Esoteric: Dedicated to the girl who loves horses

I enjoy being a pioneer as much as Fayettevillemandy enjoyed learning about them as a ten-year-old tomboy (she admitted to me over our romantic Valentine's Day dinner that these two phases did in fact coincide). Pioneer meaning an admitted trailblazer within the Business and Enterprise Management major. Me creating my own concentration basically translated to, "Yes, bitches, I'm serious about this being a viable career." Whether it's merchandising, buying and planning/allocation or brand management, by conducting my own time-consuming research and reaching out to those far more educated than myself, I've learned a shit ton about the fashion industry and the careers that lie within. That being said, as the second half of OB has taught me, it's now my turn to step into the mentoring cycle to provide knowledge to my own little minions of fashion within business. Exhibit A: Raquel Scharyj.

Oh, herrrrrrro.

I seriously applaud Raquel's willingness to wear six-inch heels to finance class (in B-02, of course-- the practicality factor of Murphy's Law), as well as her effortless employment of my two most essential philosophies: balance and layering. From the scarf over sweater over dress top-half to the just-above-ankle socks / cognac footwear contrast, it's as if all my principles have come together before my eyes in a single cohesive form, a stylistic execution that approximately 98.27435% of girls at Wake Forest have yet to learn. And from the trials of Theresa Breitton, we all know just how damn comfortable these Aldo oxfords are... naaahhhhttt. So let us raise our glasses to the future fashion trailblazers of Kirby Hall, and wish Raquel well on the final half of her semester before she begins a kick-ass internship at Oscar de la Renta in the greatest city in the world.

Scarf: (Roman street vendor)

Cardigan: Urban Outfitters

Belt: Comptoir de Cotonniers

Dress: Splendid

Socks: (own)

Shoes: FORNILI, Aldo

Wait. Jungle king. I'm totally not done. Aldo's shoe collection for Spring is quite good, minus those few bad apples, notably these and these... just no. Also, while imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, trying to overtly channel the one and only Jeffrey Campbell does not earn Aldo cool points. Stowing the negativity away for just two seconds, here are a few of my favorites.