everyone is judging you

College Fashion: Tips & Tricks for Meeting the Roommate

I generally like CollegeFashion.net. I do. They have nice interviews and cute series where they dress you up like a tv character. It's gimmicky and sweet. But something about this article rubbed me the wrong way, and I'm trying to figure out why.

That's me and my roommate last year, jumping on mattresses in our creepy ass hallway. We were just having a ball. We were never best friends, but we were good buds, and that's all we needed. We had a great time in the room, and did our own things otherwise.

We also broke the rules, according to CollegeFashion.net.

I facebook-stalked the shit out of this girl. I knew at what point in her gap year she got her nose pierced. I knew her soccer team's colors. I mentioned in my first email to her that I knew she liked Passion Pit, and that this meant we would get along just fine.

She was not creeped out (I don't think). She said she'd stalked me too, we talked about The Weepies, and all was well. I did not stop stalking when I thought I might develop dangerous preconceived notions. I did not "clean up my profile." In fact, I always find it a little weird when they tell you to do that. I have nothing to hide!
I mean, if there were pictures of me on facebook smoking a crack pipe while stealing a car, that would be a problem. The fact that I was smoking a crack pipe while stealing a car would be a bigger problem though. I don't worry about what parts of me are on the internet as much as I worry about being the kind of person I'm not ashamed to show.
Yes, that includes "pictures that would embarrass me" and "inappropriate comments." That's me.

My point is twofold.

1. Freshman, don't be afraid of your roommates! They are not judging you! Or maybe they are! Whatever!
2. People should be themselves, cliche as that is.

That's what I have to say about that.

fashion camp: this exists

(see #5)

Fashion camp.

If I'm being honest, there's a solid part of me that's bewildered right now. The other part of me is wondering if they're taking interns.

I love summer camp. I always have. My time in Bologna felt a little bit like "Italy camp" and I loved that too. If kids want to pursue their interests over the summer, no one should stop them. There are so many options these days (I, personally, have been to rock music camp, political activism camp, outdoors camp, nerd camp, biking camp, and documentary film camp, to name just a few) that the existence of fashion camp doesn't surprise me at all.

Do you really need your parents to spend over a thousand dollars to indulge an interest in fashion though? The program's only a week long, and while I'm sure the instruction is high quality and all of that, I've learned so much on my own without spending a dime (except, you know, on clothes, which I've been meaning to stop doing, by the way) that I don't really see the point.

I guess it's fun. Camp is always fun. Now I'm getting all nostalgic.

1. Remember before people all had cell phones (or when phones were contraband at camp) and on the last day you'd run around getting people's real names and phone numbers and home addresses in a little notebook? Good times.

2. Before friendship bracelets were a fashion statement, they were a sign of popularity and a way to pass the time. 

3. Flip flops errrday.

4. Jean shorts were also a staple, of course. 

5. I used about four disposable cameras once in just a week of camp a few years back, before they were a hipster thing (and when I didn't have a digital camera of my own). I didn't develop them until a few months later. What a good feeling.

6. Bringing one swimsuit and getting awkward tan lines has to be a rite of passage, right? Maybe I was just awkward. That's also possible.

7. The ambiguous definition of "water shoes" meant I was always bringing my old sneakers and making them look even more disgusting, frolicking in streams and climbing into canoes and such, as one does.

how to be a successful fashion blogger

image via tumblr

• Wear so many rings that you are unable to type or hold a pen.
• Have lots of nice clothes and no discernable source of income.
• Always have clean hair. If your hair is not freshly clean, it may also be sexily-disheveled. Bonus points if you can rock the blogger bun.
• Find a hot photographer boyfriend.
• Live somewhere temperate. Weather cannot interfere with your sartorial instincts.
• Be pretty.
• Be thin. Alternatively, be curvy. Spend a lot of time talking about the fact that you are curvy.
• Find other successful fashion blogger friends. Say you met them on the internet. Say they are your style soulmate.
• Wear some kind of unconventional hat.
• Convince the sexy professional photographer boyfriend to propose so that you can plan your wedding on the internet.
• Learn to sew.
• Drink lots of tea.
• Spend a lot of time keeping your house clean and doing DIY projects. You don't have a job anyway, remember?
• Cry when that Alexander McQueen exhibit opens. Say it was life-changing.
• Love animals.
• Go to brunch.
• Wind up in a magazine for reasons no one understands.
• Go to glamorous parties with important people that you went to high school with.
• Have beautiful friends.
• Master the art of being nice on the internet.
• Learn how to smile while looking down with one hand on your hip.
• Discuss the moral ambiguity of your favorite leather jacket.
• Lust after something.
• Possess a mysterious magnetism and charm so strong that it is evident even on the internet.
• Develop a cult of personality

dorm decorating

Polyvore.com

I've spent the better part of today trying to figure out my dorm room next year. I'm living in the International House for my sophomore year, and it's time to step up the decorating. This is not Keeney. This is not 600 clueless freshman. This is Clara, living in a house with a boatload of sophisticated internationals. Clara is a little intimidated, but never fear! She has shopped her way out if it! For those of you in college (or boarding school, or whatever), here's what I've decided is necessary.

Bedding that I actually like
Last year I bought some bedding from Bed, Bath, and Beyond's college section. It was hot pink and really fun for about fifteen minutes, after which point I felt like an eighth grader. This year, I'm going for a ruffled duvet cover from Urban in a neutral color. That's because most of the color in my room is coming from...

A Rug!
This was my mom's idea, because last year she was convinced my room was depressing because it lacked a rug. Or, a rug that she liked. Whatever. I thought my old rug was fine (except that it was never vacuumed), but if my mom wants to buy me a big beautiful rug, I'm not going to stop her. This one was on sale on Gilt and we snapped it up like the last french fry.

A Sun-Lamp
Being of scandinavian origin, my dad's side of the family is mildly troubled by Seasonal Affective Disorder. I go to school in dark and frozen New England, so my parents decided I should take one of these lamps with me. It was one of the best ideas they've ever had. This lamp lights up the room like an airport or something. Also, the little lights that come with the room suck a lot.

Christmas Lights
Because I'm a cliche.

Postcards
I've been collecting gaudy tasteless postcards for the last year or so, and I'd been meaning to put them in a frame, but now I've got too many. The new idea is to buy some twine or something, and pin them to the string. We'll just see how that works out.

leather and silk

These are things that one can find in Florence for less than they would usually cost. Of course, I took full advantage of this phenomenon.

Those shoes? Handmade. Forty euro. The tie? Also handmade, and silk, and makes a great belt, thank you. Also, note the Duomo behind me in that last picture. 

Is it rude to brag? 

I don't really care. I abandon your social conventions in favor of my new shoes.

OUTFIT

dress - brandy melville

shoes  - handmade in florence

tie - bought at the san lorenzo market

sunglasses - urban outfitters

purse - h&m

brandy melville

I have a new favorite store.
Imagine a shop full of floral things and soft fabrics and crop tops and sheer button down shirts and pretty dresses with zippers and lots of black and white and beige and pink everything you could ever love.
In one shop.

It's made all the cooler because it's an italian brand called Brandy Melville. I had to talk myself out of buying all kinds of things today when we stumbled upon their location in Bologna, but I also snagged a tank top for 5 euros on sale (in addition to some other things that I'm sure I'll show you later).

Anyway, check this shit out.

new shirt with which I am obsessed

inspired

I love other bloggers. Other bloggers seem to have these beautifully charmed lives.

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