Pieces from Home (24/25)
Our new executive committee has been eagerly planning in anticipation of another year to documenting the style of incoming and seasoned St Andrews students. While this year we have our ambitions on creating lots of fresh events and partnerships, we thought we would bring back an older practice as well. To introduce the committee, each member has been tasked with choosing their favorite pieces from the summer to share with you.
Ella Huang - Director
To Wear Reminders
This summer has held one key difference to my past. It is possibly my final real summer, the last time the lurking late August chill will signal a return to academic endeavors as I enter my last year of Uni. To combat this vast chasm – road if you’re optimistic – of possibilities ahead, I have taken up many hobbies alongside interning for an art gallery near my hometown in New Jersey. The ‘jorts’ and tees for ceramics, athletics for pilates, and lounge clothes for reading have unsurprisingly, have not lent much fashionable wiggle room and so it is during events for the gallery and reunion meals with hometown friends that I showcase my favorite pieces.
By far the star of this summer has been my heeled Mary Janes. Sightings of the 2024 graduating class in June urged me to find the perfect, dress code adherent shoe ahead of time. Sezanne is most popular for their simple and quality sweaters but their shoes are a secret holy grail. These Janes have appeared at gallery openings paired with a lightweight black linen dress, casual dinner and drinks with jeans and a summery top, and even with a slip dress on a night out in New York. The block heel provides stability while the squarish round toe and thin buckle double straps are chic and timeless. I’ve been stopped upwards of five times in these shoes just this summer and cannot recommend them enough. Maybe just don’t get the exact same ones… at least not until after I’ve left St Andrews.
The runner up of the summer is my Popo’s (grandmother’s) hand beaded purse. I find that the need to carry lots of things diminishes in the summer and so the compact thinness is perfect. With its intricately beautiful designs, this purse has been my go to for adding something fun. My Popo acquired the bag years ago as a thank you for mending a long moved away neighbor’s shirt. Wearing the bag reminds me to pack lightly and give generously. The shoes though are for optimism, to help make the road ahead seem more walkable or, at the very least, more stylish.
Charlotte El Hage - Co-Creative Director
My Provencial Summer Uniform
My Summer is a time for catching up with old friends, traveling, creating art and reading. At home, in London, my day is packed with coffee catch ups, sunsets over a pint at the pub with a group of friends, hosting dinner parties with old school friends and wandering around the city and its neighbourhoods that I adore so much. I aim for my summers to be spontaneous and carefree, however this can be quite difficult when I spend most of June and July going on girls trips and traveling around Europe with friends, working at my local pub and trying to catch up with as many old friends as possible. My days are often jam packed and I rarely get time to chill at home.
However, the one constant in my summer is always my Augusts which I spend in my house in Provence in the south of France. This corner of the world is truly my version of paradise on earth where I can relax and escape the exciting chaos of London. This is when my fashion is heavily influenced by the heat, vibrant nature of the countryside and my laid-back lifestyle. The constant warm sun slowly bronzes my skin creating the perfect tan lines thanks to my white triangular shaped bikini that I will wear all day as I lounge by the pool, listen to my summer playlist and read cute romance books. I believe that a book is the perfect accessory to any outfit and the summer is when I indulge in my rom-coms and fantasy stories allowing me to peacefully escape into another world. I am in a trance of contentment and peace in this state.
Once the sun sets and it’s time for an outfit change into my perfect summer dress for dinners with family friends in the region. I love my white babydoll dress as it flows around my body perfectly and compliments my chilled mood yet it is dressed up paired with my red velvet Spanish flats. This is the perfect uniform for drinking lots of local rosé and eating endless amounts of fresh bread and cheese from the nearby town boulangerie. I have worn my red shoes the whole summer as I have discovered that they go with everything because you can never go wrong with a pop of red no matter how basic or colourful your outfit is! I also treasure my Folklore cardigan (the album of which makes a very frequent appearance on my summer playlist) and take any opportunity to wrap it around myself as soon as the temperature drops when the sun goes down. It is the perfect accompaniment to an evening watching the moon rise under the stars.
Diana Seo - Co-Creative Director
Seoul, my summer home
Although I am from Seoul, it’s been 8 years since it has been my home only for the summer. I only really go back home during summer since I began to live in the UK from young age, and so my summer outfits, fashion, and items became very special to me. I always think fashion in Seoul is minimalistic and simple but also stylish and trend sensitive. My blue skirt really shows the trend in Korea right now, low-rise, platted skirt that covers your knee slightly. I usually match it with either a white shirt or tank top that highlights the red numbers on the skirt vividly. I’ve also worn these green adidas sambas a lot. They are the perfect item to give some variation to the outfit, especially if you are going for a monochromatic colour scheme. My green rings, all from Scotland, Spain, and South Korea, also match the shoes very well whilst showing my diverse self within my clothes and accessories. Lastly, I have been exploring Seoul myself a lot this week, and this black Tory Burch bag became my best friend, the perfect size for both heavier packing and lighter packing.
