Kristen Campbell

My Paved Runway - Kristen Campbell

Bright colours from head to toe and mementos as accessories, this teacher in the making won't be your typical high school prof.

Kristen Campbell photo


Who: Kristen Campbell, 19, Student

Spotted: Yonge and Dundas

How would you describe your style?
It's all over the place. I like mixing feminine things with harder things. I love moccasins and leather boots and I have my mom's leather coat. During school I'm mostly in over-sized sweaters and scarves. Today I'm a little more dressed up but I love coloured hot-pants and things that are tight on the bottom and loose on the top.

What are you wearing now?
I'm pretty much Urban Outfitters. [The bracelet] is from a little boutique in downtown Waterloo. I have my class ring and my mom's grade eight grad ring. I like to wear my clothes for as long as I can before they get busted out. I mostly just pick up anything that's bright and different.

I enjoy bright things as well.
I don't like wearing just normal jeans. I'm a skinny pant/hot pant person, slash tights, slash coloured socks, slash never-matching socks.

What are some of your favourite stores in Toronto?
I like American Apparel. Urban Outfitters is of obviously my favourite but I can't really afford everything there all the time. I love accessories at H&M. I got a few preppy things from Hollister so I like mixing that with things I already have.

Preppy seems to be in for fall, do you think you'll follow that "prep school" trend?
One of the main items I wanted to pick up [for fall] was a leather jacket. I love the idea of mixing moccasins or frilly boots with a black leather bomber and putting in a bright preppy colour underneath. Maybe something by Lacoste but I can't afford that either! So, I decided to go to Hollister and get my own take on it.

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You clearly love to follow fashion trends, are you still able to find a balance so you don't lose your own style?
I try to incorporate my own style. I still wear so many things from other seasons so I try to take my own interpretation of everything. I would obviously love to wear certain trends from every season, like Marc Jacobs is my favourite designer but I can't afford it so I just try to mix things I already have and equate it with this season. At the same time I'm not too stuck on the trends because then you'd never have anything to wear because you wouldn't be able to wear it the next season! You just have to do what you feel and not take fashion too seriously.

Five to ten years ago, what did you dress like?
I only wore dresses. I would not wear pants and I hated socks. If my mom tried to put them on me I threw them out. It was mostly floral and mainly what my mom dressed me up in. At that time I also had a bowl cut like my brother so I was kind of masculine and feminine. I was also a really lanky, awkward kid, so I would wear dresses to overcompensate for that somehow. In a lot of ways, that mentality sort of stuck with me.

Do you think there's an age limit to wearing a bright colour pallet?
Not at all. Even if you're working in a dead-end office job or doing something really lame you can still incorporate something like a bright scarf. Something to keep you young because life's too short to dress like a prude. I think it's lame if you try to change yourself or you try to inhibit your own spirit. Especially as a student, nobody has any expectations of me.

When you get into the working world, do you think your style will change?
I want to be a high school teacher. I'm in English and History right now so I think those are subjects that you can afford to be a crazy looking teacher. Obviously I'll have to be a little more conservative but I'm going to try and not take it all too seriously.


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