Welcome back to campus. We had our work cut out for us last term searching for fashionistas fleeing from the winter weather and hiding their well-dressed-selves in the dregs of the library. With the early burst of beautiful weather that welcomed us back to campus for the first weekend of the term, we can already see the drastic stylistic renaissance overtaking the student body. Boys have thrown their beloved bean boots to the back of their closets in exchange for the long awaited flip flops while girls lounge on the green in their free flowing floral printed sundresses. I believe it's safe to say that after a Winter term plagued by the sweat pant we have finally made it to the promised land: Spring term!
We couldn't think of a better way to welcome in the spring than with the fabulously dressed Ayana Christie '11 from Brooklyn. Ayana was exposed to fashion at a young age predominantly by her father, a fashion designer in New York City specializing in women's leather bags. He got his start by building a clientele in the flea markets of the city and quickly took an entrepreneurial leap of faith by opening his own store in Brooklyn. Ayana said she remembers growing up and making bags with him. Then, her father's creations were too mature for her, but now they are much more appropriate and she uses them frequently.
With fashion in her blood and New York City as her playground, Ayana was never afraid to take risks.
"New York is a place where you can do and wear whatever you want and not feel like you're going to stand out in a bad way," she said.
Ayana added that she likes to think that she is standing out. When shopping she tries to remain conscious of what other people might buy she doesn't want something everyone else will have.
This individuality sometimes causes tension at Dartmouth as she consciously makes sure she remains unique while avoiding "standing out too much" at the risk of "being judged in a negative way."
As we move into Spring, Ayana said she thinks consciously about her day-to-day color palette.
"I find myself wearing a lot of black," she said. "So, when spring comes around I try to stay away from dark colors, obviously moving towards pastels."
Ayana also added that she understands the importance of layering.
"I think spring calls for that as well [as winter]," she said. "Thin cardigans, shawls, something you can carry and wear in the morning."
Ayana is shown in four different looks that perfectly represent the fashion of this upcoming season. Perhaps surprisingly, all of the colors are relatively muted for a spring palette. We believe Harper's Bazaar put it best when they said that this spring "the neutrals have it." With cremes, khakis and beiges as your base you can add some splashes of color to provide a modest approach to spring. The contrast of shapes, however, are key. By adding a little geometry into your wardrobe you can make use of a fitted dress with cutaway shoulders a trend of the season. If you're feeling the relaxed look a free flowing dress accented with enamel and jewelry always works. Or, you can even sport the classic floral print housedress replacing the flowers with geometric patterns or shapes to avoid running it back to the recession era of the 1930s.
Ayana knows how to do spring and for that we applaud her! As for the rest of you, we'll be on the lookout. You never know, you could be next. If you see fashionable people on campus that you think deserve to be applauded, blitz DMStyle. We'd love your help keeping Dartmouth fashionable!
Special Thanks to Marguerite Imbert and Genevieve Adams for their help at the photoshoot.
