Your Guide to Fashionable and Effortless University Style

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Yara Taha shows us how to pull off some tips included in this guide. Photo provided by Yara Taha.

Looking good while juggling class work, spending all-nighters at university, and waking up excruciatingly early for your morning classes might as well sound like someone telling you they can fly: simply impossible. However, university is your gateway to the real world, and you don’t want to spend the rest of your life looking like you just survived a zombie apocalypse. It is essential to at least look like you have your life together, and you know what they say: fake it till you make it. So, here is a carefully constructed guide from years of university experience on how to look good while studying, without working too hard to do it.

Basics are not so basic  

The easiest way to come up with interesting and fashionable outfits without spending too much time frying your brain cells is to own basics. Basics are essentials in every student’s closet, that will look effortlessly fashionable when coupled with a more interesting or daring outfit piece. Even though the weather in Doha is agonizingly hot, the autumn season has officially started. That means you have a number of pretty autumn colors, ranging from brown to red, to choose from for an interesting basic collection. For the girls, couple a basic t-shirt with printed pants, or a basic off-shoulder bodysuit with a skirt, and you have got yourself a fast and fashionable outfit. As for the guys, your preppy style is all about wearing those basic t-shirts, polo shirts, or cotton and linen button-downs. You can pair these basics with form fitted jeans, biker jeans, colored Bermuda shorts, or even trousers, and you will look ready to rock a hectic university day with style. But remember, the most important thing about owning basics is also owning a couple of statement pieces in your wardrobe to complement them.  

 

Zara Basic Blouse – QR169. Image credit: Zara.
Bershka trousers – QR129. Image credit: Bershkha.
Zara skinny biker jeans – QR269. Image credit: Zara.
Zara Straight Fin Chino trousers – QR199. Image credit: Zara.
Tommy Hilfiger t-shirt – $55.27. Image credit: Tommy Hilfiger.

 

 

Plan, Plan, Plan

Another tip is to plan your outfits whenever you have free time on your hand. My favorite thing to do is to assign an hour during the weekend where I go over the clothes hanging in my closet. I focus on one piece at a time that I would like to wear the next week. I then couple the outfit piece that I have in mind with complementary accessories. It is very easy to start your hunt with a specific piece in mind, then to gaze aimlessly at the mess of your wardrobe, without knowing where to start. You can even take pictures of the organized outfits you came up with, so you can just open up your phone, throw on the clothes, and quickly leave for class. I know it sounds like a little too much work to do to just look good, but remember, no pain no gain. Besides, it will become much easier once you get the hang of it. This is a little price to pay to look and feel amazing.

Dresses to Avoid Messes

This is for my ladies. So, matching pants with shirts and the shirts with a bag and a bag with the shoes can be a little bit complicated sometimes. To avoid the mess of throwing all of these outfit pieces together, go for dresses instead. One of the many advantages that women have over the male sex is that women can wear flowy, loose, comfortable dresses, while men are mostly stuck in pants or shorts. Dresses are outfit pieces that you can just throw on as soon as you get out of your pajamas, wear any pair of shoes with and then leave. Really, it cannot get any easier than that. Choosing the shape of the dress that will compliment your body shape is very essential. Colors are also very important when choosing dresses. Again, since we are in the autumn months, you can go for trendy colors this season, which range from vibrant colors like bright blue, yellow and purple, to romantic colors, like rose, lilac, or white. You can also keep it real basic and wear denim dresses, which will be both comfortable and practical.

Zara plum dress – QR89. Image credit: Zara.
Zara check dress – QR199. Image credit: Zara.
Zara buttoned pin dot dress – QR 269. Image credit: Zara.

When all hope is gone, accessorize!

Just when you feel like the pressure of university is getting to you and you cannot handle the idea of even trying when it comes to how you look, don’t think your chances of looking fashionable are lost. Your solution lies in accessories. Even your university t-shirt with a pair of jeans can look good when worn the right way. Upgrade your outfit to the next level by pairing your t-shirt and jeans with some bold statement earrings or a flashy bangle. You know what else counts as accessories? Make-up. If you add a bold lipstick color with your basic t-shirt, your look will scream effortlessly chic, rather than a sorry-university-mess. For guys, you can pair your basic shirt and jeans with a nice scarf, watch, sunglasses, or even a hat if you feel particularly fashionable. A very important factor of any guy’s outfit are shoes. Wearing the right shoes can make your outfit look neat and charming. GQprovides guys with a great guide on how to carefully choose which shoes to pick when shopping for your closet update this winter.

 

Zara statement earring – QR89. Image credit: Zara.
Zara contrasting earring – QR89. Image credit: Zara.
Zara belt bag – QR119. Image credit: Zara.
Zara crochet shopper bag – QR199. Image credit: Zara.
Zara plain scarf – QR109. Image credit: Zara.
Zara sporty leather shoes – QR269. Image credit: Zara.

Lack of Cash? No problem!

If your budget is what you worry about, you can always clean out your closet and sell your old clothes in order purchase the statement pieces and basics that you need. One popular clothes-recycling Facebook group you can try out is Your Ex Wardrobe Qatar. This closed Facebook group is strictly members-only, which is a way to filter out serious exchangers from professional businesses, who usually target these groups in hopes of marketing their products. It’s also the way to ensure that the group is strictly girls-only. However, if you are a guy, worry not. Guys also have opportunities to exchanges their oldies with newbies. One other popular group among students is EC Closet Recycle. EC Closet Recycle is a Facebook group for Education City students, which is used by students to sell their used or unwanted clothes to other fellow students and get cash.

So, these are your tips to look stellar all semester long! You can all snap your university outfits and tag The Daily Q for us to share some of your amazing looks on our Instagram page. Don’t forget to use the hashtags #DailyQStyle and #StudentStreetStyle.

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