CollegeFashionista displays seasonal trends

For those wondering why female students are roaming campus with denim shorts worn higher around the waist, here’s the answer. It’s a trend appropriately called the “high-waisted short.”

This trend, among countless others, is prominently featured on collegefashionista.com, a place where curious fashion-forward students draw inspiration from what’s “in” at different college campuses.

Junior Lauren Jerdonek is one of CollegeFashionista’s style gurus, social media interns and manager for the IU section.

As a social media intern, Jerdonek said she spends most of her day posting new content and interacting with viewers on numerous social media outlets.

Her responsibilities as a “style guru” include snapping photographs of stylish men and women around campus.

“It’s pretty much just making high fashion look accessible to college students and acknowledging the effort they’ve put in to dressing on campus,” Jerdonek said.

Campus trends

Fall is considered the peak season for the latest fashion trends.

After trekking through the streets of Bloomington, Jerdonek said three major trends have surfaced. The first is a nod to military style.

“That’s everything from hunter green to gold buttons to lace-up boots,” she said. “The military vibe is definitely making its way onto campus, and it’s something I’ve been noticing on both girls and guys.”

Another popular trend, especially while the weather is still warm, is print on print.

“Growing up, I remember it being a rule that you were not allowed to mix and match prints, and that just isn’t the case anymore,” Jerdonek said. “I’m seeing lots of (polka) dots mixed with animal prints right now.”

Yet another is denim on denim, which made its latest debut in the fashion world last spring.

“This involves mixing different washes with acid and chambray,” Jerdonek said. “It’s an interesting trend because it’s cool to see what can be done with it.”

Woman in charge

Jerdonek said she enjoys many aspects of her job, but what she enjoys most does not come from a rack of the latest styles.

She explained she treasures the time she spends meeting other gurus across the nation.

For this, she thanks Amy Levin, CollegeFashionista’s founder and creative director.

“There are hundreds and hundreds of gurus across the nation and the world,” Jerdonek said. “The community that Amy has built has made us gurus seem much closer than we really are.”

Levin, an IU graduate, had the concept for CollegeFashionista during her senior year in 2009.

In August of that year, the website was launched at five campuses and has since expanded internationally to more than 300 campuses.

“The idea just came to be that I was simply inspired by my peers in Bloomington, Ind.," Levin said. "I feel kind of disconnected from the fashion industry being located in the middle of nowhere and I wanted a way to, you know, channel all of my interests in the industry to feel connected.”
Another important vision of Levin’s was to provide college students with an opportunity to share their ideas about fashion in a global community while developing their writing and photography skills, she said.

“When these students graduate, they’ll be able to go into the industry and have a better idea of what it’s about,” Levin said.

Levin said she created CollegeFashionista when she first entered the world outside the Sample Gates.

“I created it because I wanted an opportunity like this in college and didn’t feel there was anything out there," Levin said.