Alice Keller ’20 emjoys reading fashion magazines and looking at pictures from the red carpet, and often talks about fashion with her friends.
Alice Keller ’20 adds a new charm to her necklace every year, each one
representing a different aspect of her life.
Styling zebra print-lined white sneakers with a white mock-neck bodysuit and plaid dress, Alice Keller ’20 complements her outfit with various accessories, including friendship bracelets, a charm necklace, and a large gold lion ring.
“I get a new charm added to this necklace every year… it captures different aspects of my identity. My mom buys each charm for me, so it has a very special meaning for me. I first got the necklace at age nine when there was only an ‘A’ and a horseshoe on it,” said Keller.
Keller’s charm necklace includes her zodiac sign and birthstone, as well as Long Island, horse, saddle, arrow, and suitcase charms. Each charm represents a different part of Keller’s life, marking both big transitions and her hobbies.
“The two [charms] that are the most meaningful to me are the key and sun,” said Keller. “The key is an inside joke with my mom, because growing up she called me the ‘latch key kid’. The sun symbolizes my annual doctor visits and when my mom would tell the doctor that I am her sunny day. It adds some nostalgia from my childhood and some love to my necklace.”
Additionally, many of Keller’s bracelets are symbolic of her relationship with her friends and her mom. On campus, Keller is the Co-President of Bracelets for Benefit, a friendship bracelet making club.
“I got a lot of my bracelets in Ecuador this past summer. The majority of them are friendship bracelets,” said Keller. “The rest of them are ones that I made with an individual or group of friends. When I look at the bracelet, I am reminded of them… I’ve never bought one by myself or for myself, because the ones that are most meaningful to me are the ones that remind me of other people.”
According to Keller, she is most drawn to the social aspects of fashion. While she does not plan to pursue a fashion-related career, she intends on continuing to read and share opinions on outfits from her favorite magazines.
“I like looking at pictures from red carpets with my friends and talking about it. To me, fashion is more of a social thing than something I would want to go into as a career…. Trading opinions on what kind of clothes we like or what we should wear is a way to bond with people. I definitely use fashion as a topic of conversation—my best friend from home is very into high fashion and talking about it helped us become very good friends,” said Keller.
Keller’s style varies from season to season, and year to year. According to her friend Nora Jasaitis ’20, since coming to Andover, Keller has become more confident, which is evident in the way she dresses.
“Alice has grown into herself more as the years have gone on,” said Jasaitis. “Since Alice’s style is based so clearly on who she is and what she likes at the time she’s buying something, you can see a growth in her confidence through her style.”
