Emalea Rooke went into an antique shop seeking out some necklaces and left with one of her favorite clothing items of all time. This unplanned experience is one of Emalea’s fondest memories of her passion for fashion.

Although Emalea wasn’t looking for the denim jacket, the hand-embroidered flowers caught her eye and refused to let her leave without coming along for her journey. Emalea doesn’t particularly have a set style, but anything that is attention-grabbing fits right into her wardrobe. 

“It ended up being this really amazing piece of fashion that I wouldn’t have ever noticed,” Emalea said. “I’m really glad that I stopped to look at it because if I hadn’t, I wouldn’t be able to wear it once a week like I do.”

Emalea isn’t a stranger to putting together outfits that combine a multitude of clothing articles; since she was young, she has adored creating unique and stylish compositions. As she’s grown up and gotten more freedom, though, Emalea has expanded her horizons as to where she seeks out such original clothing.

The art of antiquing bonds students with history and connections to one another

Malls and big clothing brands have popular and relevant clothing but lack the history and variety that Emalea seeks. For that reason, she often finds herself uncovering diamonds in the rough at her favorite antique and thrift stores.

 “As I’ve gotten older, I get a little bit more of how things piece together,” Emalea said. “It’s maturing with me. I find a lot of my clothes at antique stores and thrift stores, so I’ll figure out where those pieces are from and try to [match] them with other pieces of clothing from the same time. I can put together [outfits] where they could have been put together in the same time [period].”

Emalea gains much of her inspiration from articles of clothing that can take her on a journey through time as she mixes and matches pieces from different eras. Environmentally friendly, affordable, and a priceless experience, thrifting and antiquing are Emalea’s favorite methods of finding her clothing.

However, there is another layer to Emalea’s experience with second-hand clothing and fashion; with each piece of clothing she repurposes, she brings a new story to light. 

“I feel like you can find more unique pieces [of clothing] at antique stores and thrift stores,” Emalea said. “You can bring to life things that people wouldn’t normally find because they’re in those places that people don’t normally go to.”

Finding clothes that fit in her wardrobe by Emalea’s standards is complex enough, but interpreting styles is a whole different world as well.

Thankfully, Emalea is good at reading people’s personalities based on their fashion choices. While there is no one-size-fits-all way of understanding someone depending on what they are wearing, someone’s daily look does give a peek into their life.

“I think fashion can tell a lot about a person from their interests,” Emalea said. “If someone wears more artsy clothes, you might think they’re more artsy, [or if they wear] sporty clothes, you might think that they like being comfortable or they like sports. It tells a lot about where a person goes, what they do, and what they like. It’s really interesting to see all those choices that people make in fashion.”

Like Emalea herself, her fashion is adaptable and ever-changing, yet has several layers at all times. Exploring new styles is something that is beneficial to everyone, but particularly catches Emalea’s attention.

However, no matter what decade or what aesthetic, Emalea always likes one factor: bright colors. They are everything that a person should try to be: uplifting, inspirational, and true to themselves.

“[Bright colors] draw a lot of attention,” Emalea said. “They say ‘see me,’ and I really like that. There are so few people now that wear bright colors that choose to be out there visually. I think that by wearing those bright colors, it makes you even more unique and even more [like], ‘look, I am going to show off these colors to make myself seen.’”