Student Style Spotlight: Riley Connell

Story by Rachel Bednarz, photos courtesy of Riley Connell

Central Michigan University’s campus is full of people who use their style to express themselves, and freshman Riley Connell does just that. Using styles from the past with a modern flare, she announces her personality the second she enters a room.

Connell is a journalism major from St. Clair Shores and describes her style as “feminine but edgy”.

“A lot of [my style] comes from the music style that I like,” says Connell. “What those music artists wear, I kind of take inspiration from them.”

She gets inspiration from popular music artists such as Debbie Harry from Blondie and old school Gwen Stefani.

Connell also finds fashion inspiration on Pintrest and gets some from her mother. After all, moms really are always right.

“I find so many good deals at salvation army and just really cool name brand stuff for a really good price and you can find stuff in really good condition,” Connell says.

 

She creates her looks by shopping at a variety of stores. Among her top three are H&M, Salvation Army and Lost and Found.

Lost and Found is a vintage resale store that labels their clothing based on what decade it’s from. Connell likes to shop there because their clothes are specific and unique.

While Lost and Found keeps her style looking retro and edgy, H&M helps Connell stay modern at the same time. She says that H&M can be tricky when it comes to sizing, even for an average sized person. Despite this, Connell keeps going back because they stay on trend.

Sometimes, the best finds aren’t at the main stream stores. It just takes a little patience in a vintage or thrift store to find the perfect addition to your wardrobe.