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Ask A Chicago Expert: Tips For College Style Essentials

Chicago Fashion Fest
(Credit: chicagofashionfest.com)

Michelle Gomez
M.GO Fashion
1754 W. Division St.
Chicago, IL 60622
(773) 772-2772
www.chicagofashionfest.com
www.mgofashion.com

You can’t get any more “expert” than Michelle Gomez, creator of Chicago Fashion Fest and owner of M.GO Fashion Salon on Division Street. As a boutique owner linked to top local designers across the city, Gomez has a sixth sense for cutting-edge looks. While coordinating every detail of the entire Chicago Fashion Fest, from stages to runway segments, she knows what hard work can do to a girl’s style sense, especially one in college with a full slate of classes, a job and a slim wallet. Here are a few of her ideas on creating cool school style.

Le Thrift
(Credit: lethrift.com)

Tip 1

Today’s modern consignment shops, carrying top brands at bottom prices, are the way to go for stylish college students. Le Thrift Boutique in Chicago is one of the few modernized shops that has great finds. Owner Christine Sanderson is constantly turning over merchandise and offering old trends that are new again, mixing current design with vintage and designer and non-designer. Inside tip? Grab great shopping deals quarterly when the store is making room for new merchandise.

Tip 2

Give yourself a wardrobe makeover, Go through that closet and pick out all the things you are not going to wear again because you’ve already worn it too many times, it doesn’t fit or it’s just not your style anymore. Take the items to your favorite consignment or thrift shop so you can make some shopping money as well as provide room in the closet for new fashion.

Tip 3 

Have some of your old garments altered or redesigned into new looks. You can make a skirt or a top out of a dress, oversized tops into a swimsuit and old gowns into sleek dresses. You really can be very creative and unique re-inventing your closet. For shoes and boots, you can keep your favorites looking new through a shoe repair store. You’ll be amazed how they can replace heels, fix torn soles and polish them up to make them brand new again.

Related: Best Personal Stylist and Shoppers In Chicago

Tip 4

Even in college, you need a little sparkle. Find signature pieces that you can wear for all occasions. Trending rings and necklaces include Infinity and Initials which are classic pieces. You can tie these into any look without having to spend a fortune on different accessories to match your outfits.

Tip 5

Consider your hair, nails and make-up to be a crucial part of your style, just like an accessory. We focus a lot of time on having a new dress when a new hairstyle or polished nails and new color lipstick can change the entire look of your old dress. In a city saturated with so many salons, there are some great online deals out there that are affordable and offer new trends in services. For example, M.GO Fashion Salon offers a 30-minute non-chip manicure for $22 to college students with an ID.

Related: Best Places For A Keratin Treatment In Chicago

Jacky Runice has been a columnist with the Daily Herald Chicago since grunge music and flannel was the new black. Her fingers and gray matter have been busy as travel editor of Reunions Magazine; penning a column that was syndicated around the nation via Tribune Media Services. Her work can be found at Examiner.com.


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