Seniors blog about city’s fashion

As stated on the aptly named blog IU Fashionista, “Just because we are in Indiana doesn’t mean we don’t understand fashion.”

Seniors Desiree Lestingi and Amy Levin try to bring style advice and metropolitan fashions from cities such as New York, Chicago and Los Angeles to Bloomington with their fashion blog, iufashionista.blogspot.com.

Retail Marketing Professor John Talbott said Levin asked him what she should be doing if she wants to have any chance of scoring a job in public relations after college.

“I told her if I was looking to be hired, I would be asking myself, ‘How am I promoting my skills?” he said. “‘Am I blogging, and am I getting familiarized with the technology?’ She took it to heart.”

During the summer, Lestingi, a journalism major and a general assignments reporter for the Indiana Daily Student, and Levin, an apparel merchandising major, studied abroad together in London.

“We took a forecasting trends class by a crazy professor who was really involved in Fashion Week, and it inspired us to create the blog and set ourselves apart from all the other graduates wanting jobs after graduation,” Lestingi said.

Levin said their goal is to connect celebrity trends to IU students.

“People can relate to the blog because it becomes real,” Levin said. “Because we’re students, we know what our audience wants, which are these trends on a tight budget.”

IU Fashionista offers daily fashion tips and displays places to shop, eat and enjoy nightlife in Bloomington.

“The blog offers really good updated content from two girls with credibility and a strong interest in style,” Talbott said. “It’s easy for them. It’s a classic example of do what you love and the money will follow.”

The blog also has a subscription application that sends out e-mails every time a new post is added. For publicity, Levin said they place ads in newspapers, tell their friends and hand out informational cards to the fashionable people they photograph on the street.

“We always carry around a camera, so we never miss great style,” Levin said. “Our whole minds are consumed with looking at what people are wearing.”

Lestingi said they take photos of students and people around Bloomington and then talk about the trends.

“People in Bloomington always inspire me,” Lestingi said. “There is so much diversity on campus. ... Everyone has a different style.”

Levin and Lestingi said they bounce ideas off each other to avoid blogging solely on personal interests.

To advance the site, Lestingi said they plan on posting blogs daily as well as playing around with the design template.

“We are in talks of reporting people at events,” Levin said. “We would post their photographs on the blog and discuss what they’re wearing, which would help local businesses and possibly attract more advertisers.”

Lestingi said they are creating a Web site called College Fashionista, located at collegefashionista.com, which will host the IU Fashionista blog.

“College Fashionista will expand our blog to friends at other Big Ten schools, so each campus can compare or influence their competitors style,” Lestingi said.

The women said they each plan to continue working on the blog after graduation, but getting jobs is their main priority.

“We’re not just going to hand over our idea to someone else,” Levin said. “We are around 20 hits away from having 1,000 hits on our site.”

“Most apparel merchandising majors make a living managing retail,” Talbott said. “But there are growing opportunities with digital literature that they are already up to speed on with their blog ... (Levin) and (Lestingi) now have a voice in the world of fashion.”