Back To School Fashion
By Chloe Cornell
The best part of Fall and back to school is the fall fashion season. When the weather gets a little cooler it is nice to layer with jackets, wear boots, and have fun with new fashion looks before the winter kicks in and all we want to put on are leggings and bulky hoodies.
Cher and her friends in the movie Clueless would fit right in for this season’s top fashions. Plaid, tweeds, animal prints and velvet – they had almost all of the current trends covered!
Plaid
See Versace, Dior and Balenciaga fashion shows for inspiration on this trend. Then visit Zara, Nasty Gal, Urban Outfitters, TopShop and Bershka to get these wardrobe staples.
Tweed
Tweed jackets are everywhere. Zara and TopShop have some great ones, but if that’s not your thing, you can embrace the tweed trend with a skirt, blouse, sneaker or scarf which are also available at Zara.
Animal Prints
It seems every fall the fashion world reintroduces the animal print but this season it was everywhere from Tom Ford, Zadig and Voltaire, Givenchy, Dolce and Gabbana, Bottega Veneta and more. Revolve, Free People, Nasty Gal and Zara have some great options for this look.
Velvet
Another fall staple, velvet reappeared this season – check out the TIbi velvet cropped jacket. The new Karl Lagerfeld Karl x Kaia line also had a big showing of velvet – from puffer coats to hats. Nasty Gal also is promoting the velvet trend.
80s
We weren’t around for the 80s but we are well versed in the trends from John Hughes movies (Pretty in Pink, Breakfast Club)…big shoulders (Attico, Saint Laurent), short skirts and dresses (Isabel Marant), neon (Prada), and the more is more mentality, we are happy to get to enjoy the style the second time around!
Sparkly And Metallic
Who doesn’t love sparkle and shimmer?! Sequins on dresses, skirts, jackets and bags are so fun and not just for parties, but maybe not for school! Metallic leather skirts are a great new trend – we love TopShop’s metallic mini skirt, and like the high tech vibe of silver accents and the creative materials being introduced in this new wave of fashion.
Leather
Leather is another must this Fall and the options are endless. We love leather skirts (check out Top Shops fake leather options with a full front zipper) and jackets.
Colored Sunglasses
As for sunglasses, you can put away your heart shaped glasses for now, colored lenses are having a moment. You should also invest in a pair of boots – cowboy or lace up military style boots – are must-haves for the season!
Whatever you wear, make sure that you don’t blindly follow trends but wear what feels right for you.
Back-to-School Tips For Success
By Ryan Hammel
Going back to school and back into a strict routine is tough for everybody to readjust to after a long, carefree summer. Transitioning from ten hours of sleep to six is definitely one of the worst parts. However, with these tips and suggestions from professionals, the back-to- school season will be much easier to manage and less stressful overall.
The first tip is to be motivated, which is unquestionably very difficult to do. It is more of an “easier said than done” idea. In order to do this, it is crucial to set goals in advance and then have strategies in order to complete your goals. I personally believe that the best way to stay motivated aside from planning ahead is to recognize how badly you want to complete the goals and just constantly remind yourself of how you will feel in the end after completing it.
The next tip is to be organized. Keeping a planner is necessary to be organized. It allows your activities to exist in a place outside of your head for reference when life gets stressful. Having a planner also reduces the stress on yourself to remember everything you have to do and everywhere you have to be. Giving each class a designated color is also helpful as it will allow you to find notes, worksheets, and assignments easily and not intermixed between classes.
Relieving stress is so important. Taking time to relax is critical in order to not get too overwhelmed. Journaling is also a great way to reduce stress. Taking five minutes out of your day to sit down and write out what is on your mind is relaxing and gets rid of negative thoughts.
The next tip is to get a lot of sleep and to wake up at the same time every single morning. It is obvious that sleep is important but people don’t recognize how important it is and how drastically not getting enough sleep will affect your day. Also, having a consistent sleep schedule by waking up at the same time each day allows your body to regulate itself, allowing you to take on the day with the amount of energy that is necessary.
Having study habits is the next tip. Scheduling breaks is helpful because then you will not be as tempted to get distracted on social media or anything else while studying. Similar to scheduling breaks, it is important to schedule study times. Having a system for taking notes will allow you to not only take notes more efficiently (since you’ll have a single way you like to take them), but also allow you to read them later when you need to study and understand just what happened in class that day.
The last tip is to find substitutes for coffee. High school is when most people begin to experiment with coffee to keep themselves awake. However, caffeine and sugar are not healthy to constantly be putting into your body especially when relying on it to keep you awake. Also, while both sugar and caffeine keep you awake short term, they will cause an eventual crash. There are multiple alternative options to naturally boost energy including quinoa, chia seeds, honey, spinach, blueberries, almonds, salmon, avocados, beans, oranges, bananas, whole grains, beets, eggs, and wheatgrass.
