Masters of Fashion

Three fashion grad students living out their last semester in style

Typical DST Monday!!! Couldn’t get my Zzzzzs on last night so overslept with very little time to dress up this morning. I figured that was a good thing since I like to let my skin breathe. I went sans make up today, just some kohl and gloss. 

In a hurry to make it to class on time, I grabbed a printed 109°F dress and put on my light blue denim blazer (I still don’t remember how it made its way into my closet? Most likely a gift). I added tights from Hot Topic that I found at the back of the closet and slipped into the brown boots from Target, which have been my go-to footwear choice this past week.

Accessories: bronze Tibetan earrings, Versace sunglasses and Swatch.

This is going to be a looooong week and it’s only Monday! O well… see ya soon.

~ Archana

This weekend I ventured down to Baltimore for friend’s birthday, and was able to do lunch in Fells Point.  If you’re looking for a chill spot for sushi, I highly recommend Sticky Rice!  I absolutely love Baltimore, especially Fells, after living there for a year.   I love being by the water and seeing all the industrial ships and buildings.  There’s something so comforting about being in Baltimore for me, not to mention it’s just full of character. 

For my Baltimore look, I wore my Tracy Reese wool plaid coat, a black H&M dress, a Tracy Reese chevron cardigan, my black polka dot tights by Hue, and to add some color, a scarf Tracy got for me while she was in India.  As always, I wore my Ray-Ban Wayfarers, but for shoes I dug out my black lace up Aldos, which I literally had to wipe the dust off of.  On my fingers, I have my whale ring and a gunmetal knuckle buster by Bansri and for my lip, I just put on some of NARS’ “Heat Wave’.  My Hayden Harnett grey cross body bag from their TRON collection, is one my favorites to sport around on weekends.

Hope y’all had a nice weekend, and stay tuned for some guest posts from my weekend in Baltimore!

-Tiffa

Heather grey = COMFORT! I’ve been very busy working on my thesis and did not feel like dressing up on a Friday. I instinctively grabbed my soft heather grey top from Merona and got into my charcoal denim from Gap. To up my comfort factor, I grabbed my vegetable-dyed “Kalamkari” dupatta that I’ve owned for about 10 years now and use as a scarf. I added my dice necklace from H&M for added detail, my handcrafted silver earrings and my Swatch. I brought out my “Birkenstock” lookalikes to welcome the sandal-friendly weather. I picked these handcrafted leather sandals back in 2004 while interning in Auroville, India. I also made sure to have my Versace sunglasses to shield my tired eyes. Okay. Back to le thesis, I go. Happy weekending! ~ Archana

Heather grey = COMFORT!

I’ve been very busy working on my thesis and did not feel like dressing up on a Friday. I instinctively grabbed my soft heather grey top from Merona and got into my charcoal denim from Gap. To up my comfort factor, I grabbed my vegetable-dyed “Kalamkari” dupatta that I’ve owned for about 10 years now and use as a scarf. I added my dice necklace from H&M for added detail, my handcrafted silver earrings and my Swatch. I brought out my “Birkenstock” lookalikes to welcome the sandal-friendly weather. I picked these handcrafted leather sandals back in 2004 while interning in Auroville, India. I also made sure to have my Versace sunglasses to shield my tired eyes.

Okay. Back to le thesis, I go. Happy weekending!

~ Archana

Poor Archana has to put up with me trying to model for this blog and it’s really amazing that she’s able to get any usable shots for the amount I goof off during our little look shoots.  I’m also lucky that there aren’t any people in the background giving me strange looks.

Anyways, today I decided it might be the last time I can wear any of my winter clothing, so I better take this as an opportunity to wear things I had forgotten to sport during December and January.  I went with my maroon Cacharel pom pom sweater, a navy and cream striped pencil skirt from H&M, black chevron tights by Hue, and brown suede boots by Report.  We had a little seminar class, so I brought along my lime green Moleskine notebook to take notes.

Lately, I’ve been feeling a little too lazy to do my eye make up, so I just put on some mascara and add an accent lip.  Today I sported my recent purchase of “Heat Wave” by NARS, which is just the perfect orange/red/coral color (depending on which light you’re in).

Hope everyone is having a fun and fancy free Friday!

-Tiffa

It’s so nice and warm outside. Tiffa and I headed out to an Indian buffet lunch fundraiser for Asha for Education. Chicken Makhni was yummsies! For this perfect weather day, I paired my I ‘Heart’ Ronson button-down dress with a white derek heart slub tissue top underneath. Like Tiff, I chose nude lace tights from hue (turns out when you live together, you get on the same fashion cycle!) to wear with my brown Target boots. A brown leather-suede bag from Mochi, an Indian retailer, white satin hoop earrings from Splash, Versace sunglasses and my Swatch complete this look. Now, time to tackle some thesis related work! ~ Archana

It’s so nice and warm outside. Tiffa and I headed out to an Indian buffet lunch fundraiser for Asha for Education. Chicken Makhni was yummsies!

For this perfect weather day, I paired my I ‘Heart’ Ronson button-down dress with a white derek heart slub tissue top underneath. Like Tiff, I chose nude lace tights from hue (turns out when you live together, you get on the same fashion cycle!) to wear with my brown Target boots. A brown leather-suede bag from Mochi, an Indian retailer, white satin hoop earrings from Splash, Versace sunglasses and my Swatch complete this look.

