Volume 59, Issue 11  - October 30, 2006

Fall-ing for fashion
By Marie Melendez
Staff Writer

More than a month into fall, the weather finally seems to be getting just about right.

Ladies, trade in your summer wedges for some ballerina flats; guys, lose the flip-flops and get some cool athletic footwear. It’s time to cover up!

Photos by Diego Lerma

Typically, showing up for class would mean coming in jeans and a tank or shorts and a T-shirt. Changing your look to accommodate the weather doesn’t mean you have to lose your style.

“For guys right now, it’s a lot about the hoodies, blazers and the screen Ts,” said Dee Silva, manager for the GAP store in Brownsville.

She said blazers paired up with a T-shirt and vintage-looking jeans are the combination that’s working well for men.

“I don’t really go by brands; I just go with whatever I feel comfortable in,” said sophomore biology major Edgar Garcia.

He was dressed comfortably in a tan button-down shirt over a white T-shirt, matching tan beanie, American Eagle jeans, wristbands and layered neck chains.

Staying fashionably correct isn’t limited to the student demographic.

Raul Cano, a student development specialist for the Office of Student Life, stays up to date with a hot pink Lacoste polo and Kenneth Cole gray slacks, shoes and watch.

“On the weekdays I dress up but on weekends I wear pure jeans,” Cano said. But as far as fall fashion goes, “I guess dark colors are in and long-sleeved button-down shirts, coats and suits.”

Girls, obviously, have more of a variety to choose from. The key to a great look this season is layers.

“I think the skinny black pant, lurex turtleneck, layered with a puffer vest, and ballerina flats is a great look,” Silva said. “A lot of the things that we’ve been featuring here are the leggings and the minis. … Another thing that was really huge for us was the skinny black pant, and it’s still very popular.”

Freshman Adriana Lugo pulls off the layered look with a burnt orange Banana Republic tank, topped with a beige mini-vest from Limited Too, Seven skinny jeans and Forever 21 dark silver flats.

“I have a bohemian and girly style,” Lugo said.

Layers aren’t everything, though.

Freshman communication major Eva Gabriela Duran wears a white and ivory sweater jacket from

Dillard’s, a white Calvin Klein belt neatly wrapped around dark skinny jeans from Express, and brown low-heeled pointy pumps from Dillard’s.

This is for the more casual, yet trendy, girl not looking to layer her style.

The most comfortably fashionable person dressed simply.

Freshman communication major Anai Garza had a yellow-and-white sleeved Athletica sweater over a brown T-shirt, Agaci Too jeans and Diesel athletic flats.

“I would describe my style as unique, because I like to wear bright colors, and I’m also casual,” Garza

 said.

Makeup tips for the cosmetically challenged come from Gracie Yarritu, an executive director for Mary Kay Inc. in McAllen.

“For the fall, we’re looking for a very natural, healthy look, clean and ‘luminized,’” Yarritu said.

“Luminized” is the word used by Mary Kay to describe “skin that is very attractive and brightened.”

Last season was time for smoky eyes and nude lips, but this season it’s all about subtlety, and more of a natural, healthy glow, she said.

For light skin tones “a light pink eye shadow is the hottest color with a neutral blush and a natural pink for lips.”

Medium tones “need to be a little bit darker around the eyes. … What’s really hot is a shimmery green eye shadow ‘Jungle.’ … On the blush you can go more to the pinks … and on the lips you can afford to go a little bit darker, like a chocolate, plum or an orange lip color in ‘Tiger Lily.’”

She said “darker skin tones can go with a richer chocolate eye shadow and red is just beautiful [on the lips].”

The beauty about red lipstick is that it can go with any skin color and it is always “hot.”

Safety tip with red lipstick: “Just be careful with the eyes,” Yarritu said. “You don’t want to do really heavy eyes and really red lips. If you’re going to go with the red lip color, you should do a nude type for the eyes, like just wearing a light eyeliner and heavy mascara.”