Hey everyone! My name is Zulfa Rizqiya and I’m thrilled to be among fellow Fashionista/os as a Style Guru for the summer semester. Come fall semester, I will enter my third year as a Strategic Communication major at Ohio University.
I don’t think there was ever an “aha” moment in my life that led me to realize my love of fashion, rather it was a natural process. When I was younger, I was quite shy and introverted. As I experimented with my style, I realized that fashion was not only a great way for me to express myself non-verbally, but also verbally as it started a conversation. You would be surprised at how much depth you can learn about someone—and yourself—from a conversation that stemmed from fashion and I loved this.
I grew up in Athens, Ohio, a quaint, Appalachian town that doubles as a college town when students return to Ohio University every year. The town is not exactly a hub for fashion trends—although I will note that people here have been sporting Birkenstocks way before they were considered cool. Regardless of its lack of a fashion reputation, the town has nurtured my style journey as I craved to explore fashion and seek new inspiration beyond the Appalachian Mountains.
As you could imagine, I relied heavily on magazines and television for style inspiration growing up. However, the Internet was a game changer (bless the Internet). I feel lucky to live in a generation where I have such easy access to a worldwide fashion community at the click of a mouse. I wouldn’t be nearly as daring to try anything once if it wasn’t for Man Repeller or nearly able to afford runway trends without ASOS (especially when students get 10 percent off every order through UNiDAYS!)
I’m not one to set a definition on my personal style. I think personal style has a lot more to do with following an intuition and wanting to feel like the most accurate version of yourself rather than dressing to fit a set definition. However, normally I can be found balancing a mix of thrifted pieces I can’t believe I managed to score, such as this corduroy shirt dress a la Alexa Chung for AG, with pieces that are more of an investment and are therefore appropriately worn to death, such as my Dr. Martens.
I’m excited to continue my style journey as I relocate to New York over the summer as an intern at a public relations agency. How will being fully immersed in the big city affect my style? Who will I meet in the big city that will give me style envy and inspiration?
I guess you’ll have to check CollegeFashionista for my posts every Wednesday to find out!
