Fashion?

To start, I would just like to point out that my cousin Trudy inspired me to write this particular blog post. She recently started a new fashion blog (That Anonymous Girl), and I am a huge fan of it. I was looking at a bunch of the photos she posted, and I thought, “I wish I could wear that stuff.”

If you know me or have seen me around campus, you probably know that I’m not the most fashionable person in the world. My standard outfit consists of what my friends like to call my “Anna Suit”. It consists of leggings with gym shorts on the bottom and a t-shirt on top. I wear this pretty much every day. It’s comfortable and easy to pick out. I know, I know. I’m a walking fashion icon, but I’ve really been trying to refine my wardrobe for the past year.

This particular refinement has been a little difficult for me. As a poor college kid, my preferred way of spending my money is on delicious food (because honestly, how can you not when you live in New Orleans). Recently, however, I’ve been buying things from various stores online. Because I’ve done this, I get a mailbox full of emails from stores every morning with new sales and new seasoned fashion lines or whatever. This is nice… but I usually end up deleting them all because I’ve already spent my measly work-study paycheck on another item (or food). My standard morning involves me waking up and deleting emails from Ann Taylor Loft, The Gap, Urban Outfitters, The Limited, J. Crew, and Ralph Lauren. Frankly, I’m not really sure why I get emails from Ralph Lauren because I’ve never bought anything from them before, nor do I have a profound desire to do so. I also don’t pay much attention to the Urban Outfitters email. This isn’t because I don’t like Urban Outfitters; it’s just one of those places where I’d rather go to the actual store (which we have in New Orleans) because I’d rather try things on (a lot of the stuff looks funny on me/skirts are too short). J. Crew is one that I usually just look at and dream about. Way too expensive. Plus I don’t think I’m WASPy enough to wear some of the stuff they sell.

Really the only ones I truly consider are LOFT and The Gap (because sometimes The Limited makes things too shiny). I like the classic young professional look. That’s what I’ve been trying to add to my wardrobe lately. My previous wardrobe had a very young look to it, and I figured that since I’ll be going out into the “real world” some time soon, I should probably not look like I’m still in high school (not saying that I was particularly fashionable as a high schooler either). I also like LOFT and the Gap because it’s affordable when things are on sale (because I’m the cheapest person ever – a $45 item is about $20 more than I’m willing to spend). These looks are relatively easy, and I don’t have to work too hard on them. And don’t even get me started on ideeli, which might be the greatest thing that has ever happened to online shopping (and Gilt Group, which is a bit more expensive).

The harder looks are the ones that I see in the emails I get from Who What Wear (one of the more cleverly named fashion blogs on the web). This blog shows the everyday looks of fashion icons that frankly I don’t think I could pull off that well. These are the trendy looks that I wish I could sport. My cousin is very trendy and writes about these types of looks a lot. It’s one of those things where I look, but I don’t really actively pursue. I don’t have the proper mind-set to want to look trendy every day. I can’t look at my lacking wardrobe, throw items together, and work the streets like I’m on the runway. I think part of this comes from my need to be comfortable all the time when I go to class. That’s very important for me, especially since I usually like sitting indian style in my desk. I also prefer sitting on the ground to sitting in chairs (unless it’s a super awesome comfy chair), so most of those trendy looks would get dirty.

There are a few celebrities whose style I really wish I could effectively imitate. The first is Zooey Deschanel (whose Twitter handle is @therealzooeyd – follow her, she’s fabulous). Her classic-looking style is something I absolutely LOVE! Once I have real money and sophistication, I am totally going to try to attain this look. Polyvore gives some awesome examples of her look. These are a few of my favorites (click to get the full breakdown from Polyvore):

The list goes on…

My next celebrity style icon is Emma Watson. I don’t like some of her styles (mostly because I couldn’t really pull them off well), but I’ve seen many that I wish I could imitate. The ones I like are sorta reminiscent of Zooey’s style.

And of course I can’t forget the iconic Audrey Hepburn. Call me old-fashioned, but I love her elegant and sophisticated look. I can’t really say much about it because I don’t really know much about it, but I can give you examples of things I like!

So I’m not really sure what to do with myself even though I know what types of clothes I like. I guess I just need to start looking for them? If anyone wants to point me in a certain direction, please feel free to do so. I need all the help I can get! And don’t forget to visit Trudy’s blog That Anonymous Girl. Just click the link!