Rainy Day Fashion Tips!

While the sun seems to be out and shining for good now, given Sunday’s deluge and the unpredictability of Texas weather, it seems to be a pretty good idea to have a variety of options available for what to wear. Everybody loves a good spring cleaning, but it can be quite an unpleasant surprise when the day after taking one’s winter wardrobe into storage, the weather decides to make one last encore performance of Disney’s Frozen.

Much true, Very cliche, so relate-able

Don’t be caught off guard! Here are some fun ideas for rainy day fashion (:

Hypothermia, Meggings, and Flip Flops: Oh My!

So even though Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, and Epiphany have all passed- it is still cold outside sometimes. Now, I know I already made a post about ideas of what to wear before, but when I was sitting in my apartment and drinking my Caramel Flan Latte, I realized: when explaining the rules of a game to someone, one does not tell them what all they can do, but rather what they shouldn’t do. I mean, seriously- everyone has that memory of being in elementary school gym class and not always sitting out right away when it was time to play dodgeball. And what happened? The coach saw! Best case scenario? You could play it off as being on your way out. Worst case scenario? How about being branded a ‘cheater’ in front of the class and having that incorrigible ‘ooooooh’ sound when your classmates know someone’s about to get it.

A flashback could happen at any moment!

Horrible, awkward gym class memories aside- here is an interesting phenomenon that usually happens every year around when it is just after the winter holidays and just before spring. A few mornings ago, I was outside walking to my 8 am class and it was about 40 degrees outside when I checked my weather app. Needless to say, I was wearing boots, a coat, jeans, and a scarf. In front of me were two people (not one but TWO!) wearing short shorts, tank tops, and flip flops. They were complaining about how cold it was and all I could think of was, “Of course you are going to be cold when you don’t have any clothes on!”

To avoid looking seasonally confused, I have compiled a list of What Not to Wear:

-If there’s a risk for your lips to be turning blue, save your flip flops for another day. Why subject your toes to below freezing temperatures willingly? Blue toenails? Cute! Hypothermia? Not cute.

This captures the essence of a college student perfectly.

-If there’s frost on the car windshield, there’s your sign that you need a jacket, coat, sweater, whatever warming agent you would like to warm yourself with. There’s no shame in walking wrapped up in a blanket either.  

-Want to wear something bold and daring? Go for it. Wait! My neck is exposed! What if a winter loving vampire attacks me! That is okay. Wear a scarf and foil their attack. What scarves are also good for is keeping your neck warm and toasty. Don’t like having the ends dangling in the breeze? Wear an infinity scarf like a necklace. There are some really cool tricks on Pinterest on ways to tie them up too!

-Please, on behalf of all humanity, wear something to cover the lower half of your body. Jeans are a beautiful invention and they come in a wide variety of styles and shades. Yes, I know- tights are a “thing” and so are “meggings” (can we all just join together in a collective shudder of revulsion here?) But honestly if you want warmth, coverage, and durability (how often do jeans snag?)- jeans are the way to go?

Wear to even begin?

This cold weather isn’t going to last very long, but it is okay. Let’s make the most of this beautiful, fleeting time while it lasts!

Sweater Weather? Pssh... Texas Weather!

So what is up with this Texas weather? I know everyone is always saying that Texas weather cannot make up its mind, but honestly- we've been back to school for about a week now for spring semester. By now, people are getting settled into their classes and starting to get a hang of their schedules, class and otherwise.

However, this brings up a sad, sad day. It is almost time to say goodbye to sweater weather. Or is it? All of my classes this semester are really early in the morning and lately whenever I leave my apartment, it is cold and windy like it would normally be on a late January morning. So when I get done with class and start heading back to my apartment, it suddenly feels like spring break weather! It goes from being a brisk, cold morning to a warm, sunny afternoon. While not exactly great for rocking tights and a sweater dress, it is absolutely perfect for riding around with the windows down with your favorite four legged (or two legged!) friend.

Texas n00bz

Dress to impress!

                First impressions are a one time impact in your everyday life. There are those impressions you make on your new friends, co-workers or even potential love interests. You make such impressions with the way you talk, behave or treat others. But there is one fundamental aspect that goes forgone; dressing well.

