Hi yinz! My name is Mariah Vancil and I attend the Art Institute of Pittsburgh for fashion marketing and management. I am very excited to be a Style Guru this spring semester and show all of you what makes Pittsburgh fashion, especially here at the Art Institute, so different. A lot of people think of Pittsburgh and don’t think cutting edge fashion or they think it’s just a lot of black and gold. There is some really unique fashion and styling happening here in the “Steel City”.
I’m originally from Charlotte, North Carolina but moved up north for college, where I originally started my college career at West Virginia University but realized art school would be a better choice. I fell in love with how different things were up north and after a few trips to Pittsburgh I fell in love and once I saw there was a school that offered what I wanted I packed up and transferred. Growing up, I saw a lot of cowgirl boots and a lot of Lilly Pulitzer and I always liked being different so I liked to mix different pieces and create a very unique look. This is the point in my life I found vintage stores, thrift stores and fell in with vintage and mixing them with trendy pieces. When I moved to Pittsburgh I discovered their flea market scene and fell in love and got some really unique pieces.
My look I’m rocking for my Style Guru Bio is the definition of my personal style from head to toe. My nautical button-down blouse with anchor decal on the pocket is one of my favorite flea market finds and there are a ton of similar pieces that, with some alteration, can be identical to the one I have on. My leggings are just simple black leggings from Charlotte Russe; they are my go to when I cannot decide what bottoms to go with what or a great piece to add a chic simple piece to a look. My heeled boots are Steve Madden and also vintage but very easy to find similar ones online or an over-the-knee pair would look great. I love the buckle detail to tie in the gold aspect. My hat is just a simple black floppy hat from Forever 21, my necklace is another flea market find but there are exact matches on Etsy. My “life is about the journey” bracelet is actually a Bed, Bath and Beyond find oddly enough and my infinity ring is from Tiffany & Co, my rose gold watch is from Khol’s and my engagement ring is from Zales. I finished it off with one of my favorite lipsticks by BareMinerals marvelous moxie “Lead the Way” from Ulta. I love finishing off with a bold lip like this because I feel like it adds to the look.
That’s it for this post but I am very excited to see what this semester will bring and to show everyone the truly unique style Pittsburgh has.
