Penn State has no shortage of talented and fashionable young ladies. If you’re looking for inspiration, then look no further than senior Lauren Williams, whose fashion blog has caused quite a stir. For all of you aspiring fashionistas, take note!
Name: Lauren Williams
Year: Senior
Major: Mechanical Engineering
Hometown: Natrona Heights, PA (Pittsburgh)
Valley: What sparked you to begin your blog?
Lauren: I was reading other blogs at the time and wanted to keep a sort of collective of everything that I personally found inspiring. I didn’t really expect anyone to read it, it was more a place where I could go and become instantly inspired.
V: How do you keep the content new and fresh?
L: I keep up to date with magazines (iD Mag is my fave), editorials, and collections. It all boils down into certain trends and aesthetics. I take what I like and make it my own.
V: What is the process to maintaining your blog? (From thinking of an idea all the way through pictures and writing the content)
L: I try to post at least every other day and try to post personal, original photos and content at least once a week. I know a lot of professional bloggers that write “editorial calendars” and the works, but personally mine is a lot less organized. I keep a notepad in my phone where I right down ideas and kind of just work with it.
V: What are some of your favorite blogs to visit and style icons to draw inspiration from?
L: I’ve made a lot of blogger friends since I’ve started. They are “virtual” friends of course, and we live all over the world, but we love to bounce ideas and inspiration off of each other. Minnie from Moi Minnie and Karina from Beach and Dress are both personal friends of mine, extremely minimalist bloggers, and favorites of mine to read.
V: What do you want to do as a career after graduation?
L: I would like to use my engineering degree within a career in the fashion industry. Brands and groups are constantly looking for apparel production engineers, which I feel like a lot of people don’t really think about. Making clothes is just like engineering– you’re still building something!
V: How would you describe your style and where do you shop?
L: Minimalist, slightly edgy, sport luxe. I do most of my shopping online and my favorite “all-inclusive” stores are Asos, Topshop, Zara, and Karmaloop.
V: If you could be anyone from the fashion industry for one day, who would you be and why?
L: Anna Wintour. Everyone has so much respect for her and her opinion is everything. But only for a day – I could never handle that much pressure.
V: What advice would you give to other students who are interested in starting their own fashion blog?
L: Be patient! Your readership won’t grow overnight. Also, be true to yourself, I get a lot of offers to cover and do product reviews on things that aren’t really my style. Don’t sell out!
V: If you could go on a $10,000 shopping spree, which stores would you go to and what would you buy?
L: Kill City Jeans – I would buy everything. I would definitely hit up some designers like Balenciaga and Philip Lim. My shoe collection needs some work … can we make it $100,000?
V: What are your future plans for your blog?
L: Keep on doing what I’m doing! I’ve just started to write for TALLULAH Magazine which is based in London, so that is pretty exciting. I don’t have any major plans, just improve on what has already gotten me this far and try to reach out to more people.
Photo by Orhan Yilmaz
Nice insight into what seems like a really cool fashion blogger.
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RT @ValleyMag: Allow us to introduce Lauren Williams, the Penn State fashionista whose blog we definitely recommend checking out. http:/ …