Hi everyone, I’m Qayla Chism! I’m an Arts and Entertainment Management major with a minor in Spanish and pre-law at Pace University, and I just finished up my sophomore year. This is my first semester as a Style Guru and I am so happy to say that for the first half of the summer I will be reporting fashion for you all from Spain!
Growing up I spent a lot of time outside roughin’ it: riding bikes, climbing trees and running through the woods with other neighborhood kids, so naturally I wore boy shorts, “play” sneakers and superhero T-shirts that were a little more durable than skirts and sandals. However the time that I did spend inside I spent cutting out pretty dresses and pantsuits from fashion magazines that I thought would look nice on my mom. Snowballing off of that, I would love to tell you all that I wanted to be apart of fashion my whole life, but my interest in fashion grew from a mix of wearing tomboy play clothes, dressing my mom in magazine cutouts, and watching and re-watching episodes of Lauren Conrad’s life in Laguna Beach turn into a fashion career on The Hills. But the moment I really discovered I wanted to make a living out of this was the day I cut off my hair; this was the action that set everything fashion in motion for me.
I also would love to tell you all that I have a precise sense of style but I don’t. My style has more of a “time and place” feel; I dress for the occasion, but the core of my day-to-day fashion is centered around soft ‘90s grunge, with a strong urban influence. I knew once I started college I would have to look for another way to keep my style up…ding ding ding, budgeting and thrift shops. Thrift stores aren’t the only places I shop, but it’s great to mix with clothing from clothing chains or fast fashion retailers.
A big part of fashion for me is not only making sure people look good in the clothing but also making sure they feel confident in their own skin while doing so. Seeing people happy in their own skin and expressing that through their own personal fashion is a big thing for me and I can’t wait to see and meet people who do just that and capture it for you all. I also recently started a fashion and all things beauty blog, so feel free to keep up with me on there, too!
