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By Stephanie Trembath,
Life and Style Editor

ull time student, part-time

lifeguard, and life-long

aspiring fashion designer Sarah
Houlihan spent the final weeks of
December buying the supplies she
needed to create her winter wardrobe
in between cramming for her final
exams. According to her dad, “If
Sarah spent as much time studying
as she did sewing, she would have
a full paid scholarship through
school”, which doesn’t do much for
her medieval literature degree, but
at least goes to show her talent and
aspirations in the fashion industry.

Despite her lacking of funds,

Sarah decidedly tries to spend the
least amount of money on her outfits
while still creating pieces that are
stylish in an offbeat way. While she
doesn’t deliberately create pieces
that are outlandish and loud, her
style can be described as a mixture
of bohemian chic and whimsical
glamour. Her motto “I don’t ever
want to look like anyone else; if

someone else has worn it than it gives
me more incentive to do my own
thing”. While many women would be
happy with finding the perfect black
dress for a really good price, Sarah
doesn’t stop there, she goes out of
her way to cut, tear, sew, and re-style
everything about the dress until it
looks like an entirely different piece
of clothing.

This year the yeti vest hit stores
all over North America; H&M,
Urban Outfitters, and even upscale
Club Monaco carried these furry
fashion pieces in a wide assortment
of whites, browns, greys, and blacks.
Now, to pull off this piece you
need to completely disregard what
anyone says or thinks of you, and
carefully build the rest of your outfit
around this one piece, or you’ll end
up looking like a clothing rack for
unwanted dress-up garments. While
yeti vests were one of this seasons
popular pieces, last Christmas Sarah
spent four days making her own knee
length, furry white yeti vest that she
pulled out of the back of her moms
closet. All it took was a bit of cutting

and tucking so that the furry white
coat could be turned into a neat little
vest. Because the yeti vest wasn’t big
until this season, last winter Sarah
proudly accepted the snide remarks
and stares she received whenever she
wore her creation outdoors, and today
will tell everyone that she was a year
ahead in the yeti vest style.

Regardless of her eccentric
style, most of her pieces are easy to
make, as Sarah says “all it takes is a
bit of individualism; I enjoy sharing
who I am through what I wear”. Her
long, gold-chain charm necklace
she made is one of her select pieces
of jewellery that shares her unique
persona through fashion, as she hung
a handful of little charms off the
necklace that she found at Michaels
Craft store.

“It’s just like a charm bracelet,
only I put it on the necklace I bought
from H&M. Each little charm means
something to me and represents a
bit of my personality. The globe is
for my love of travel, the scissors
show how I love to sew, and the
little camera is for my passion for

IFO cna SEYIE

photography.”

A simple way to put together
a unique outfit is through your
jewellery; creating a signature style
comes with wearing pieces that are
representative of the person, and
come to identify you, so that when
people see you they will remember;
“oh she was the girl who wore the
funky necklace” or “wow that shirt
was cool”. A plain white shirt and
jeans is easily transformed with
Sarah’s charm-chain necklace that
she put together for under $20, which
prove you do not have to spend a lot
to stand out and look nice.

Much alike Audrey Hepburn’s
boyish charm, or Catherine Baba’s
turban trend, Sarah is known
among her peers and family for her
simple yet iconic style and ability
to manipulate clothes to suit her
individual designs.

“Right now I am focusing on
myself while I get through school,
but who knows” Sarah says, “once I
graduate I may go to fashion school,
you can always grow and learn
more”.