Brilliant Blogger: Karen of WhereDidYouGetThat
Take one look at Britain-turned-New Yorker Karen Blanchard and you’ll think she just walked off the runway (which might just be the case since she’s a model- but that’s not the point). With fashion street smarts on her side, this girl makes the city her personal runway and takes us along for the ride as she shares pictures of her wardrobe on her blog WhereDidYouGetThat.
Interested? Read on to get tips on how to get her punky rock and roll style.
1. Studs Aren’t Just for the Rockers Any More
As you guys might have noticed, studs are all over the place this season. Designers like Alexander McQueen and fashion houses like Balmain have brought them from obscurity into the high fashion scene. Stars like Leighton Meester and Rachel Bilson have been seen out and about rocking their own versions of the trend. And why not? Why should punks have all the fun?
From the looks of things, Karen likes her metals too. After all, she works this trend like a pro. Her love of studded high tops, bracelets, and leather jackets makes even her most simple outfits sparkle.
I love this trend because it’s so easily accessible to the public. It’s actually pretty simple to stud your own clothes, bags, or even shoes. If you want to know more about DIY studding, check out Sass & Trash’s tutorial on shoe studding. And if you don’t know where to get studs, you can buy them in bulk for cheap at Crustpunks.com. Alternatively, just do what I did and recycle those studded belts from your embarrassing middle school punk rock phase. You know you had one.
So what is a good tip when trying out this trend? I recommend keeping it cool and trying to avoid looking like you walked out of Hot Topic. To do that, try to keep the studs to a minimum and limit them to one or two pieces in your look – overkill is never chic.
Bracelet- Peacocks Dress- MissSelfridge Heels- Modcloth Bow Ring- ThanksYo
Studs can either be an outfit focal point or an accent to tie your look together. One interesting way to wear them is to pair your cutest, flounciest dress with a studded bracelet or studded boots. This instantly adds an edge to your look (see example above). This way, you look cute while keeping your street cred intact.
2. Rock and Roll Forever
Look through Karen’s wardrobe and you’ll start to notice a pattern: effortless rocker-chic style. How does she pull it off? With cutout tees, leather, faded denim, and lots of black. Taylor Momsen, eat your heart out.
To get this type of style, you need to look for pieces that aren’t too perfect or straight-laced. Instead, seek out slouchy tops and extra fitted bottoms, or vice versa.
When mimicking Karen’s look, pay attention to proportions: usually one part of her outfit is skintight, while the other part is loose and flowy. Also, it seems like Karen gravitates toward monochromatic colors, which gives her that darker, edgy look. Be on the look out for lots of black, gray, and washed-out colors to mimic her color palette. Denim is also important to this look. Whether it’s black, gray, or blue, it always should be fitted to your body for a sleek, rockstar-esque aesthetic.
3. Jewelry is Your Best Friend
Karen is the perfect example of a talented accessorizer. As you can see, she piles on the frills. From rings to bangles to necklaces, the girl has it all. That’s why it’s important to have a good basic jewelry wardrobe. Accessories are great because they allow you to wear the same tee shirt and jeans all week (not saying you should, do your laundry girls!). With the simple addition of a cool studded bangle or layered necklace, the same basic outfit will look completely different.
One thing I do recommend when trying to find pieces is to look for unique jewelry rather than the typical trendy stuff. After all, that’s what makes Karen so great – her stuff is different and not ordinary. I recommend checking out sites like etsy or ebay and searching for “vintage jewelry”. Also, try stopping by your local thrift store or flea market for the really rare (and cheap!) stuff. Who doesn’t love saying “Thanks, I got it at a thrift store!” when someone compliments their outfit. If you ask me, it totally ups your coolness factor.
So what can we learn from Karen’s style? Overall, the key idea is to keep it cool. The whole rock and roll aesthetic depends on the imperfections of your outfit. Who wants to look perfect anyways? So when you’re looking for clothes to imitate this look, find stuff with fades, rips (tasteful ones of course), fringe, and anything black. Then, when you’re done choosing your clothes, pair them with a cute boot, some studded jewelry, and a healthy dose of self-confidence. You’re sure to be rocking campus all day.
What do you think?
What do you guys think of Karen’s style? Do you love it or not so much? Either way, let me know in the comments section! And make sure you check out Karen’s blog, WhereDidYouGetThat, for inspiration and to get new perspective on New York street style.
Posted on on September 27, 2009 / Filed Under: Hot Websites / Tags: Brilliant Blogger, Inspiration, Jewelry, Rocker Chick, Studs, Websites
Like this post?
Before you post a comment, please read the 
Patricia
I am a fan of Karen’s style and I hope you guys keep showing bloggers with great style as hers…I recently discovered Betty from Le Blog De Betty on your site and it has become one of my main sources of fashion ispiration.
