From a young age I have had always had stars in my eyes when it comes to fashion. Throughout the years I have experimented with my look and gone through every phase imaginable.

First there was the hip-hop, baggy jeans and shirt phase in junior high- I wore all of my clothes backwards, and big enough to fit another person. From there I moved on to the teen pop queen world, with Brandy and Monica as my idols. I felt it necessary to copy everything that they did, not realizing that the things they wore were made to wear on TV, and that a large electric blue faux fur coat and matching eye shadow are not appropriate for school.

My next phase was the Eryakah Badu phase – enough said. But ultimately through all of this trial and error, I learned lessons that delivered me to my personal style, and one golden rule when it comes to fashion and style: less is more.

Less is more; a mantra that I know and live by and center my look around because it works so well. This is not to be confused with being a plain Jane. I still enjoy the idea of being glamorous when it comes to getting dressed, but I now know that I don’t need a short dress, high heels, a head full of curls and a fur coat to make the outfit complete. I can now focus on one feature I want to highlight and work around it. If I wear a pair of 6 inch stilettos, then I know that I may want to hold off on the micro mini; and if my jacket is very elaborate and stands out a lot, then I know that a pair of jeans and a plain t-shirt or tank may do it more justice than anything else. Less is more is about balance, as well as avoiding the biggest fashion faux paux of all time – over excessiveness.

These thoughts have made their way into this week’s column, and for good reason of course. Seeing how women on this campus dress at a party makes me wonder what they’re thinking when they get dressed. I know what I’m thinking when I put my clothes on: I want to look nice; sexy, yet tasteful, fashionable but not too trendy.

To me this is what looks good. I take lessons from some of my favorite stars; Halle Berry for instance. She is the queen of less is more. Her look is always sexy, and glamorous whether she’s in an evening gown, or jeans and a T-shirt.

While at the party I took a survey of the people in the room (men and women) about what they were wearing. Sometimes it was painful, and a few times I saw what I was looking for: the balance. The people who looked good to me were the people who appeared not to try too hard. The ones who were conscious of the fact that every single thing does not have to match and the women who knew that they were beautiful without having to show off their entire bodies.

Another lesson I have learned is that being stylish doesn’t happen over night. I consider myself stylish at this point, but it definitely hasn’t always been that way. It took a lot of mishaps, mistakes and looking at old pictures saying – what was I thinking? But finally, I think I got it right. Even if you haven’t made it there just yet, having the right idea about style can take you all the way.