Chic Phone Cases

 I’ve always been very frugal when it comes to phone cases. Ebay, Amazon, and on special occasions, Etsy were the way to go. For my last phone, I had eight cases. All very cheap plastic, but in an array of pretty colors and patterns.

This time around, I decided to go a different route. After a lot of searching, I stumbled upon Vianel, a leather goods brand based in New York City. When I saw that they had my favorite shade of blue, I was instantly sold. There’s even a free monogramming included. My case is this beautiful blue lizard skin. It was $90 which I would consider outrageous for a phone case, but if you think of it as a leather good, it’s not so crazy. I think.

Just a few weeks ago, I went on Olivia Palermo’s Instagram (<3) just to see what my favorite girl crush goddess had been up to. I was shocked and actually incredibly happy to see that she’d purchased four cases from the same company (After I did)! Every day when I don’t know what to wear, I try to channel OP so being ahead of her on this made me feel just a little bit cooler haha.

Twinzies!

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Sartorial Stars – Grace

Grace H.
Madison, WI
Junior, University of Wisconsin
Digital Studies & Communication Arts

How would you describe your style in a few words?

“My style ranges from bohemian to chic. I like simple pieces that create a clean, minimalistic outfit.”

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Who is your fashion icon? Is there anyone you try to emulate when getting dressed?

“My fashion icon is Gigi Hadid. her street style is effortlessly chic.”

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What is your favorite trend to wear?

“My favorite trend right now is t-shirt dresses. Although it is difficult for me to find one that isn’t to boxy on me because I’m petite, the tight dress can be thrown on for a quick errand or paired with a necklace and sandals for a classier look.”

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And what’s your least favorite trend right now?

“My least favorite trend right now is overalls. Unless you are a painter, under five years old, or at a Wisco game day, they have no place in your closet.”

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What’s your favorite piece of clothing in your closet?

“My favorite thing in my closet is a pair of short, black leather boots with cut out stripes on the sides from Urban Outfitters. They were on sale for $30 and they are a versatile staple in my closet.”

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When you don’t know what to wear, what’s your go-to outfit?

“My go-to outfit is my grey t-shirt dress, black boots, and leather jacket.”

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What are some of your favorite stores to shop at?

“My favorite stores to shop at are Urban Outfitters, Revolve, Forever21, and Asos.”

Sartorial Stars – Row

Row K.
New York, NY
Sophomore, NYU Steinhardt
Applied Psychology -Neuroscience, Biology minor

Fun Fact: “I’m a vegan. All my clothes are vegan. I can move my eyes independently from one another. I can do an uncanny turkey impression on spot.

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How would you describe your style in a few words?

“I would describe my style as easy-going, comfortable, up-scale bohemian. I love wearing prints and flowy clothes that let me live a mobile life.”

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Who is your fashion icon? Is there anyone you try to emulate when getting dressed?

“One of my fashion icons is Carrie Bradshaw from Sex and the City. She always manages to make a statement in her crazy and sometimes outrageous, but deeply fabulous ensembles.”

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What is your favorite trend to wear?

“My favorite trend is the tailored sun hat”

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And what’s your least favorite trend right now?

“One of my least favorite trends is those black choker necklaces.”

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What’s your favorite piece of clothing in your closet?

“My favorite thing in my closet are my grey metallic Doc Martins.”

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When you don’t know what to wear, what’s your go-to outfit?

“When I don’t know what to wear, my go-to outfit is a jumper because it’s only one piece and I don’t have to pair it with anything but accessories.”

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What are some of your favorite stores to shop at?

“Some of my favorite stores are Zara and Mango.”

Follow Row on CollegeFashionista to keep up with her easy-going, boho style.

Style Guru Bio

Hey guys!

This semester, I started my with CollegeFashionista as an NYU Style Guru. I’m so excited to share my style with a larger audience and hope to spot some impressive street style looks around campus. Who knows, you may be the next featured fashionista.

My first post was a personal style bio (a few photos below). Check out the full post for more photos.
Aaaand if you really love me, you’ll follow me and give my looks a “Rad.” ❤

Killer Heels

I touched on this in Paris, but it’s even more true in Manhattan. If you intend to wear heels on a day you will be walking a lot, be careful… you may never walk again.

As a former dancer, my feet have built up a very high pain tolerance, but sometimes it’s too much for me. A girl can only push through the pain of so many blisters. I’m usually running a few minutes behind schedule and have to rush from one place to the next. Speed walking in heels on the uneven sidewalks of New York, carrying a heavy bag filled with textbooks is always a recipe for disaster.