Now, time to tackle some thesis related work!

~ Archana

IT’S SO WARM OUTSIDE!!!!!!!  Legs are coming out!!!  Now, while they’re extremely pasty, it is the end of skating season meaning my legs are in their tippity top shape.  I’m a little afraid of exposing them all the way, so I like to wear nude lace tights until I feel their color is acceptable to be fully shown.  However, Archana seemed to have the same idea, as she too sported some nude lace tights! (Different pattern, we checked)

Today, Archana and I went to the Indian Sizzler for their buffet to support ASHA for Education, a group that works toward bringing socio-economic changes in India by supporting education.  After being stuffed full of Chicken Tikka Masala, we then decided on taking pictures, which was probably not the best idea…but oh well!

I’m breaking all sorts of rules today, different direction stripes, wearing the American flag, and a…BOLO TIE!  I decided on a black & white striped H&M top, with blue pinstriped Banana Republic shorts, nude lace tights from Hue, and American flag Chucks.  My bolo tie is a gift from one of the Korean suppliers I worked with when I was at Tracy Reese.  I kind of love how strange looking it is, but I’m not 100% everyone feels the same way.

Anyways, gotta finish up some work so I can enjoy this amazing weather!

So in an earlier post, I shared with y’all that HSN was doing a sale on Deborah Lippmann polish.  I recently got my purchase which was “Dream a Little Dream” (a light sheer metallic pink) and “Don’t Tell Mama” (a dark metallic teal).  Well, I’m about to nerd out right now… When I purchased my Deborah Lippman on HSN, I watched her demo both colors to see what they looked like on actually nails.  THEN, she shared how you could put “Dream a Little Dream” over “Don’t Tell Mama” to get a fresh and more metallic look.  I’m completely obsessed, and will probably be putting “Dream a Little Dream” over EVERYTHING!!! -Tiffa

So in an earlier post, I shared with y’all that HSN was doing a sale on Deborah Lippmann polish.  I recently got my purchase which was “Dream a Little Dream” (a light sheer metallic pink) and “Don’t Tell Mama” (a dark metallic teal).  Well, I’m about to nerd out right now…

When I purchased my Deborah Lippman on HSN, I watched her demo both colors to see what they looked like on actually nails.  THEN, she shared how you could put “Dream a Little Dream” over “Don’t Tell Mama” to get a fresh and more metallic look.  I’m completely obsessed, and will probably be putting “Dream a Little Dream” over EVERYTHING!!!

-Tiffa

You know who I dislike most, tall girls with reasonably sized feet . I’m 5’11 and wear a size 12 shoe - size 10 even size 11 would be reasonable. What’s worst is I have a mild shoe addiction. Now, I only have a few suppliers (e.g. Barefoottess.com, Avenue, Nordstrom) so when I see shoes I like I gotta have em. I try not to have my debit card within close proximity of me surfing the internets in hopes that my sloth will over power my greed for shoes. Here are my most recent purchases clockwise from left to right: 1. Blue Suede platform sandals with 4.5 inch heel from DV by Dolce Vita, 2. Boutique 9 Bootie with the red laces, 3. Tan Gladiator Sandals from Avenue, 4. Black faux-patent leather loafers from Avenue: I’m adding J.Crew to my supplier list. I’ve got my eyes on these (the blue wedges look too narrow for me, still cute): - Mikahila

You know who I dislike most, tall girls with reasonably sized feet . I’m 5’11 and wear a size 12 shoe - size 10 even size 11 would be reasonable. What’s worst is I have a mild shoe addiction. Now, I only have a few suppliers (e.g. Barefoottess.com, Avenue, Nordstrom) so when I see shoes I like I gotta have em. I try not to have my debit card within close proximity of me surfing the internets in hopes that my sloth will over power my greed for shoes.

Here are my most recent purchases clockwise from left to right: 1. Blue Suede platform sandals with 4.5 inch heel from DV by Dolce Vita, 2. Boutique 9 Bootie with the red laces, 3. Tan Gladiator Sandals from Avenue, 4. Black faux-patent leather loafers from Avenue:

I’m adding J.Crew to my supplier list. I’ve got my eyes on these (the blue wedges look too narrow for me, still cute):

- Mikahila

Yay! Its March. Today I went to the information session for BCBGMaxAzria which was filled with undergrads, as was expected, but after receiveing the email from career services that specifically referenced my grad student status I felt I should at least check it out.

The session was actually beneficial despite being targeted strictly to undergrads. The recruiters were refreshingly personable and gave great tips on getting a job in this economy.

I wore my J.Crew pants and my black Forever 21 ruffled blouse, Charcoal Blazer by United Colors of Benetton, and black faux patent-leather shoes from Avenue and white patent leather belt. I wore a white belt with black shoes - “Who going check me, boo?”

Yesterday, for my Historic Costume Collections class, I completed my Condition Report for the 1939 Wedding gown I have been assigned to for our 20th Century Costume Collection. She was fancy!

Oh, and my Nordstrom catalog came in the mail today, trouble trouble.

- Mikahila