Muse of the Week: Judy Yi, a fourth-year computer science major.
1. If you could describe your personal style in three words, what would they be?
Can I say weird three times?
2. What makes your style so “weird”?
Mostly the way I dress is like, I’ll do one style for one day and switch to a completely different style another day so I don’t really keep to my own “style.” I’ll do really androgynous one day just to see if I can do that and I’ll wear really bright colors one day and pastels on another day. I can never just like one type of style because I like everything. My closet is insane and it has mostly statement pieces in it.
3. What are your three must-have items in your wardrobe?
Acid-washed boyfriend jeans, oversized sweaters/shirts and a really comfortable pair of platforms just because I’m 5’1”.
4. What is your favorite accessory and why?
I invest most of my time and money in good shoes.
5. Where do you love to shop and why?
Thrift stores because I’m really strapped on cash and I’m still really into eclectic statement pieces, and the best place to do that is at thrift stores, like SPCA and R&R. My all-time favorite sweater cost me definitely less than $3.
6. Where did you get your head-to-toe look?
The shoes were thrifted and I originally I bought them for a cosplay. I think these thigh-high socks are my dad’s socks? All the main parts of my outfit, like the dress and the necklace, are my roommate’s. The jacket and bag are also thrifted. My dad got me this hat from Target for Christmas. The ring is from Karmaloop. The glasses are probably the most expensive part of my outfit. Everything of this outfit put together is like one-tenth of what these glasses cost me. I always buy things that are really, really cheap, but if it’s something that I’ve thought about over half a year, then at that point it’s like, “Well then I just have to get it!”
7. What do you love about shoes?
The first time I started wearing heels was like sophomore year. Now I have a full closet of heels so for the longest time every month I would buy a new pair of shoes that were around 50 bucks and I thought I was going insane. When I discovered heels I was like, “Oh my gosh, this is the best thing ever!” It was like discovering I had a superpower because I didn’t have to be short anymore. I have about five or six pairs of expensive heels so that’s not horrible, but it’s not great either. My favorite pair are my Jeffrey Campbell nightwalkers.
8. How has your style changed since high school?
I had a period in high school for at least two years where I wore the same gray sweater all the time. I thought I had really hairy arms for the longest time, so for some reason it really got in my head. I also had a crush on a guy who also wore the same sweater all the time so the combination of those two things led to me wearing that sweater everyday. I also had long hair until junior year of high school and, the first time I cut my hair, I did it myself in the bathroom. It was some kind of Mulan sh*t, but I just wanted to be different.
8. What is your favorite fashion blog?
My current favorite blog right now is Tokyo Fashion. It’s basically Tokyo street style, but it’s almost like a fashion show because that stuff you see in a fashion show is not something you would usually wear. I like looking at that because I like taking their colors and textures and incorporating it in a realistic way to wear clothing.
10. What does fashion mean to you?
I think for me it’s like an outlet because the things that I do academically, like math and science, seem very monotone to a lot of people — that’s one side of me and the only way I can express a lot of the more creative side of me comes out through clothing. It’s very much like painting. I don’t really see myself in outfits, but I see outfits as outfits on their own. I’m not going to call myself the canvas, but it’s a way to look at experimenting with fashion.
11. What final tips can you give to our fashion-forward readers?
Don’t be afraid. Most people will not think poorly of you if you’re wearing something that stands out. There’s rarely a malicious thought that’s going through someone’s head if they see someone who’s wearing something that’s out there. You’re the one who tells others what your image is, not the other way around.
