Loafers

You've probably seen a thousand posts by now about how loafers are THE footwear for fall. Move over, riding boots! I feel like loafers have been a fall staple for a few seasons now. This season, however, they seen to be less traditional and more fun!

Loafers by preppypremed featuring small heels

Though tons of stores seem to be selling loafers, Gap has some of the most unique and affordable ones I've seen. If you're looking for a pair that will last a few seasons, J.Crew has tons including the heeled loafer pictured here. Finally, stores like J.C. Penny sell your basic penny loafers (shown here in brown) for good prices.

Traditional loafers look great with your old standby of skinny jeans, blazers and Oxford shirts, but I tried to step out of my comfort zone a bit and create outfits a little more fun. Here they are!

Loafers: Movie Night with Friends by preppypremed featuring genuine leather handbags

The idea with this outfit is that you use your favorite accessories with the pink loafers to make an otherwise boring outfit fun. Choose your big chunky purse, lucky necklace, favorite pair of jeans and parka for a late-night moving outing with friends, then add the pink loafers to spice things up a bit.

Loafers: Fall Day by preppypremed featuring a studded satchel

Gap has all the credit for this outfit--it's featured prominently on its webpage--but I just made a few substitutions, like adding in the brown satchel and J.Crew striped tee for an ultra schoolboy look.

Loafers: Colors and Polka Dots by preppypremed featuring sequin tops

Probably the most "out-there" outfit, but the most fun! The polka-dot loafers give you an excuse to wear color deep into fall, especially in the form of colored jeans. Even a plain white shirt would look great with the yellow pants and polka-dot loafers.

Are you buying any loafers this season?

Scarves: An Overview

Well, it's that time again, everyone, whether you like it or not. It's time for fall and winter. I don't know about where you live, but here in Chicago every single girl has a whole drawer of scarves to wear during the school year. Half of them can be worn before temperatures get too cold as a fashion statement, and the rest are merely there for survival! Clearly, a scarf is a Chicago staple, and here is a quick overview of some of my favorites.

Scarves by preppypremed featuring infinity scarves

The scarves at the top are more "fashionable" scarfs that you could wear with your outfit, and the bottom scarves are to wear on those cold days over your jacket.

Starting from upper left corner and going clockwise:

1. Lilly Pulitzer Murfee Scarf (specific color no longer available)
2. Modcloth "The Height of Style" scarf and H&M Satin Scarf
3. H&M Scarf in Coral
4. Forever 21 Fringe Cable Knit Scarf
5. Burberry Scarf (I buy knock-off, look-a-like ones at the mall for $10!)
6. H&M Tube Scarf

Do any of you have any cute scarves I should know about?

First Week of Junior Year

So how's the beginning of everyone's fall going? Well, I survived my first full week of school...and it's been filled with quite a cast of characters.

Via Amazon

My physics teacher is a Grammy award-winning singer.

My theology teacher is really young and encourages us to follow him on Twitter (when you picture theology, don't you picture an old, bald priest being the teacher?) These are real Rate My Professor reviews of him.

Jim Wand

Via

I met a real-live hypnotist on Friday as part of being a leader for the freshman Welcome Week events. No, I did not let myself get hypnotized...I don't want to make a fool of myself in front of 800 freshman, thank you very much!

Source: imgfave.com via Becky on Pinterest

And my friends. I missed them so much this summer! The hard part of college is that your best friends most likely come from separate parts of the country or, in my case, the globe! Two of my roommates hail from Michigan, but the third is from Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. And she spent the summer in Canada! I don't have any good pics of us all together from this year yet, but I will soon.

Hope everyone is having a great holiday weekend! Enjoy the last days of summer.

--Becky

Emergency Backpack Kit + Pencil Pouch Organization

Remember when I posted about what I carry around in my backpack? Well, if you thought I was obsessive-compulsive then, wait until I show you my Emergency Backpack Kit. 

What is it? A makeup bag that I fill up with all the essentials you never know if you'll need or not while in class, at the library or at work. Yes, it's a little intense, but at least I'm always prepared!

Emergency Backpack Kit by preppypremed featuring a lip treatment

The essentials:

• Makeup bag to hold it all
• Mini stapler
• Mini comb and mirror (the Chicago wind kills  my hair!)
• Hair ties: I'm loving the satin hair ties that are all the rage.
• Pencil sharpener
• Lipgloss
• Scrap paper
• Post-it Notes
• Lip Balm: My favorite is Burt's Bees
• White-out
• Aspirin/Advil
• Bandaid
• Calculator
• Extra erasers
• Gum
• Hand lotion and sanitizer: I love Bath and Body Works products, such as this Shea Cashmere lotion and their Pocket Bacs. They're perfect for winter!

