“I don't do fashion, I am fashion.” This quote by Coco Chanel describes my relationship with fashion. My name is Erin McKay and I am a senior at the University of Iowa, majoring in Communication Studies. For as long as I can remember I have always used fashion as my outlet of expression. My style is constantly changing and I do not think it can be categorized, but that is why I love fashion. My love for fashion started back when my mother would pick out my clothes for me. She would always make sure I perfectly matched from the bow on top of my head to the jelly sandals on my feet. Since then I have begun to grasp the idea of my pieces of clothing “going together”, as opposed to completely matching. One of my favorite trends that was featured in many runway collections from spring 2012 is color blocking. Color blocking epitomizes the idea of pieces of an outfit “going together” and finally I do not feel like a crazy person for pairing multiple colors together!
My personal style has changed a lot within the past year mainly do to my second semester of my junior year being spent studying abroad in Newcastle, Australia. Many of the blogs I follow on tumblr are done by people from Australia and I have always envied their fashion sense. Being immersed in a different country and culture allowed me to try new trends that had not hit America yet. The peplum style dress, studded collars, and high-low skirt are all trends that I witnessed in Australia and “followed” me back to America.
If you ask any of my friends they will all tell you how much I love to accessorize. I truly do not believe that an outfit is complete unless you have a statement necklace, large earrings or bangles up and down your arms on. To me, the more accessories, the better an outfit will look.
My favorite fashion designers have always been Marc Jacobs, Michael Kors and Jeffrey Campbell. I tend to wear staple items (usually black) and build my outfits off of that. A few celebrities I look toward for fashion styles are Blake Lively, Olivia Palermo, Lindsay Lohan (even though everybody judges me for this) and the character of Effy Stonem off of British Skins. The stores that I shop at most are Urban Outfitters, Nordstrom, and NASTY GAL. While I was abroad I fell in love with multiple shops and thankfully I can order from online! Fashion is so important to me because it is who I am and I am beyond thrilled to begin my internship with CollegeFashionista!