Here’s my favorite pair to wear around. They look great and are not too tall to be uncomfortable on my hasty runs to class.
I asked around and here’s some of the best advice I got for wearing heels in the Big City:

1. Don’t wear suede heels in the winter because they WILL get wet and they WILL be ruined. forever.
2. Get a pair with a thick, sturdy heel not a tiny little skinny one unless you want to eat s***.
3. Get some comfy gel inserts or wear shoes with platforms. The sidewalks of the City will have no mercy on the balls of your feet.
4. Don’t wear stilettos in the West Village or Chelsea because the cobblestone will destroy the heels.
5. Make sure your destination has a seat!
6. Carry blister band aids with you at all times. There’s nothing worse than blisters you can’t do anything about.

Back to School Shopping. New York Style.

What would a new school year be without some new outfits to freshen up your wardrobe? And while online shopping is good fun, why spend your time hunched over your laptop when you could go out in the fashion capital of the world?

Since we arrived a few days early, I dragged my friends out with me to enjoy the nice weather. We went up Fifth Ave because I am still holding a grudge against SoHo after some unfortunate events last year. Near us, Fifth Ave has a lot of chain retailers so we took a peek around there before heading down some smaller side streets. One of my favorite stores, PinkyOtto, is near the Flatiron so we headed over there next.

I’ve been dying to try wearing hats so with the encouragement of my friends, I finally bought one. We’ll see if I actually end up wearing it though. I also bought a simple, striped t-shirt dress. There is an adorable triangle cutout on the back though, making it more fun than a plain shirt dress.

My Exception to the All-Black Rule

Wearing too many colors makes me uncomfortable. That’s why I stick to black. You can never go wrong with black.

My one exception, however, is cobalt blue. I absolutely adore it. This coat from Topshop was the start of my cobalt obsession. I was standing in line to buy a shirt (it happened to be black), when the brilliant, bright blue caught my eye. I saw it, tried it on, and bought it on the spot. It’s brighter than it appears in this photo so when you wear it on the streets of New York, it really stands out.
Surprisingly, I have actually run into many people wearing the same shade of blue. There is one girl at NYU who actually has the exact same coat… I guess the city is big enough for us to share the coat.
But the East Village sanitation workers wear jumpsuits in this particular shade. As well as tourists in ski jackets. My favorite cobalt companion, however, is the entirety of the Apple store sales team. I unintentionally wore the jacket to the Apple store one day and was slightly mortified to discover that I blended in! My friend thought it was hilarious and had to capture the moment.

All Black Everything

Since moving to New York, my closet has slowly transformed from a colorful spectrum to a solid mass of black fabric. Almost every day, I wind up wearing black pants and a black top. If I’m feeling adventurous, I might possibly wear a white shirt.

It’s a lot easier to make outfits when everything is the same color, especially when traveling with a limited portion of my closet. As long as the styles, cuts, and fabrics of the shirts are different, it’s simple to have different outfits every day (while putting in minimal effort). These are the clothes in my closet here in Paris. The intense lack of popping colors is kind of funny.

In high school, wearing all black was considered “alternative” or grungy but the second I moved back to New York, I remembered how much I love wearing black head to toe! It seems like the all-black dress code is the norm in cities across the world as well.

Fashion Finds

Absolutely in love with this top I got at the Galeries Lafayette on Blvd Haussmann! It’s from this Parisian brand called SeeUSoon. It’s amazing what a range of vendors they have within the Galeries Lafayette. From Topshop to Sandro to LV, they’ve got it all (and at every price range). I could spend days and days wandering around inside and never get bored.

If you make it out there, be sure to look up! The stained-glass ceiling will make you feel like you’re inside a gorgeous jewelry box.

These Boots Weren’t Made for Walking

Even though I’m almost 5’9″, I love wearing heels.

I chose not to pack any on this trip though because (1) they’re heavy and (2) they just aren’t practical for walking all over the city. One week in, I began to miss being a few inches taller and so (as most of my stories end), I went shopping.

I ended up buying these interesting heels from Promod by the Opera for only 20 euros! The tag said they were real leather, but I highly doubt it.
In New York, I always find myself wishing that there were more cheap-y shoe stores. And there are some, but the shoes you find there are not even worth mentioning. In Paris, there are tons places to buy cheap (and somewhat sturdy) shoes and unlike the US, the cheap shoes can actually be really cute!

It felt good to be back up at my preferred height, but I was definitely right in not packing any heels. The little cobblestone streets by our residence are not high-heel friendly.