To finish out the school supply posts, I also wanted to share with you what I put in my pencil pouch. It's pretty simple, but it does the trick!

Pencil Pouch Organization by preppypremed on Polyvore

The essentials:

• Pencil pouch: I'm in love with FallInDesign's pencil pouch here, but usually I just get slider pencil cases. They're only $.69 at Target!

• Pencils: I never was a fan of mechanical pencils. So my pick? Dixon Ticonderoga pencils.

• Colorful pens: Besides having your basic black and blue pens, I also use a few different colored ones to color-code my assignments and such

• Highlighters: You've got to get Tul highlighters! I got them in my Christmas stocking last year and I love them. They're long-lasting, unlike some of the cheaper highlighters I've used.

• Post-It Tabs: Definitely necessary to mark your place in one of your huge textbooks.

And this ends the back to school posts! Whew.

Did I miss anything? What are some of your school essentials?

Back to School Shopping List

Since summer is wrapping up, I decided to make a "back to school" list featuring items that I've talked about in the past few weeks. Even if you're not going back to school, fall is a great time to buy a few new items.

Back to School Shopping Essentials by preppypremed featuring statement necklaces

Links go to previous posts where the products are talked about in-depth

1. Oxford Shirts

2. New stud earrings (featured: Kate Spade "Putting on the Ritz" Stud Earrings)

3. Ballet flats

4. Statement necklaces

5. Long-sleeve tees and chunky sweaters

6. Trench coat

7. Planner (featured: Lilly Pulitzer Large Agenda "Give Me Some Leg")

8. Blazer

9. Wristlet (featured: Vera Bradley All-In-One Wristlet)

10. Skinny Jeans

Are you all stocking up for the new season?

College Binder Organization

Last week I wrote about backpack essentials so, to go with the "Back to School" theme, I wanted to share with you how I organize my binders at school.

I've tried all different ways to take notes during college. What I've finally settled with is using binders to keep track of all my handouts/papers and to do practice problems in. For taking notes, I use my computer and put the notes in separate folders according to subject.

Just because you have to carry a binder around doesn't mean it can't be cute! Also, by organizing a little bit, you can make your binders functional to fit your needs. Here are some of my binder tips:

Binder Tips by preppypremed on Polyvore

A little more explanation:

1. I have a binder for my M/W/F and T/Th classes. That way I'm (hopefully) only carrying around one binder per day. Maybe at night when I go the library I'll have to bring both with me, but two binders is pretty light considering I used to make a binder for each subject.

2. I use binder dividers such as these to divide the binders into a sections for each class. In each section I put a folder and filter paper.

3. I make a LOT of notecards to study for quizzes and tests, so I need a way to store them. I use a pencil pouch inside the binders to store notecards. Otherwise I lose so many notecards inside of my backpack.

4. Finally, I personalize the front of my binders by printing out pics from the internet or making a picture collage. This year, I followed The Pink and Green Prep's tutorial to make the following binders:

What do you all think? Do you have any tips for school organization?

Fall 2012 Outfits, Pt. 2

I promised a second part to this series, and here it is! Using some of the staples I talked about in this previous post, I created some fall outfits for the earlier days of the season, such as September and early October.

Fall 2012 Outfits, pt. 2 by preppypremed featuring forever 21 jewelry

Information about the shirts and jewelry can be found here, whereas the shoes, pants, and jackets can all be found in this post.

A few quick words:

• I think Oxford shirts are perfect for the beginning of fall. When it gets a little chilly, just put on a blazer or trench coat for a polished look.

• I like these lighter colors for the beginning of fall, where I'm still mourning the loss of summer (sorry, didn't mean that to be as dramatic as it sounds!). Use a white, summery shirt (such as the lace tee pictured here) and turn it into a fall look with jeans, flats, and a cardigan or blazer.

• You can also wear your floral necklaces well into the season. Just pair them with some fall essentials and you're good to go!

• Though I pictured the same pair of jeans here, straight jeans would go well with the loafers and a darker pair could be substituted for many of these outfits to give them a more formal look.

What are all of your fall essentials? Are you ready for fall yet? (Because I am!)

Fall 2012 Outfits, Pt. 1

Since I previously posted about some cute fall tops I want to buy, I thought that I needed to incorporate those shirts into full outfits. Like I said before, I like to buy a few staple items (like a trench coast, for example) and use them for multiple outfits. Here we go!

