Looking Chic While Keeping it Cheap!

As we’re reaching the halfway point of the fall semester, students on the University of Kentucky’s campus are looking for ways to get the maximum amount of sleep while still keeping up with the latest beauty trends. Simple ways you can achieve this are through hair, makeup, and nails.

            Braids are an easy way to feel trendy and unique. Whether you have long or short hair, there are endless ways to create this look. While students are busy with classes and extracurricular activities, there isn’t enough time left in the day to create elaborate hairstyles. Most of us cave into taking the five seconds to throw your hair into the common ponytail because we don’t want to take the extra hour to curl it, but what is so appealing about braids, is that it is easy yet still presentable. 

        Even though the weather is getting colder, UK students are finding ways to add pops of warm and bold color through their nails. A few trends we’ve seen are shatter polish, 4-to-1 accent color, and shellac polish.  The 4-to-1 accent color trend is what we found most popular among college students because of the limited cost and easy accessibility. You can use this style all year round just by inter-changing the nail polish colors you already own. Mixing up neutrals with bold colors or glitter polish adds a statement that most people don’t expect to see.

            Living on a limited budget and hectic time schedule, it’s hard to always look your best. Integrating braids and nail trends are two simple ways to achieve a trendy yet still affordable look. You don’t have to spend a ton of money or time to still look cute going to class.

Tis the Season for Window Shopping!

            How can you quickly tell if a store has what you are looking for? By the window displays! Window displays are very important to the retail store; they are what first grabs the consumer’ attention and pulls them into the store. Window displays can make or break sales for any retail business. In this blog post we will be looking at two very different stores with two very different ideas for window displays.

          

  The first display we saw was from an adorable boutique in the heart of Lexington, Runway Couture. Runway Couture is part of a Central Business District located by DeSha’s in Victorian Square. If you haven’t been there yet, we highly recommend you check it out! This window display is very simple in its vintage styling. Vintage is taking a strong presence in fashion today, especially in boutiques, and Runway Couture does a great job of showing this in their products. The dresses are timeless classics; it’s the styling that gives the vintage feel. The props used in the windows add interest to the dresses and it’s as if they are telling a story and giving background to the dress. Keeping the window simple can be very beneficial as well. As you can see, everything from the lighting, background paint, and floor helps to keep this window display simple, even when the customer doesn’t realize it. This doesn’t distract the customer away from the intended product for sale. 

Our next shop with a great display is Inspired. Also located in Victorian Square, Inspired is a great place to go to get all your holiday decorations and other fun miscellaneous items. As you can see, their window display is ready for Halloween and is extremely busy! This catches everyone’s eye and could pull anyone into the store to see more of the Halloween excitement. Currently the store is full of unique Halloween decorations and costumes, as shown in the display. This will get every young child walking by excited, and mom will love the 50% off Halloween costumes sign shown in the display! Everyone will be tempted to see what other fun items the store has to offer. While some may think this display is a tad over the top and distracting, it really fits the vibe of the store and the customer they are trying to reach. This is very important in a window display. The display has to match the store to pull in their intended customer.

            We chose these windows because they were both fun and interesting, yet in different ways. Both stores are doing a great job attracting their unique customer through the design of their displays. Both stores also have a clear theme in mind for their displays, which is essential for not confusing the consumers. Whether your store is classic and chic or full of fun and exciting holiday accessories, your window displays have to represent that. Both Runway Couture and Inspired did an excellent job attracting their intended customer!

Collegiate Fall Style Trends

Let’s face it. The most popular kids in high school were jocks. If you didn’t play a sport, you were probably jealous of the cool kids that ruled the hallways, sporting their varsity jackets. Lucky for us, fashion recycles itself and we all can experience the awesomeness of the notorious varsity jacket as well as other collegiate pieces. This year one of the biggest trends for fall and winter has been 50s and 60s inspired collegiate clothing. The trend is more popular in menswear, but there are elements that appear in women’s clothing as well. Be warned, this isn’t a trend that’s super easy to follow. Pick the wrong shirt or tie and you could end looking more like a Frat Daddy than a stylish member of the Ivy League. This trend is all about updating classic preppy looks. Don’t worry; you don’t have to join a sports team any time soon to get this look. Everything you need to keep it old school can be found right here at our Fayette Mall.

There are a lot of places in the mall that are keeping up with this trend such as Abercrombie & Fitch. Macy’s has a great variety of Ralph Lauren collegiate menswear for anyone going for the “collegiate look.” The Ralph Lauren shirts are a different plaid with warm colors and most can be seen with the collegiate letters or numbers on the chest or on the sleeves. The key to avoid posing as a Fratstar is paying attention to detail. Brown, tan, and navy blazers are something you can wear over a collared shirt. To keep the look up to date, opt for a fitted double-breasted blazer instead of the traditional single-breasted. Also, corduroy or tweed jackets with leather patches on the elbows can be another alternative for a blazer. Don’t feel obligated to wear a tie, try a throwing a pocket square in your front packet to change it up. Feeling too fancy, huh? This is your chance to rock that sought after varsity jacket when you want a more relaxed look. And if you’re not feeling the jacket, try a cardigan featuring varsity stripes on the arm or a tennis sweater vest. Another key component to this trend is vintage embellishments such as patches and chenille letters. One of the best accessories for this trend is military watches with interchangeable straps. A solid color or wide striped tie is the perfect accessory to go with the collared shirt. Finishing it up with a pair of khaki or corduroy’s and a pair of dress shoes is the best way to complete your outfit. Dress shoes you can wear are any type of boat shoe, chukka boots, bucks/ saddles shoes, or penny loafers.  

Retail Surges Before and After Home Games

Fans come from far and wide for UK football games, but when all of these people are not tailgating, what are they doing? The answer, pretty simply, is shopping or eating (and drinking). Retail stores and restaurants experience huge retail surges on game days, this is because people from out of town come to Lexington to see the Wildcats play and then want to spend their time here wisely. Most UK fans do not have the retail options that Lexington has in their hometowns and (especially during the holiday season) want to get some shopping done while they are in town. So they head to Fayette Mall or Hamburg before night games and after morning games. Retail stores recognize this and actually schedule employees and sales around the football schedule.

The Big Blue Nation is not always shopping, however. Whether or not our team wins or loses, every fan wants to celebrate (or mourn) with some food and drinks! Places on campus, such as Hugh Jass and Tin Roof, are great places for local fans to go. Often times, the restaurants on the outbound roads in Lexington see the most traffic after games. Harry's and Drake's, which are off campus, see a huge rush after games. Both are adorned with TVs recapping the game's highlights. Cocktail servers are dressed in their UK best as they serve UK fans appetizers and drinks. On a typical Saturday, fans of all teams fill Harry's eating and cheering on their favorite time on one of the many TVs. The party can last throughout the night (well, at least until Harry's closes at 1 am). Overall, UK fans want to gather together after the game, share some food, and recall the game in a fun and upbeat environment.