back the best memories of summer and add a little bit of the outdoors and adventure to any look. This Fashionista wears her bracelet everyday and it is especially accentuated by the brightly colored tribal patterns on her shirt.

If you want to re-touch with your pre-teen self, there are some great D.I.Y articles out there to refresh your friendship bracelet skills. If you’re strapped for time and keen on bling, American Eagle Outfitters offers an inexpensive and beaded version of the friendship bracelet.

Spotted: Sara Beltrán, a new designer with a new jewelry collection out titled Dezso, has picked up on the woven bracelet trend and has an entire line of “Mexican bracelets”, many of which have sold out.

ACCESSORIES REPORT: Platform Wedge Sandal

The long awaited spring quarter has finally arrived at UC Davis, and I think all the students used spring break as an excuse for shoe shopping. Gone are the up to the knee and over the knee calf-warming boots; high, wooly socks have vacated wardrobes, and toes have been filed and painted for the wonderful spring sandal. Finally! Our feet are free! Our emancipated feet will not slide into any old sandal; we want cute, new, strappy stylish footwear to congratulate ourselves for surviving another winter quarter.

In addition to our straps and buckles, Fashionistas this year want lift. We’ve been wearing our flat sandals for many summers, exchanging for different styles and embellishments, but this season we don’t want more beading, we want more height. There is something that added inches do to a person, they incline the wearer to focus more on their walking, and thus force a more conscious gait with better posture, projecting, if not creating, a more confident look. Platform sandals allow us to step up onto a small pedestal and feel special and different than our normal selves, if only for the day. Many flat sandals marketed for the spring and summer season are also notoriously cheap, both in price and quality. Often times these sandals are too flat, provide no support, and are thin enough for your feet to read every pebble like Braille. Swap these flip-flops for a sandal with more substance and more style.

This Fashionista is effortlessly strutting around campus in her comfy cork, platform wedge sandals. The color of the straps is a light enough pink to almost be considered nude and could easily be paired with a variety of colors. The buckle on the side allows for enough adjustment to create a snug and secure fit appropriate for a day of walking from class to class.

Urban Outfitters seems to have gone wedge sandal crazy for this spring and offer a variety of shoes with different strap styles and wedge heights. This pair with a stabilizing ankle strap and cute braided detailing in the front is a great mate for any spring outfit.

Spotted: Céline endorses the platform wedge sandal, bringing out thick ones for her spring 2010 ready-to-wear collection.

ACCESSORIES REPORT: Focus on the Shoes

As a person preoccupied with shoes more than any other clothing item or accessory, I can certainly understand creating entire outfits, in fact multiple outfits, around a single pair of shoes. This often happens after a new purchase, and all of a sudden all my brain can produce are different clothes pairings with a fabulous new pair of chunky, wooden soled, platform sandals. One consistent thing about these outfits, however, is that I never pair anything too outrageous with my new kicks. For example, my sparkling, hand-beaded butterfly shaped top is just too distracting to allow people to fully appreciate my fabulous shoes. This unchanging pairing of great shoes with simple outfits is no mistake; if you want your shoes to shine, you have to give them all the attention.

This Fashionista is certainly well versed in this theory and has masterly directed all of the viewer’s attention to her strappy, metallic sandals, the clear standout piece in her outfit. The different but complementary blue hues of her sweater and jeans create a monotone color palate, which forces the eyes to seek a variance, which is rewarded in the sharply contrasting bright metallic of her sandals. The dark and narrow line of her jeans also leads the eye down to her flashy and fabulous shoes but stops short enough to allow all of the interesting detailing of the straps to be exposed. The result: a comfortable and cute Fashionista with noticeably great sandals.

Finding a fabulous pair of shoes to show off is no fashion feat, picking one is the difficult part. Luckily, there are many necessary shoe categories to be filled, as Fashionistas need at least boots, pumps and sandals to complete a decent wardrobe. Frye certainly knows how to make a boot, and this lower black style with buckles is worth making the star of your outfit. Nine West’s curvy cut-out pump in metallic silver is also worth a good deal of attention and Kicker’s bright and strappy sandal easily steals the show.

Spotted: Brian Atwood knows how to bring the focus down to the feet on the runway with his pastel color blocked, T-strap, platform pumps for his spring 2012 collection.

ACCESSORIES REPORT: Hot Head Wrap

Finals week is in full swing here at UC Davis, and many students quickly cut wardrobe arrangement from their list of priorities when heavily weighted exams come into play. Although I have spotted quite a few outfits comprised entirely of sweats and sweatshirts from the UC Davis bookstore, some students have managed to maintain a put-together look, even with the stress of tests. This Fashionista is a design student, an obvious derivative of her style, and has put together a stellar outfit for the first final of her week and pushed it to the next level by adding a colorful woven head wrap.

If, during finals week, your fashion sense does not abandon you, your meticulous hygiene habits may. If you wake up to an impending test and greasy hair, a cute and colorful headband can be the perfect solution. It hides your unmanageable locks while adding extra flair to your outfit, leaving you worry-free for your big test.

As we all know, the way you dress and the clothes you wear directly affect your mood for the day. If you wear something that you know you look great in, you will feel great and much more confident. Feeling confident is the exact state of mind you want to be in while taking difficult exams, and although the best way to feel confident about your tests is to thoroughly prepare, wearing a cute outfit doesn’t hurt either.

I’m sure this Fashionista felt great during her finals because she looked fabulous in her classic white, belted tunic and dark wash jeans which contrasted perfectly with her woven and colorful head wrap. This head wrap is great because it is wide enough to entirely cover your bangs and is made entirely of cloth so there are no parts that could poke into your scalp and cause discomfort.

Nordstrom sells a variety of soft, wide head wraps and several from the Missoni fashion house sport their traditional zigzag pattern and bear a striking resemblance to this Fashionista’s head wrap.

Spotted: Temperley London took the head wrap to the next level in their spring 2011 ready-to-wear collection by widening the wrap to almost turban size for a high fashion, summer resort look.