Wearing a pair of mismatched blue socks, Marieta Rojas ’18 complements her outfit with a pair of beat-up leather white sneakers and a black corduroy skirt. She layers a wool varsity jacket over her red sweater vest and blue button-down shirt to complete her look.
“Everything that I wear is pretty purposeful. I like everything to be good quality or pretty, or really comfortable, so I usually feel very comfortable in my own skin. I like things with a story behind it,” said Rojas.
Rojas’s style is primarily inspired by the cultures of her parents’ home countries, Peru and Spain. Although Rojas felt uncomfortable wearing traditionally Spanish and Peruvian clothing in her younger years, she has since grown to embrace her culture and style.
“My mom is Spanish, and when I was a little kid, my mom used to dress me in all traditional Spanish kid clothing. It was kind of weird being in England and at a school where everybody had a uniform. When [my friends and I] saw each other in our ‘home’ clothes, I often felt really different from other kids, but it [gives] me confidence for now because I don’t mind dressing differently from everybody else,” said Rojas.
Because Rojas has previously lived in Peru and has been surrounded by Peruvian culture for the majority of her life, she enjoys incorporating the bright colors that define Peruvian style in her ensembles.
“There’s a lot of rich colors in Peruvian textiles and art from the colonial times [that I like to incorporate]. I don’t like my whole outfit to be a matching color, but I do like when things play off each other, like small details. I really like traditional clothing too,” said Rojas.
After living in Spain for three years, Rojas has picked up influences of eccentric Spanish style.
“With Spain, the clothing is less mainstream in how people generally dress on the street. For example, there are these sandals that men used to wear in the fields, but now I wear them because they also look like a girl’s shoe. I love wearing funky things. Someone will say, ‘Oh, I love your sandals’ and I will respond, ‘Thank you. They were originally men’s shoes in the 1800s,’ ” said Rojas.
Rojas prides herself on the individuality of her clothing, which can be attributed to her specific stylistic choices and unique taste.
“I have a taste in everything. With clothes, I think that it’s either pretty or it’s not pretty. Rather than it being my ‘fashion,’ it’s more just like what I find appealing. I like just doing [things] how I do it,” said Rojas.