Gallery • 9 Photos

Sara DeLaRosa

By Shannon Beck

Fashion is displayed on billboards, magazines, and even down the runway. Fashion may be defined as just clothing to some people, but for junior Sara DeLaRosa, it is a lifestyle. DeLaRosa doesn’t just style clothing, she also styles her makeup and hair. DeLaRosa’s look is unique and colorful.

“When I have a well put together outfit, it makes me feel better about myself,” said DeLaRosa. “It doesn’t have to look good to other people, it just has to make me feel good about myself.”  DeLaRosa feels most confident when she is wearing something that she is comfortable in.

DeLaRosa likes to switch up her outfits; it is rare to find her in the same outfit more than once. She mixes and matches her tops and bottoms to make different types of looks. She also wears accessories like hoop earrings and chokers. DeLaRosa buys her jewelry from all kinds of places. She gets her accessories from thrift stores, and stores like Silver Spider.  

It takes DeLaRosa an hour and a half to get ready every morning. DeLaRosa also has early bird gym every other day, so on those days, she has to wake up even earlier. Although she has to wake up at a different time, DeLaRosa still manages to put the same amount of effort into her outfits.

First DeLaRosa does her makeup. She started doing her makeup in middle school, however, she didn’t watch any tutorials online. She just practiced and got better at perfecting her look over time. DeLaRosa likes to alternate her makeup looks, some days she wears sparkles and winged eyeliner. Other days she wears more of a natural look.

Next DeLaRosa does her hair. Her natural hair color is brown; however, DeLaRosa loves to experiment with different colors of dye. She’s had many different hair colors, including red, orange, green, blue, purple, black, and blonde. Her favorite hair colors that she’s worn were blonde and half pink and purple. “One time I tried to dye my hair orange, but I messed it up, so it was more of a blech looking orange,” said DeLaRosa.

DeLaRosa is a cheerleader, and every year the cheerleaders wear pink bows for one of the football games. They wear the bows for cancer awareness. Along with DeLaRosa’s pink bow, she also had pink highlights for the game. DeLaRosa’s hair is currently purple, she plans to try new colors in the future. Because DeLaRosa changes her hair color every few months, she likes to keep it short so that it stays healthier.

The last thing DeLaRosa does to get ready in the morning is planning out her outfit. She puts her outfits together by using color coordination. DeLaRosa is influenced by Instagram fashion accounts, but she also has made up her own style. DeLaRosa loves the color yellow. It’s her favorite color to wear because it’s a bright and a cheerful color. DeLaRosa’s style usually consists of graphic t-shirts, jeans, crop tops, track pants, and also dresses.

Like many other teenagers these days, DeLaRosa buys most of her clothes from thrift stores. Instead of buying it new, DeLaRosa purchases her outfits used. When she is out and about shopping, she looks for colors that she doesn’t already have. DeLaRosa shops at Goodwill and Salvation Army. She also goes to garage sales around town. She searches through racks, and racks of clothing, to find unique pieces. “The best thing I’ve found while shopping was this super cute gold chain necklace, that I love, “ said DeLaRosa. “It was super cheap so that was awesome.”

DeLaRosa doesn’t just wear clothes, she also makes them. For homecoming week at Mount Vernon High School, one of the themed dress-up days was denim day. DeLaRosa went all out. She made a denim shirt by cutting up a pair of old jeans to fit the top portion of her body. Then she attached straps by sewing strips of denim to the top. For Halloween, DeLaRosa dressed up as Raven from Teen Titans. She bought purple fabric to make her cape, and she sewed a hood on as well. DeLaRosa also bought a long black sleeve shirt and made it into a bodysuit, by sewing the crotch and cutting out little thumb holes. She made the jewels on the costume by painting old pop can bottoms.

DeLaRosa has many different styles. She can dress casual, sporty, dressy, and much more. DeLaRosa doesn’t want to be tied down to one style. She wants her looks to tell many different stories. She said, “I want my style to say that I’m fun and that I’m not afraid to try new things.” DeLaRosa has one fashion wish, and that is that she wants everyone to dress for themselves. She doesn’t care what they wear, she just cares that they rock their look with confidence. “I want everyone to be comfortable with what they are wearing,” said DeLaRosa. “They shouldn’t wear something for someone else, they should dress for themselves.”