Photos courtesy of Rachel Martino

CF: Did you go to college? If so, what did you study? What was your college experience like?

RM: Yes, I was a French and English double major at Belmont University in Nashville, TN. College was an amazing time for me and I can say with great confidence I’m glad I went to school in a city like Nashville. I can’t imagine going to school in a city like New York. I don’t think I would have ever made it to class! My experience in Nashville really fostered learning and artistic creativity. The South has shaped me as a person, but New York represents my future.

CF: Where do you like to shop?

RM: Oh, everywhere! I love buying clothes second-hand or thrifted, so I am often frequenting Buffalo Exchange and Beacon’s Closet in Williamsburg. I buy a lot of my basics at Zara, Uniqlo and Forever 21 and fun pieces from Anthropologie, ASOS and Urban Outfitters.

I’m also a total online shopping addict. I cannot get enough ModCloth.com and I’m on HauteLook.com everyday and often buy from their sales at Eva Franco, Dolce Vita, Seychelles, Free People, BBDakota, I could go on like this for hours. Also, Etsy.com is awesome.

CF: What advice do you have for being stylish on a college budget?

RM: Don’t buy things that you like, buy things that you love. I still have so many clothes I bought in college that I’ve never worn to this day. But I also have things I bought when I was in high school for cheap that I wear all the time. Those are the things you want to buy.

When you’re shopping really think: “what exactly would I wear it with?”, “where would I wear it?”, “would I really feel comfortable in this all-day?” (very important). My mom taught me about CPW, cost-per-wear, when I was really young, so I always try to remember that. It’s simple math, instead of spending $100 on a sparkly dress for NYE that you might wear once or twice, spend $100 on jeans that you’ll live in. If you wear them twice a week for 6 months, they were less than $2 per wear, unlike the dress.