Jersey power

When it comes to fashion in New Jersey, a lot of people think TapOut tees, latex-fit skirts or essentially trashy items. Completely false. Not only does Jersey have some of the best malls in the country, people tend to forget the multitude of genius that comes from the state. Just because Snooki, Pauly D and JWOWW party it up in Sleazeside Heights, doesn't mean we're all uneducated assholes that fist pump and drink our lives to shit.

Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon is a Jersey boy born-and-raised. Jon Bon Jovi is from Perth Amboy, NJ and even though its central Jerz, it still counts. The world of comedy may not be the same without Paul Rudd, Zach Braff and Jason Biggs who are also from the dirty, and we all know that American Pie is the shit, and it wouldn't be the same without Jim.

Some other notable New Jerseyans: Chelsea Handler, Ali Larter, Queen Latifah, Tara Reid, Meryl Streep, John Travolta, Anne Hathaway (not born, but raised a Jersey girl), Brooke Shields (endured her high school years in Jerz), Bruce Willis, Derek Jeter (lol Yankees fans) and, did I mention, that Thomas Edison set up shop in NJ to discover cool things like the phonograph, motion picture cameras and the lightbulb? Because, yeah, that happened.

Here's where I relate it to fashion now. Jersey-born 25-year-old Adama Kai, whose Aschobi Designs label is the first western style imprint to set up in Sierra Leone. She moved to Sierra Leone at four, then later trained in New York and Paris and has since moved back to Sierra Leone to pursue fashion in an underdeveloped and undervalued country.

She creates gorgeous African-inspired dresses and photographs them in the suffering streets of the country. Honestly, I could not be more proud that she was born in my home state and is doing beautiful things in an equally beautiful place that has an unfortunate history of civil war and child soldiers.

Twitter Trends

Trends are funny. When I was the Spesh editor of the Hunt News (sorry for my broken English -- Special Interest section editor of The Huntington news) I did a "--- of the Week" type of thing. Since the section rotates every week between Food & Restaurants, Sex & Health and Fashion & Style, the "--- of the Week" would rotate between "Drinks of the Week," "Position of the Week" and "Look of the Week." Since handing over my editor position to my assistant, she has since changed "Look of the Week" to "Trend of the Week." I think it's a great idea, and while trends usually do only last a week or so, it seems funny to promote certain products or "trends" in a newspaper like that. Her first trend of the week was hair feathers.

I think her Trend of the Week was written phenomenally. My assistant is a really talented girl and she's going places, whether the journalism industry is slipping or not.

I just am not a fan of trends. Don't go calling me a hipster or something because, believe me, that's the opposite of what I am. I'm a blonde-as-shit sorority girl that loves flavored Bacardi and asshole frat boys. I'm not "too cool" to have a Twitter or 1,000 Facebook friends and I definitely don't wear flannel on the reg. I just find trends like this annoying. I mean, who the hell would pay $20 to have a single feather put in your hair? And if you have more than one put in there, don't leave the house because you'll embarrass yourself. Can you leave it in when you wash your hair or do you have to take it out? It's basically put in there like a hair extension would be put in there (and don't get me started on those things).

Having things like "Trend of the Week" is basically like saying, "look at what's cool now, here's how you get it, here's how much it is and while you don't HAVE to get it, it's just highly recommended if you want to be up on the style of the moment."

Regardless, if you have a hair feather already, that's great. I'm not even the type of girl to dye my hair, crash diet or get piercings anywhere but my ears. Call me conservative, but I'm a walking contradiction, I have a tattoo. In my defense, it's a memorial tattoo for my late Nana. And you know what, if a hair feather means that much to you, the more power to you, but trends change so quickly and I'm not about to spend $20 a week on something that's just going to change a few days later. It's like Charlie Sheen -- he may have gotten 1,000,000 Twitter followers in a day but where is he now? Drugged up and out of a job and a family. (I'm Team Ashton, naturally)

Sorry this wasn't more about Twitter, my headline was a little misleading. Get over it. So are trends.

Seriously Champagne

Dress - So I tried this dress on in Express the other day. It was so flattering. Very very short, but so awesome looking. It's $59 on sale, but I might go buy it anyway. It's awesome as hell. You can dress it up to go out to dinner with the girls (a skanky dinner) but more importantly it will
absolutely assist in getting guys'
attention in the bar.

These shoes are $225 because they're Michael Kors (my favorite designer). They're for the people who have a seriously champagne-ready  wallet or bank account. But if you don't and you can only afford the high-end beer or the low-end liquor, the second shoe option may be more for you.

Shoes - On heels.com, they're $89.09 which isn't totally unreasonable for a good pair of heels. And believe me, you want them to be a good pair of heels. I've had friends break heels on my favorite pairs of shoes completely unintentionally. It just happens and you're more likely to actually get them repaired if the shoes meant something to you in the first place.

(Bracelets) Forever 21 - $8.50. The're super dangly and fun and with such a small dress, a lot of accessories is totally necessary.

(Earrings) Forever 21 - $1.50. Simple studs won't cut it for a plain dress. Match the bronze from the shoes. Bring a crazy colored clutch out with you that goes with bronze and black, like purple, maroon or a dark mustard color.

My mom once told me

That I try to live a champagne kind of lifestyle on a beer budget. It's kind of true. I go to a school whose tuition increases exponentially every year in a city that demands a fabulous style. Oh, Boston. So I've decided to throw together some looks to show that you can totally look awesome without having to splurge on EVERY article of clothing you wear. Disclaimer: I love to splurge and I feel like spending money on things that are worth it, is worth it. It's not quite time for spring and skirts yet, but I'm getting into the spirit with the prints I'm putting on my body.

(Cardigan) Express - I bought this floral cardigan from Express and I can honestly say it made me happy all day. Online it is only $19, even though I bought it in a store for $39 just the other day. The happy feeling, confident gait  and carefree mood the sweater gave me was well worth the extra $20 that I unnecessarily spent. Wear a tan or gray simple cami under it because it's very floral and bright and I feel like a super colorful top underneath it will overpower the look.

(Jeans) Charlotte Russe - I bought these jeans online recently and just typed in my size and bought the tall version since I'm 5'9 and they fit phenomenally. It raised my confidence so high to finally be able to wear low-rise jeans that didn't make my hips look like a permanent muffin top. They were $29.50 (plus shipping for me) and I'll probably wear them for the next 2 years.

(Ring/Necklace) Charlotte Russe - $4/$8.50 If you're going to opt for a tan undershirt and you're into gold jewelry (I prefer silver myself) these are perfect. I just wore my silver Michael Kors Watch and my silver lion necklace I wear every day with my outfit.

(Belt) Charlotte Russe - $10.50. Add one of these OVER the cardigan to show off your shape a bit. Go for the gold or the pink, they both match great. Just don't do a floral on a floral. You could go with another print, though, like polka dots or stripes if you like to mix patterns!

Total for this outfit: $71.50. You can re-purpose the jewelry and the belt with anything and as long as you don't get something on the jeans, wear them later on in the work week!