St. Edward’s freshman climbs trees, models abstract style

De’ja White, a freshman at St. Edward’s University, enjoys her unique and adventurous style.  

Who influences your fashion sense? 

There is this one singer whose name is FKA Twigs and I love her fashion, but I don’t know enough about it to say she inspires me. I mostly see something and I make it my own.

What advice would you give to people on how to dress?

You have to know your body. We all have good parts of ourselves and until you know what those are, you won’t be able to let them shine. 

Know your skin, too. I am always putting things up to my wrist to check the color. What looks good? What doesn’t? 

It’s all about being very observant of yourself mentally and physically to know what you’re comfortable wearing.

How might your fashion sense evolve as you get older?

There’s a time for everything. Right now I’m in a stage where I can dress however I want. 

If I want to go out and look like Lady GaGa, I can. College is the time to have fun with your fashion. 

Honestly I can’t wait until I hit that old woman age because I have all these outfits picked out.

How would you describe your fashion sense?

My style is abstract. It’s like my personality. I swear I’m a different person each day. No one knows who I’m going to be.

Your friends call you Momma Voodoo. Why is that?

I take care of everybody, but I’m weird. 

I climb trees. I come back with all this fruit from campus and my friends are always like ‘Where’d you get that?’ 

I tell them, “Everything is right in front of you. You just have to pay attention.”

What are some of your strengths in terms of fashion?

I’m very good at giving make overs. I’ve been doing that since I was in 6th grade. One time I made my friend look like Marilyn Monroe and that’s how she got her first kiss. It was on Halloween.

What are your main passions?

To be honest, I’m a jack of all trades. Fashion is just one of my loves. 

My first love was actually singing and I did that for a very long time until I got nodules and that was just very hard. 

My dream right now is to create a website to sell clothing so that by the time I get out of college I can make my own money and won’t need to work for somebody else. That’s what I really want to do.

What is your favorite kind of outfit right now?

My favorite kind of outfit is classy on the bottom, risque on the top. You can never do two at once. 

If you want to show a little more skin up top, you have to cover up at the bottom, if you want to show some leg, you have to cover up on top. That’s how you stay classy. Never do both.

A lot of people compliment your fashion sense. How does that make you feel?

I’m terrible at taking compliments. I love them, but they make me uncomfortable. 

When I dress in the morning I don’t think about what other people will like, I think about what makes me feel good. So when the compliment comes from someone else, it just feels so odd and foreign to me.

 

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@g_wilkosz