Congrats for a very nice article!
thisizkim
Wow! Karen, you are FABULOUS!! I love, love, LOVE your style. I especially love all of the unique jewelry. =]
Jessica
Hey College Fashion! I LOVE the BLOG–have loved it since I started college!
Its my Senior Year and I want a new look–but besides fashion and clothes, Im really interested in a new look. My question is what are some great Hair Cuts and styles for the new year?
I would LOVE to see you blog do an article about hot hair trends that can really make or break your look! Please help me out!
Thanks and great job as always! xoxo
Leia
I love her style, especially because I think I would just look ridiculous if I tried to pull off the rock-chic look! She’s gorgeous & so very stylish :)
Jess
I love love love her style. She looks so rocker chic. This is definitely my style. Lots of black, rocker-chic, and lots lots of jewelry.
Please show more bloggers. I get so many ideas to improve my style.
Thanks :-)
Alice
Love her style! It looks so effortless and cool :) Keep posting these, they’re great inspiration!
bo
I love her style, it’s kind of similar to mine.
temi
i love her!
see her on chictopia everytime!
Brittney
This is unrelated to the actual topic of this post (which I enjoyed!), but I absolutely hate when you link to a product that is from a UK retailer that doesn’t ship to the US. (I can understand the frustration that people in the UK feel when they see US stuff they can’t have, but because all of the writers on this site are from the US and most of the readers, I assume, are too, it’s really annoying. Especially when I see something I like).
Kim - Cal State
Hey Brittney, I can totally understand where you are coming from, I would hate to find something I really like and then find out I can’t even buy it. From now on, I wont link to things that cannot be shipped to the US, I hope that helps! Your feedback was helpful, I’m sure alot of people feel the same way. I’m glad you liked the post though :)
Luinae
I like her style but MAN would I look silly if I tried to pull it off. I was a huge fan of Le Blog de Betty when I saw that last week- I think it’s more my type of look.
Angy
Holy crap! I love her style, it’s almost perfect to my dream style (should I have the body to pull it all off). Gonna check her website out!
P.S. I love CollegeFashion.net, I’ve loved it for a while and I’ve always been actively following it. I’m entering University next year and it’s a fantastic source of much needed information. Thank you!!
Nana
Wow, I think Karen’s style looks amazing. She managed to pull of every outfit so effortlessly well.
Thanks for sharing. Hope we can pick up some good tips from her style ;)
Francesca
This post was a really good change of perspective. A lot of the posts and fashion tips are catered to girls with a certain fashion style (not complaining though!) and this one was different, but still cute. Thanks!
Linda
I love that you guys featured Karen and her blog, I LOVE her !
Katie
I love this blogger and I seriously value this analysis of her style! But I noticed some writing errors sprinkled through the article, which jarred me a little bit. I totally don’t call this kind of stuff out at all, it’s just that the writing on this site is usually so impeccable! But maybe run things by a copy editor next time?
Anyway, serious kudos on this article — I’m totally going to use this the next time I go shopping, I needed this how-to on getting an edgy look!
Samantha Lu
This article is awesome! Your writing is awesome. And I love that example outfit you put together to show us.. so cute!
Zephyr - CF Editor
Jessica – I will totally forward your question to Lisa, our beauty blogger! I’m sure she’d be happy to answer it for you in a future post.
Brittney – Will take that into account! Sometimes we get excited over that perfect piece and forget to check whether the store ships to the US. Thanks for bringing that up!
Angy – Totally agree – she has my dream style as well. What I wouldn’t give for that closet!
Katie – You can blame me for the errors & mistakes. I do actually copy edit all the posts but I definitely did this one in a hurry yesterday. I’ll go over it again and fix the errors. Thanks for pointing that out!
Charlene
Ah, finally, an entry I truly blindly love. This girl is amazing!!! She rocks every outfit she wears. Bravo.
Lachelle
Thanks for putting me on to this blog. Love this girl’s style! It’s great.
Sy
Wow, thanks for the link to my blog! Totally appreciated.
Candi @ Lipgloss & Lingerie
I love her style. She`s so laid back and natural looking in every outfit. So jealous. I want a pair of ripped skinnies :(
valerie
hey here’s a new blog that i want to recomend is a blog that have photos from people all over the world real people and they just take a picture of them like in they real outfits going to school, work, etc. they are their real outfits and some of them are weird but most of them are really cool
http://facehunter.blogspot.com/
Kim - Cal State
thanks valerie for the tip! i actually read facehunter a lot and you’re right, they do have a lot of cool pictures; right now i’m looking more for one blogger in general type websites, but i might feature it some time in the future!