Feminine Fashion - thrifting, gutsy risks
Serena Howe
Issue date: 3/11/10 Section: Arts
Remember the hip-huggers and cut-off T-shirts of junior high, when everything was as short, tight and low as your parents would allow? Those days are over. For the last several years, dresses and florals have been taking over. But feminine doesn't mean frumpy as three Hillsdale seniors prove.
Coming out of a Catholic high school, years of uniforms meant a limited closet for Carly Gosine. At college, she was set free to dress stylishly. Much of her wardrobe is inspired by vintage clothing, especially of the 1940s. Fashion for her is about finding a way to dress that suits the feminine figure. The high waists, belts and cardigans she wears harken back to another era and create a balanced look by emphasizing the waist.
Though Gosine shops primarily at thrift stores, Anthropologie is one of her main inspirations. Even if one isn't going to buy anything on the website, she said, it's a great place to find ideas for new outfits.
And dressing well doesn't mean spending a lot of money. Meridith Dyer learned to dress chicly on her $25 a month allowance when growing up. She started shopping at Salvation Army and discount stores to make her cash stretch. Most people, she said, become frustrated with thrift stores because they're looking for something specific. If you walk in with a list, you'll only be frustrated. Instead, she recommends setting a dollar amount and buying what you find.
Keenly interested in clothes, she even took a year off from Hillsdale to attend to fashion school. It was much more technical than she expected - almost mathematical. She loved hands-on sewing all day, but ultimately decided to come back to college.
"Fashion is kind of like acting; you have to be in the right place at the right time," she said.
It was a wonderful experience, though, she said, and there were certainly plenty of characters, like a girl who changed her middle name to "Cantaloupe."
She still follows the fashion world, though not as much as before. She named fashion photographer Scott Schuman's blog "The Satorialist" as perennial inspiration for her. Schuman's beautiful photographs of people on the street highlight style in a deeper sense than just clothes - somehow, he seems to capture the person underneath. Their fashion embodies their personality.
Coming out of a Catholic high school, years of uniforms meant a limited closet for Carly Gosine. At college, she was set free to dress stylishly. Much of her wardrobe is inspired by vintage clothing, especially of the 1940s. Fashion for her is about finding a way to dress that suits the feminine figure. The high waists, belts and cardigans she wears harken back to another era and create a balanced look by emphasizing the waist.
Though Gosine shops primarily at thrift stores, Anthropologie is one of her main inspirations. Even if one isn't going to buy anything on the website, she said, it's a great place to find ideas for new outfits.
And dressing well doesn't mean spending a lot of money. Meridith Dyer learned to dress chicly on her $25 a month allowance when growing up. She started shopping at Salvation Army and discount stores to make her cash stretch. Most people, she said, become frustrated with thrift stores because they're looking for something specific. If you walk in with a list, you'll only be frustrated. Instead, she recommends setting a dollar amount and buying what you find.
Keenly interested in clothes, she even took a year off from Hillsdale to attend to fashion school. It was much more technical than she expected - almost mathematical. She loved hands-on sewing all day, but ultimately decided to come back to college.
"Fashion is kind of like acting; you have to be in the right place at the right time," she said.
It was a wonderful experience, though, she said, and there were certainly plenty of characters, like a girl who changed her middle name to "Cantaloupe."
She still follows the fashion world, though not as much as before. She named fashion photographer Scott Schuman's blog "The Satorialist" as perennial inspiration for her. Schuman's beautiful photographs of people on the street highlight style in a deeper sense than just clothes - somehow, he seems to capture the person underneath. Their fashion embodies their personality.
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