Fall 2012 Outfits, pt 1 by preppypremed featuring a cable knit sweater

For information about the tops and necklaces, check out this previous post.

These are some outfits more suitable for the later days of fall, such as the middle of October to Thanksgiving.

Jackets


--H&M trench coat from 2 years ago:they come out with a new trench coat every year, and I find that they're usually inexpensive and are of a good quality

--Blazer: I'm eyeing this one from H&M. I like how it's fitted but still has that "boyfriend blazer" look about it

Shoes


--Ballet flats: as I've mentioned in a previous post, I'm heading to Gap for their cute ballet flats this year. I already own two pairs of black flats, which I bought either at DSW or Payless.

--Loafers: these are a pair of shoes I bought a long time ago but never wore! Now that they're back in style, I'd recommend Bass footwear if you want a high-quality pair.


--Boots: brown boots are perfect for early fall, but once we get into November and December black boots are all the rage. Since I'm on a college budget, I'm buying all my boots from DSW. They have some great deals.

Jeans


--Skinny jeans: Since high school I've been buying all my jeans from Levi's at Kohls. It seems like Kohls almost gives away the money with all the coupons they keep handing out! With the loafers, perhaps a pair of straight-legged jeans would be more suitable.

--Colored denim: Though I bought the blue pants (leftmost outfit) at H&M last spring, Gap has some colored jeans that are the same color but a little bit more structured. You can check them out here.

Part 2, featuring outfits for the beginning of fall (yes, I know, I didn't do this in order...) is coming soon!

8 Tops Perfect for Fall

I know, I know...it feels like summer just started, and yet I'm about a month away from starting the fall semester. There is something to look forward to about fall, though: in my opinion, fall clothes are the best! Being able to go to class wearing my blazer or trench coat, switching up my ballet flats day after day, still being able to wear lighter colors...yep, fall is definitely my favorite season, clothing-wise.

I've checked out some fall tops that are starting to roll in. In this post I introduce my favorite tops and necklaces to you. Check out the full outfits in a future post!

I'm all about reusing the pieces I buy for multiple outfits, so here I show you how I would wear statement necklaces in different ways.

Fall Tops 2012 by preppypremed featuring j. crew jewelry

Starting from the upper left and going clockwise:

1. J.Crew Painter Boatneck Tee in "Romance Pink" with a J.Crew Bubble Necklace in "Navy" (similar necklaces can be found on Etsy for a great price)

2. H&M Cable-Knit Sweater  in "Coral" with a Forever 21 Shine Long Cluster Necklace

3. H&M Sweater in "Cerise" with a J.Crew Bubble Necklace in "Navy"

4. H&M Sweater in "Mustard Yellow" with a Forever 21 Elephant Pendant Necklace

5. J.Crew Painter Boatneck Tee in "White" with a Forever 21 Painted Flower Necklace

6. H&M Top in "Natural White" with a Forever 21 Rhinestone Flower Necklace (sold out)

7. H&M Shirt in "Light Blue" with a Forever 21 Shine Long Cluster Necklace

8. H&M Shirt in "Pink/Checkered" with a Forever 21 Rhinestone Flower Necklace (sold out)

Have you all started planning your fall wardrobes yet?

Prep for Less: Red Ballet Flats

Flats are always a fall essential, at least for me. This year, I think ballet flats specifically will be big. They're casual, comfortable, feminine and are perfect to wear with skinny jeans or boyfriend jeans.

Via

That said, I'm obsessed with Tory Burch's new ballet flats for summer, the Chelsea ballet flat. It comes in a jade, black, mustard yellow and, my favorite, scarlet red. What I love most about these shoes is the little charm that comes attached to the laces. Still, are they worth the $178? Here are some similar ballet flats that I found:

Tory Burch: Chelsea Ballet Flats in Scarlet Red


J.Crew: Classic Leather Ballet Flats in Poppy


Gap: Leather Ballet Flats in Tomato


Old Navy: Women's Bow-Tie Ballet Flats in Red

I think the Gap version has to be my favorite. But what do I do about that charm that I loved so much on theTory Burch Chelsea flats?

Via

Many shops on Etsy sell personalized gold disks to go on charm bracelets, such as Stellar Light Jewelry, pictured here. I would buy a small gold disk with my initial on it, tie it onto the shoelaces, and viola! You've got yourself some blinged-out pair of ballet flats.

If I end up trying this, I'll let you all know. What's your favorite footwear for fall?