Hey there! Well for starters, my name is Gracie Smith and I’m a senior merchandising and design student at Tennessee Tech University. This will be my first semester as a Style Guru for CollegeFashionista and I’m looking forward to all of the cool stuff I am going to be working on in the upcoming months. Growing up, I loved anything artsy or creative which I thought would lead me to becoming a painter. Â Instead, I ended up loving to paint, but wanting to pursue a career in fashion.
I started off as a fine arts student at my school, but knew it was time for a change when I realized I couldn’t wear the clothes I wanted without getting paint all over them. I discovered my school had a merchandising and design program and knew it would be the best of both worlds. I was able to be creative while still looking cute. Although I am no longer in the studio with a brush every day, I still find myself painting a new canvas each morning. The only difference is now the canvas is me! I see all of my clothes as different mediums and my outfits as mini works of art.  I have to make sure all of the colors work well together and that the whole mood I am trying to portray comes across the way I want it to.
To me, style is the best way to express yourself, especially the way you’re feeling on a particular day. This midi dress was a boutique find and one of my very favorites, but my closet has anything in it from Dunder Mifflin T-shirts to cheetah print stilettos. There’s no certain genre you have to fit into. One day you can be preppy, the next you can be boho and so on and so forth. You don’t have to confine yourself to one particular style. You may have a go-to look, but that doesn’t mean you can’t change it up whenever you want. That’s the beauty of fashion, you get to make it whatever you want it to be.
I can’t wait for all of the new experiences CollegeFashionista is going to bring. Here’s to a stylish semester.
