Summer Into Fall

A slow start to the summer ended in me somehow scrambling the last month to get ready to head back to school. Now, here I am back in the place that I love - South Orange, NJ. I took most of the summer off from blogging due to heading back home and working two retail jobs. However, I was thankfully able to spend every weekend working in another place I love - Yellow Springs, OH. Yellow Springs gave me a sense of peace over the summer and a slower pace to enjoy the things that tend to fall into the background while I am at school.

1.) Reading books on my long-awaiting book list outside the tables of the Emporium

2.) Long bike rides along the Mad River Trail

3.) Many trips to Current Cuisine and Miguel's Taco Truck for lunch breaks

4.) Shopping local to pick out a few new pieces at Wildflower and Kismet

I always was able to enjoy the company of all my friends I brought to Yellow Springs through dinners at Sunrise and the Tavern, and the pleasure of meeting so many amazing, free-spirited, globe-trekking customers.

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Another reason why I love Yellow Springs: the endless inspirational chalk quotes in front of store windows!

Yellow Springs is a town where people gather to appreciate the core elements of what brings humans together in a bohemian, ever-evolving way: good music, food, culture, and style. As much as I love to cultivate my own style with mixing trends from different decades together and adding pops of floral to my looks, I find it inevitable to form to the styles of those around you when you are in a place you love.

The main style trends in Yellow Springs were flare and wide-legged jeans, rattan basket bags, mule sandals, big and funky sunglasses, Birkenstock's, and tea-length dresses.

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https://thevivaluxury.com/2017/09/flora/

https://www.manrepeller.com/2014/06/if-youre-thinking-about-birkenstocks-consider-the-madrid.html

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While spending three months working in Yellow Springs provided me with the bohemian small town feel I love, I was more than than ready to get back to the East Coast and to the city of hustle bustle that has opened my eyes to a whole new world within the past year.As always, my roommate Faith and I, took advantage of the free Whitney and MoMA Friday nights a few days ago. However, instead of seeing everything for the first time, this trip was more about soaking in and appreciating all the little details: how the lights off the Empire State Building reflect subtle red and green hues in sky, the signs of fashion week ending, the almost magical quietness while lounging on the chairs of the High Line after the evening rush has gone by.

Besides the obvious of strolling through the galleries looking at paintings, I love going to the Whitney and MoMA on a Friday night because you see all spectrums of style from a man with an orange with a bright red raincoat, a cropped basketball jersey and platform doc martens to the the typical tourist gear, and almost everything in between the two. However, the leading trend normcore, still over reigns New York street style.

However, the newest trend I have noticed is taking normcore and elevating it by subtly changing the patterns or lengths of clothing pieces (platform sneakers for example). My friend Kalyxa told me about this pop culture term after having a conversation about talking about how designers and bloggers have blurred the definitions of style and fashion. For those of you who don’t already know, normcore is a fashion oxymoron: it’s where one wears last decade’s clothes that are considerably “mundane,” while feeling as if they are being very trendy. A prime example of this is the Champion sweatshirt becoming a staple for NY streetwear and Supreme brand fans even though it used to be sold very readily at Walmart. Almost everyone has given into the normcore trend, including me, as I write this blog post wearing “mom jeans” and pink suede New Balance Classic 574’s. However, I still like to add my own modern day spin on normcore accessories by always visualizing people and causes I love.

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In this look I made it my own by wearing my new Bleachers band t-shirt with Jack Antonoff on it and my omnipresent Woman on Mission bag.

Below are photos that represent styles of the normcore trend and snapshots of NYC at night.

Whether it is styling a customer at my job, Sadie's, for a last minute outfit for a fashion week show in Brooklyn, scrolling through my Vogue Runway app in my bed, or passing by some of my favorite designer's stores walking to the Whitney, I know where I am at right now is where I am supposed to be.

Cheers to year two of college as Rizzy Rose!