Welcome to Style Spotlight, the lifestyle column featuring girls from around the U.S. and their unique senses of style! This feature’s spotlight is on Michelle Nye, a Literature, Media, and Culture student at Florida State University who describes her own sense of style as “eclectic, bright, and blingy.”
For Michelle Nye, early 2000s fashion offers just the right amount of boldness and hyperfeminity to showcase her favorite parts of her personality. Nye shares, “The way I dress is chic, vibrant, creative, girlypop, and most of all, Y2K.” As a self-proclaimed extrovert, fashion has often been a reflection of her confidence.
She says, “I’ve always wanted to be the brightest in the room and make a statement, regardless of the aesthetic. It shows within my clothing as well because I’m not a shy person.”
Nye draws inspiration from a wide range of Y2K aesthetics, some of which she cites as tropical, business, chic, angelcore, alternative, and preppy. “My style is loud like I am,” she says. “It’s also unapologetically girly and methodically done. It may be considered basic, but I curate it to look that way purposefully.”
Nye is a strong proponent of the idea that being “basic” is a myth and that every girl should dress in a way that makes her feel best. “I stand by the phrase ‘look good, feel good.’ I want to present myself as a confident person while simultaneously executing my goals. You can be multifaceted!”
One particularly compelling component of Nye’s own “non-basic” style is the way she infuses different types of music into her fashion choices. Nye claims that she creates many of her favorite Y2K looks based on the soundtracks of her own life. She says, “I love music, so I’m inspired by genres and dress like what I imagine their sounds would look like,” she shares. In some instances, this includes wearing bell bottoms when she listens to country, or all-black or flannel when she listens to Midwest emo. Sometimes this even involves mixing pieces in unexpected ways.
When it comes to putting her looks together, Nye shares that some of her go-to outfits include crop tops, high-waisted skirts or jeans with Birkenstocks or Vans, and a scrunchie that’s the same color as her outfit.
“And I hate patterns,” she continues. “I like my neutrals with a pop of color. I love all shades of pink or pastel/baby colors. I also love denim and iridescent. I always wear my hoops, too. I think mixing metals looks so much better than striving for just silver or gold.”
However, no matter what style choices Nye makes, she’s a firm believer that fashion can be fluid and everchanging, just like the people who use it to express themselves.
“My fashion is an expression of my current interests, and it feels like it doesn’t need to be static,” she says. “As a girl’s girl, I want to announce that every style should be worn in a way that you can look in the mirror and love yourself to the best of your abilities. Just go for it!”
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