Jacqueline Schroeder - Blog Editor-in-Chief
Jersey Girl Summer
For me, being home means really relaxing my style choices. As a proud Jersey girl and suburbanite, athleisure will always hold a special place in my heart— namely the Aritzia flare jumpsuit. I have four of them in different colors and necklines ensuring I don’t run out, and if that dire situation does present itself, I switch to my flare leggings and tank top (also from Aritzia). Most often I accompany these jumpsuits with my Birkenstocks and I dress the outfit up with accessories. With my summer tan, I tend to lean more towards gold than silver jewelry as I usually would in other seasons and I wear a huge pair of sunglasses that are actually from the Dollar Tree (but surprisingly cute) and my black Zadig purse. In my purse I keep all of the essentials— a matching wallet, Summer Fridays lip balm, Tide wipes, grippy pilates socks, and a Touchland hand sanitizer. I have also been really into reformer pilates and figure skating this summer which probably plays a part in this choice of attire. When I’m not in Jersey, I’m up in Lake Placid with family and friends which has forced two more essentials for this and pretty much every summer since we’ve had the lake house: my MZ Wallace Weekender in blue camo print (this forces me to condense my packing) and my bedazzled digital camera with an accompanying lighting adapter which I use to take photos of the gorgeous landscapes and download immediately.
As summer comes to a close, I‘m excited to catch its last few moments on Castle Sands touching up my tan (or at least attempting to) and cold plunging in the sea. With that being said, I also can’t wait for my favorite season, Fall, to creep back in and watch the foliage of the Medieval History building’s garden transition out of my living room window. More than anything though, I am certainly ready to trade in my jumpsuit for leather, denim, and a pop of red while I savor every moment of my final year as an undergraduate.
Emma Brown - Social Media Executive
I am, admittedly, not the most fashionable person over the summer. It is suffocatingly hot and humid in Virginia (they call DC ‘the swamp’ for a reason), so my summer wardrobe is catered towards staying cool. I spent most of my days alternating between pilates and the gym, so my wardrobe is heavy on black athletic wear. I own a few versions of a pair of shorts and a sports-bra top from Athleta that I practically live in. I have a pair of purple Hoka running shoes that I wear religiously. At home, I lounged in cotton shorts and oversized t-shirts while I spent my time re-reading favorite novels and helping my sister pack for her freshman year at college. I resumed my part-time job at Anthropologie so consequently, most of my wardrobe that isn’t athletic clothes is dresses, skirts, blouses, etc. from work. I ended up wearing a mishmash of layers (it’s warm up front by the windows but freezing in the dressing room) and shoes that I can stand in for five hours (Autry sneakers or a pair of well-loved sandals). I like to keep mints on me at work, so I prioritized pockets which I discovered my clothing had very few: I ended up re-wearing my navy blue linen Reformation set that has pockets in the skirt. Early in the summer I bought a tan blazer from Loft that I wore often, a convenient layer (with pockets!) since I had left all my other sweaters and blazers back at school.
I spent our yearly two week Fourth of July beach trip in the Bahamas, living in bikini tops and shorts. My swimsuits are a mix of black and blue from Vitamin C, Peony, and J. Crew. I bought a gauzy black dress from Anthropologie that served as the perfect cover up for lounging by the pool or running out to a café for lunch.
Regardless of where I’m going, I don’t leave the house without a purse, which this summer has remained a vintage Coach sufflette bag that I bought during October break in Notting Hill. It fits my phone and a coin purse stuffed with lip gloss, Advil, some cash, a stray eyeliner, hair ties, a solid Diptyque perfume, my Airpods, and a lot of other undoubtedly handy things. When I drive, I like to wear a pair of cat-eye sunglasses that I bought first year at the & Other Stories in Edinburgh. I live in my jewelry because I don’t remember to take it off and put it back on, so my ruby necklace and an assortment of silver and gold earrings are a permanent fixture. I wear a silver watch to work but otherwise I don’t bother with anything else.
As the school year comes back around, I look forward to returning to the curated wardrobe I’ve developed for Scotland. The cold months of the school year are undoubtedly less pleasant, but open up more room for me to experiment with my clothing.
Ilaria Freccia - Fundraising Coordinator
Summer of Moments
Home, and my personal style, are inextricably linked. From how I accessorise to what I carry in my bag, it all comes together to make me. Hailing from the San Francisco Bay Area I’m used to weather that is, albeit warmer than Scotland, known for its dramatic swings from freezing cold and foggy to sunny and warm, I’ve become quite the pro at layering. My leather jacket, a Christmas gift following a trip to New York City, has been my go-to for years. Warm, comfortable, and chic, It’s perfect with anything from a pair of jeans to a sundress. Alongside my leather jacket, I’ve featured some of my favourite jewellery; collected from travels around the world, inherited from my mom, or purchased by me from consignment or local shops. This year, my berry-coloured lip oil has been my go-to with any outfit. The perfect pop of colour and lasting all day, it’s my favourite accessory. Talking pocket litter, there are two items that I try to have on me at all times — my journal and my film camera, inherited from my grandfather. I love capturing memories and moments and these two help make that happen.
