Oh my goodness!! Officially 4 more days until our Sun Devils Wear Prada event on February 6th! Be sure to buy your tickets here and bring your girlfriends for a stylish girl's night out!! Check out this video about our event and get excited!
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Have you noticed a trend with all of the style stories thus far? Yes, all of the women featured so far are amazing and beautiful individuals, but have you noticed an underlying theme here? They're all in the process of finding their individual style! All of their life experiences have led them to where they are with their style, and that's what we love listening to these inspirational women!
Meet Amanda Haagen, a sophomore studying Marketing at ASU. We had a BLAST styling her over at JcPenney's at Tempe Marketplace, and she was gracious enough to share her style story with us. Check out what she has to say below!!
1.How do you describe your current personal style? Who has influenced you the most in your clothing choices?
My style is very comfortable and fun. When trying to determine whether or not I should get something from a store, I always say, “Do I feel like I could spend the whole day in this?” That usually determines if I’ll wear it later. I love being able to go about my day, whether it be a lazy t-shirt day or a summer dress day, not worrying if it’ll stay up or if my insecure body areas are showing too much. I couldn’t say exactly what my style is, because every day calls for a different look. I like being versatile! One day I’ll want to wear my athletic shorts and a fun t-shirt from a club, one day I’ll want to be business professional and wear a pencil skirt and blouse, or one day I’ll just rock jean shorts and a cute flowy tank-top I got over the summer. The person that inspired me the most was my mother. Even though I have many different sides to my style, my professional side is definitely my favorite because my mom used to work at Ann Taylor and she would bring me clothes from the sale rack and let me wear her new stuff. I just loved the feeling of looking older in nicer clothing and now I continue to enjoy the more professional attire.
2.When did your ‘style story,’ begin? What was your age and circumstances when you began to shop for yourself and choose ‘styles for yourself? How did you personally feel about who you were at that stage of life?
When I was in middle school, I was the tallest person in my entire grade including ¾ of my teachers. As you can imagine, I was incredibly insecure about this and just wanted to look nice even though I couldn’t help how tall I was. I tried wearing all of the “cool” clothes that were usually very unflattering on me but I never felt good in them. I felt like I was trying too hard to fit in and I hated it even though I kept doing it all through middle school and the beginning of high school. Throughout high school I was very involved in volleyball both at school and for club and was constantly in athletic clothes. I started realizing that I loved wearing those outfits because I didn’t have to worry about my body or feeling like I fit in because I was an athlete and it shouldn’t matter what I looked like, as long as I got the job done on the court. I still kept my love of nicer clothes alive during home games when we would all dress up and the idea of being able to go from dressed up to being athletic and kick-butt was so cool to me. By junior year I started embracing the idea that I can dress however I need to for the moment and people will still accept me.
My favorite personal feature about myself is my long legs. Since I’m quite tall for a girl (5ft 10in to be exact) I had to learn to love them early on! As a volleyball player, my legs were always very toned and athletic which I prided myself on because not only did they look great, but also they could do the work when it was game time. In order to play them up in expressing my personal style, I love to show them off (in moderation, of course)! Wearing dresses and skirts are always fun because the bright patterns and colors enhance my legs and when I get the chance to wear heels I always love it. I also make sure to keep them in shape by remaining healthy and going to the gym consistently.
4. Talk about your experiences shopping in boutiques, Malls or on-line clothing ordering?
I usually never shop in boutiques or buy clothing online because I guess I’ve just had bad luck finding things there. I do, however, shop at malls all the time! When I plan to go out shopping, I always need a list of items I need and separate that from the list of things I might want but don’t need immediately. This helps me focus on what I need to get done on that trip and also helps out my wallet. My list also helps maintain a mission so that I won’t get overwhelmed and distracted by everything I can be looking at in a mall. My typical strategy is 1) go to the stores I know I need things in, 2) once I get to the store go to clearance first, 3) if what I need isn’t in clearance look at the rest of the store, 4) if I have leftover money/time check out the stores I don’t need anything from. I also can’t shop for too long in one day because not only do I get frustrated when I realize that I don’t have enough money, but shopping is exhausting work.
5. What are one or two items that are hardest for you to shop for, and why do you think that?
Jeans and shoes. Both of these have to do with my height. The problem with jeans, or any kind of pants for that matter, are that when they fit my womanly hips they don’t reach my ankles but when they’re finally long enough I would definitely need a belt. It’s such a struggle! The easiest way to deal with this problem is to look long enough and find a brand that actually works for me. I found my favorite jeans that I currently own at Kohl’s 4 years ago and I still always choose them first. Shoes are a similar problem because the height causes me to have larger feet and I also have wide feet. Depending on the brand and structure of the shoe, I can be a 9 ½ or a 10 or a 10 ½ or an 11, which makes shoe shopping a true task. Once again, the only way to go about this problem is to search for stores that sell what you need. Payless is usually where I get my shoes because not only is it cheap but it has the largest 10+ shoe section that I’ve ever seen in any other store. Even though both of these items were hard for me to find, after getting a system down it’s now much easier and less frustrating shopping for them.
I am an absolute jewelry and professional attire fanatic. Charming Charlie’s might as well be my favorite place to be besides Disneyland because you can find so many beautiful pieces that are affordable! Earrings and necklaces specifically just make my heart happy because they bring such a fun spin to any outfit and can make a lazy day look a little less like you rolled out of bed. Shopping for business outfits like skirts, blazers, blouses etc. is so great because I get to wear my favorite type of clothing and get pieces that I will get to wear later. It’s basically just a huge game of dress-up where you feel beautiful then get to leave with those clothes!
7. What do you DISLIKE the most to shop for? Name a few of your least liked items?
I’m not a fan of shopping for pants or make up. Pants are an issue because it’s hard to shop for my size (as mentioned before) and I just get way too frustrated. Make up costs a lot and I’m not very experimental with what I wear so I always get the same things because they’re reliable. Sometimes I try looking at different kinds of fun things to do with make up like lipstick or eye shadow but usually give up because I don’t know what I would look good in.
8. When you shop for clothing, how do you feel about your body? What do you think is the most challenging part of your body to dress and why?
Clothing shopping is usually quite frustrating for me. My most insecure part of my body is my love handles since they’re incredibly defined by my womanly hips and it’s hard to hide them. I feel like they’re awkward bumps that distract from my figure because they’re in the middle of my silhouette. When I go to try on anything I always have to check if it’s helping hide my love handles. Shorts can make them look like a muffin top; tight shirts can make them look like mountains; dresses can make me look out of shape. The clothes I feel most confident in are those that help distract the eye from them such as dresses that are structured right under the bust area or flowy shirts that aren’t tight to them. It’s something that I’ve always been insecure about and has definitely helped shape my overall style.
Thank you for sharing your personal style story with us, Amanda. We love how you've grown in your sense of style and we love how you reveal your SELF-WORTH through personal STYLE!!
A BIG thank you goes out to Matt Le Photography for the amazing photos, JCPenneys for the fabulous outfits, and Tempe Marketplace!!
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