                There is nothing wrong with wearing active wear such as basketball shorts and a t-shirt. But when it becomes your staple outfit of choice every day, it may give off the wrong idea. There are times where you wake up and say “I am too tired, I’m just going to wear whatever is available,” so it happens. But you’re doing this because you don’t care about what you wear that day, so in turn, you give off the image that you didn't put the effort to look good. It’s ok if it happens once or twice per week, but you should definitely try another alternative so you look and feel great!

Fifty Shades of Fabulous

By now, most people have a favorite color and it is usually their “signature” color. Have you ever gone shopping and thought, “Oh jeez, what is up with that color? It’s too bright/murky/(fill in the blank with your choice of complaint)!” This is how I used to feel about gray.

My face when looking at "black" vs. "charcoal" vs. "gray"

Cute Meets Kawaii: UT Tyler Edition

Over the weekend, I went shopping with students from Shimane University here in Tyler at the Broadway Square Mall. This is not the first time I went shopping with students from Matsue, but this group of students was different than the first group I escorted to the mall. It was a new experience for me entirely.

The infamous Octo-Cutie

The first group of students (Group A) had both young men and women in it and they were randomly divided amongst us eager GATE students by whoever wanted to go to which store and who showed up at what time. When my group first showed up to the mall, our advisor Ashley instructed us to find the Shimane students in Buildabear. This baffled us, but once we got to Buildabear, we found our pair of students to show around the mall. One was quite puzzled as he looked at a pink octopus/squid hybrid with lollipop wings and the other student was standing beside him holding a little skeleton costumed hedgehog as though trying to understand why in the world such things would exist. Upon asking me what it was, all I could think to say was: “It is cute.”He smiled, content with my answer and repeated it back to me. “Cute. Kawaii?” While before he wasn’t entirely sure what I was saying because of the language barrier and acting out what we were trying to say with charades, he got the message clearly. 

It's looking into your soul!

After a little deliberation amongst themselves, the two young men from Shimane University asked us to take them where they could buy casual shirts. As we browsed through the racks of JC Penny for men’s clothing, he brought everything that was pink, sparkly, or animal print to my attention with one simple word: “kawaii?” In turn, I tried to figure out exactly the look the two were after. There were so many options: polo shirts, t-shirts, long sleeved shirts? The (all girl) GATE group I led searched relentlessly, finding all kinds of cute t shirts and business shirts, each time the question asked was: “do you like it? We think it’s cute!” Each time, we struck out.

 It wasn’t until we tried Old Navy (where I discovered the fox sweater) that we found the perfect look. It was a simple white collared shirt, with brown shell buttons. Suddenly it clicked with our group. This was the perfect shirt for what we were looking for! Both groups looked at each other and asked the following: “Do you like it? We think it’s cute.” The shirt was so simple and so clean that we fell in love with it instantaneously. While not initially what we (GATE) was looking for, the purity of it was what made it so special. After a makeshift fashion show in the middle of Old Navy, they bought the shirts.

To an onlooker who had no idea what was going on, it would look like a field trip and nothing more, nothing less. To us, it was something more than a quest for a shirt. We could’ve played charades all day trying to figure out what each group was saying, but at the end of the shopping trip, we were both searching for something we found “cute” or “kawaii” that each other liked. The friends that shop together, stay together.

Universal Cuteness <3

Fall in Love with Fashion

Even though the first official day of fall is September 22, Texas doesn't seem to know that. With humidity high and the temperatures even higher, a fashionista can start to wonder, “when will it all end?”

Who needs "cool" clothes???

The countdown for the fall semester has begun and it seems like you can't go online or watch TV without getting some kind of ad that tells you you need to buy these "back to school essentials": be it dorm necessities, supplies, computers and your college "style" must haves.

Let me just point out that you don't need to splurge on an entire "college appropriate" wardrobe to bring to your first semester. Yes, you should put at least a little effort to dress when you get ready for lecture (just because you can go to class in your pajamas with a box of cereal, doesn't mean you should). Technically, there's no rules to how you should dress when you go to college, but....

Spring Wear (beating Megan to a response)

One word Bianca.... Cashmere!!! It is smooth, comfortable, it breaths well, and is great for any season. However, this is just for the guys out there.

for all the ladies out there, you're on your own.. PEACE!!!!

(Megan's will be much more informative but who cares. I got BOWIE!!)