Cletus here, fashion connoisseur and thrift specialist from the blog Styled by Cletus. Last week, The Spectrum put out a call on Facebook for any UB students who wanted to nominate themselves or nominate a friend for a style makeover.
Sunday, I had the pleasure of taking two lucky winners, selected from numerous responses, thrifting to makeover their wardrobe.
We filmed the whole experience and you can check it out on ubspectrum.com.
Caleb Vaughn, a senior business management major, and Krithika Rana, a graduate mechanical engineering major, were selected as the winners of The Spectrum’s style makeover contest. They both felt they needed a wardrobe change that would be appropriate for their desired professional careers.
Caleb said he liked the comfort of his urban, everyday style but had trouble selecting dapper and professional clothing. In the business profession, everyone is dressed a certain way and representation is equally important as actual knowledge. Caleb needed help.
Krithika wanted a change in the way she dressed. She said that her style is boring and ‘blah’ and that it needed to change. She desired more professional clothing because she will be graduating and on the job market searching for employment soon.
Dressing Krithika wasn’t hard. I think women innately know what they want and have a larger variety of clothing and patterns. I found a variety of suits and blouses for her everyday use in the office. She said she was tired of mundane outfits, so I chose colors she would feel comfortable in and actually like. She loved the pink suit with a cream blouse and the purple suit with a lavender blouse. She also had her eye on a nice black and white over coat with a suave checkered pattern. Her outfits altogether totaled under $35 – not bad for two suits, two blouses and an overcoat that took less than two minutes to find.
Dressing Caleb was more of a challenge because men’s clothing comes in set sizes that not every man fits in. One could wear a pair of pants that are a 34 waist and 30 length, but try on that size and have the pants be way shorter or longer than expected. The size of the clothing also depends on the look you’re trying to achieve.
Caleb’s preference was to go against the grain when it came to colors and patterns, but he still wanted the outfit as a whole to flow. He had no preference between a blazer and overcoat, but with the weather changing, I selected an overcoat for him.
After an hour of selecting and dropping pants that didn’t fit correctly, I found some slim fit black dress pants for $5. I knew Caleb would definitely need new shoes, so we found a pair of brown loafers suitable for any occasion for $10. I added a red corduroy shirt that gave this outfit some color, a black tie to unite the pants and shirt and an overcoat to make the brown not stand out. He got his wish of going against the norm and had a complete outfit for less than $55.
Both Krishika and Caleb were happy with the choices I picked out. I made sure Caleb had essentials that he would need for his closet in general. An overcoat is necessary for the fall and black dress pants, brown or black dress shoes and a black tie are musts for every man’s closet.
Krithika was satisfied with the outfits that she gained but was happier to learn how to shop smart. She was ready go on a shopping spree when she saw the prices.
To follow my fashion journey, follow me on Instagram @Cletus_RealTalk or check out my ‘I am Cletus’ page on Facebook.
email: features@ubspectrum.com
Photo: Courtesy of UB Blueprint
