By Natalie Camrud ‘17 & Diva Gattani ‘17
Fashion Columnists

Maddie Wilson
Hometown: Chicago, IL
Year: 2018

THE SCRIPPS VOICE: How/When did you become interested in fashion?

MADDIE WILSON: My mom has always had incredible style. When I was six, I would always go into her closet and imagine what it would be like to wear every piece of clothing she owned. Whenever she would take me to the playground, I would wear pink tutus and multicolored leggings, and she wouldn’t even bat an eye. From a young age, she let me define what fashion meant to me, and let me explore the creative side of fashion on my own terms. In middle school, I really started coming into my own, and my style started to evolve. I dressed differently than my peers did; I was different, but that didn’t bother me at all. By ninth grade, I was obsessed with fashion; I would read fashion magazine after fashion magazine, and eventually started my own fashion blog. Since then, I have continued to devour anything and everything fashion related.  
 
TSV: How did misfit start?

MW: A good friend of mine messaged me over the summer, and we started talking about the possibility of creating an on-campus fashion blog. We both share a deep love and appreciation for fashion, and wanted to bring our knowledge of fashion to the 5Cs — something that had never been done before on campus. We quickly began brainstorming blog name ideas, and a couple weeks later, the word “misfit” popped into my head. It’s a simple word, but it had a catch to it… an edge that I loved. Shortly after school started, my friend and I started to recruit staff writers through Facebook, by posting a brief summary of who we were and our overall goal for what we wanted our blog to be. Once we were satisfied with the amount of staff writers on our team, we started to hold meetings and build our website from the ground up. Ever since then, we have gotten such good reception from our readers, and we are constantly in awe of how talented and knowledgeable our staff writers are about the ins and outs of style and more importantly, fashion.

Unfortunately, my friend is no longer running misfit with me, but he was wonderful to work with and taught me about areas of fashion that I hadn’t yet explored, and I am very grateful for that. Currently, my good friend, Marielle Meyer (PZ ’18) is my Co-Editor-in-Chief for misfit, and we are in the process of making some big changes, so stay tuned. We are very excited for what is to come of the blog in the future.

TSV: If there is one aspect of the fashion industry you could change what would it be?

MW: While there are many glamorous aspects of the fashion industry, there is one thing that I have consistently had a problem with: body image. For years, the industry has seemed to teach models that their body measurements, and the way they walk down the runway can make or break their chance at succeeding. Too often, young women in the industry shrink under the insecurity and pressure to maintain an ideal that isn’t realistic for their own bodies, especially as they mature. There seems to be an undercurrent of suggestive and insidious behavior and obsession with weight, which I would argue is incredibly unhealthy. I don’t want to be a pessimist and say that this ideal won’t change, but I do think that even though there are strides that have been made to increase body positivity on the runway, it’s going to take a lot to change the way that body image is represented in the fashion industry.

TSV: Tell us about the misfit blog!

MW: Misfit, also known as “the 5C collaboration,” is an on-campus fashion blog that is centered solely around the 5Cs. Our goal is to write with the idea of the typical Claremont College student in mind; we want to connect with the 5C community through our knowledge of fashion, and build ourselves up as a reliable source that students can rely on for any kind of advice regarding fashion and personal style.

Because our staff writers represent different schools on campus, and because they each hold different definitions of what true fashion means to them, our mission is to write about all styles and aesthetics that students identify with. I have always argued that the beauty of fashion lies in its diversification: each person will approach fashion from a completely different angle, and with a completely different perspective than the next. So, as a collective blog, we try to center our articles around the idea of approaching true fashion from all angles.  

TSV: What is your favorite current trend?

MW: I have loved seeing the reemergence of fringe on the runway this season, particularly in Diane Von Furstenberg’s and Prabal Gurung’s Spring Collections at New York Fashion Week. It adds a kind of texture and movement to your outfit, and I love the 70s, boho vibe that it gives off. I will definitely be rocking it this spring.

TSV: What’s one piece of clothing you cannot live without?

MW: I have always been a big fan of jackets; they have the power to pull any kind of outfit together. I have a leather jacket that was given to me by mom as a Christmas present two years ago, and I wear it with anything and everything I own. While I would consider my style to be girly, I love adding a hint of edge to throw off the balance a bit. I am also an avid wearer of anything black because it’s a color that goes with virtually anything. Black + leather = heaven.

TSV: Do you have any favorite designers or fashion bloggers?

MW: My favorite designers are Alice + Olivia, Joie, Theory, Zaldig + Voltaire, and Céline. In terms of fashion bloggers, I follow so many, but I would have to say my top three are The Blonde Salad, Front Rowe, and Who What Wear. They all have their separate styles, but their blogs are incredibly well polished and they are knowledgeable about their specific fashion interests. Definitely check them out.

TSV: Any advice for bloggers or people wanting to start a blog?

MW: I am a big believer in getting yourself out there, and if there is something you are passionate about, then you have every right to pursue it. I started my own fashion blog in ninth grade, and while I no longer post on it, I’m glad that I started it, because it not only gave me a sense of my own fashion sense, but it allowed me to explore different areas of fashion that I had not before. I would say overall, that the most important advice that I can give is consistency. If you have a blog, especially a blog that you are just starting, consistency in posting is imperative. Your blog will be more organized if you have a consistent schedule of posting, it will only increase the readership for your blog and through this you will be able to build a stable platform for your blog as well.