Chelsea Raye Melton; student, advocate for sexual assault victims, and mini fashion icon.

I'm starting my series of guest bloggers. Periodically I will feature a friend of mine I find particularly fashionable or maybe someone I see stalking the streets of Detroit, Ann Arbor, or East Lansing and take pictures of their outfit and explain themselves using three useful questions I thought up randomly. (Well not really randomly because they pertain to the blog but, you get the picture.)

So without further adieu, I am honored & thrilled to present to you:

CHELSEA RAYE MELTON

[Chelsea Raye is pictured here on her 21st birthday playing with the bubble wand gift I gave her. She is wearing a striped tank top cut up from her mom's old shirt and a skirt from Target.]

1. What is your favourite place to shop for clothes and why?

Other people's closets whether they be from a second hand shop, or raiding my mom or dad's closets. I really like the idea of creating something out of nothing. Or I just like not spending much. But I always find the pieces that I enjoy most are things that once belonged to someone else, plus old things are usually softer and more comfy. I love DIY things. For example I never really got into the Misfits but I always liked the crimson ghost t-shirt. I've been looking for one not so dilligently (because if I looked hard enough I could've probably found one) and haven't found one. So I cut a skull in one of my mom's old t-shirts and I wear it a lot. T-shirts are easy things to cut up.

R: One of the things I haven't touched upon just yet but will get to is the idea that its okay to buy something and modify it to what you want it to look like - and to better suit your body. It also gives a relatively ordinary or possibly mass produced article your own personal expression. And since we live in a country rooted in individualism, its interesting more people aren't experimenting with their clothes. Your tank top is a great example of this!

2. Why did you choose to pair the stripped shirt and navy high-waisted skirt?

Well I wore that because it was hot out I didn't put a whole lot of effort into it normally I like more layers. Summer is a particularly hard season for me to dress for. But with colors I just love red and blue together (did we decide my skirt was blue?). I like stripes a whole bunch, if you look around the stores now almost every store sells a striped shirt. I guess people like nautical stuff. But I also thought this outfit was kind of americana and also perfect for blowing bubbles in.

R: I loved this outfit so much for the nautical/americana theme that just goes so well with the hot summer air. Chelsea, your honesty about putting together your outfit with no effort is refreshing - because being fashionable isn't synonymous with difficulty. Once you can express yourself while keeping within trends, it becomes second nature.

3. Do you have any designers or other bloggers that particularly inspire you and your fashion sense?

Designers and bloggers inspire me yet it's not always a literal transition into what I wear. I find designers like Yves Saint Laurent inspiring but a person might not look at me and see that..(unless I'm wearing my YSL lipstick haha). Not only because I can't really afford the clothes but I'm very inconsistant stylewise. In addition to YSL I like Miu Miu, Celine, The Row, Jeffrey Campbell, Balenciaga..and many more. I check jakandjil.com/blog and stylelikeu.com religiously and also imsosuredude.com which isn't really a fashion blog at all but I still think it influences me. Also garance dore, yvan rodic's blog and fashiontoast.

This has been the first installment of my guest bloggers. Enjoy!