Kate Yzurdiaga

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I have lived with Kate this year and, similar to Natalie, have had the pleasure of watching her style develop over the school year. While there are definitely those stylistic stand-outs that catch my eye in an instant, there is something to be said about style that takes time to observe and understand in all of its nuances. I feel as if style in isolation can be pretty and pleasant to look at, but understanding its context and being able to see how one's personality has affected their clothing and lifestyle choices is something that I find incredibly fascinating.

And yet, the fact that I only met Kate in college leaves a void in my perception of her. For all I know, the way she dressed when I first met her last fall. I have not seen her style throughout the entirety of college and beyond, so I am left in this strange position where I wonder how she dressed in high school - has she always been as well-dressed as she is now, or did she adopt the familiar uniform of sweats and hoodies like the rest of us? I am stuck without context and can only guess.

But regardless of this fact, I have grown to appreciate Kate's style more and more - the incarnation of it that is right in front of me. I'm slowly learning why she chooses to wear high-wasted bottoms, why she is moving towards more vintage items such as her wonderfully patterned blazer, and how her flowing hair adds such a sense of vivacity to her everyday appearance. Her style is still developing, like all of ours are. Now that it is a part of my own little slice of reality, I look forward to seeing where it ends up in the future.

Natalie Orenstein's awesome.

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There are so many great things to say about Natalie Orenstein. While many of the people that I have featured in the past were previously strangers to me, I lived next to Natalie last year and still spend a good deal of time with her. So to finally be able to hear her speak about the sense of style that has caught my eye for all this time is quite exciting for me. I have seen how her style has changed since coming to college and have had the privilege of seeing her outfits day by day. It has always been another one of those little joys that one is able to look forward to.

Natalie's style is very much influenced by her having grown up in Berkeley and exploring the rest of the Bay. She was able to pick and choose small stylistic elements from the countless number of interestingly dressed people in her city; the simple act of people watching helped her to create a vast visual encyclopedia to draw from, incorporating her favorite elements into her own personal style. But I wouldn't call her style "urban" or anything nearly that generalizing. Even now, as far away from home as she is, she keeps a bit of her beloved city - and not just any city - with her in the form of a bracelet from Brazil Cafe (which serves one of the most delicious tri-tip sandwiches I've had in a long time).

But as Natalie now resides in sleepy little Claremont, away from the quirkiness of Berkeley, her ability to people watch has become a bit restricted. So instead of picking up random things from strangers as she goes about her day, she has the opportunity to become more in tune with the styles of others - to get to know the ins and outs of the way people dress, so that she can better understand the elements that she then goes on to experiment with, eventually making some form of that element her own.

It keeps her style shifting this way and that, which makes it all the more fun to see what she's wearing for the day.

Erica Reiss

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Early on in our conversation, Erica tells me that she just likes to "go with the flow." We've all heard that phrase time and time again, but it isn't until I spend time with someone like Erica that the saying really hits home. She's all smiles and laughter as I snap away with my camera, and I can easily say that she is one of the most photogenic people I have worked with. Her movements are so filled with life that it's hard not to capture something interesting with the click of the shutter.

It's this sense of vivacity that I find absolutely thrilling, and what I think shows through in her clothing. A top from her grandma's closet, Vans slip-ons that are stained from sculpting materials, and mismatched socks that work oddly well with the black and white of her shoes. Her style isn't necessarily what you may find in some editorial shoot, but it offers a peek into her personality that some incredibly well-constructed blazer ever could.