By Lauren Zazzara
Staff Writer
Midterm break is finally here, and we all deserve a few days to unwind, eat home-cooked meals and sleep in our own beds. But break is also a good opportunity to change up your school closet to get ready for the colder days ahead. Here are my tips for what to take home and what to bring back to prepare for the fall and winter.
1. Don’t take back all of your tank tops and shorts. By all means, if it’s a super sheer top that will let all of the brisk air get through, or if they are shorts that are pretty short, take them home. But I like to keep thicker tank tops or crop tops with me through the whole year so that I can layer cardigans and jackets over them on cold days. And I love the way a vintage-inspired pair of high-waisted shorts look with a pair of opaque tights, a warm sweater and a pair of boots. Look at your summer items, figure out which ones can be used for winter outfits, and keep those pieces here.
2. Invest in some tights and stockings and bring them back to school. It can be easy to use the excuse that it is too cold to dress nice when it starts snowing. But tights can help keep heat on your legs when you want to wear a dress or skirt. Some stores offer fleece-lined tights to keep you even toastier. Black is always a good route to take, but patterned tights and tights in autumnal colors like navy, maroon and plum are unexpected and fun. I also love gray and brown for neutrals.
3. Switch out your summer shoes. This is an obvious hint, but you don’t need to just have boots at school for the winter. Anything open-toed should definitely go back (unless you want to go for the socks-and-Birkenstocks look that has been trendy the past few months, in which case I say go for it), but keep some flats and sneakers here. They look great with tights, leggings, or jeans, and though they aren’t as warm as boots, they can still work for milder days.
4. Go thrifting. Break is a great time to hit the thrift stores, because this is the point in the year when they will begin stocking sweaters. Thrift stores are great for buying sweaters because you can get great quality (thick wool that will actually keep you warm, unlike what is sold in many stores for our age group) for under ten dollars.
5. Bring back festive décor. A non-fashion tip: A great way to embrace the cold weather is to put hints of the season in your room. You can make a garland of leaves to string along the head board of your bed, pick up mini pumpkins and gourds at a farm or grocery store, pick up some electric tea-light candles (they are just a few dollars at Target or the Dollar Store) or bring back some boxes of tea bags to brew. I also like to get the window stickers for Halloween for a fun touch.
I hope these tips help relieve the stress that comes with packing to go home and packing to come back to school. Unfortunately, we must now come to terms with the fact that seeing our breath in the mornings and constantly shivering is in the near future. Have a great break!
Zazzarlm13@bonaventure.edu
