Shop Class: Spring into this season...

Rosella LaFevre lays out the dos and don'ts of spring fashion this year, so ladies on campus can look their best while soaking up some sun.

This winter, a nearly unanimous – if objectionable – vote by my lovely peers in favor of a comfortable three-piece ensemble had many them traipsing through the snow in North Face jackets, leggings-as-pants and Ugg boots.

This spring you can, and should, be just as comfortable in a softer, more feminine look. Think sundresses and cropped blazers, sun hats and brand-spanking-new white Keds sneakers. Consider Sookie Stackhouse from HBO’s True Blood your warm weather style sister.

Sookie Stackhouse, played by a beautifully blonde Anna Pacquin, is a waitress at a bar in Louisiana’s Bon Temp who happens to wind up dating a vampire for those of you who don’t know. She favors sundresses and cardigans and other style choices appropriate for a ladylike southern belle.

“I’ve shopped for most of the cast at Walmart, Kohl’s, Kmart, JCPenney, Sears – all the stores that real people from Bon Temps could afford,” Audrey Fisher, the show’s stylist, told Amy Wilkinson with MTV’s Hollywood Crush.

To read the rest of my third fashion column "Shop Class" for The Temple News, click here.

Ballads that have marked musical history

Ballads have existed since the 12th century. These songs, which began as an oral tradition and were passed from singer to singer, generation to generation, are traditionally long narrative songs. Some of the famous ballads recorded throughout history include the 15th century legend “Robin Hood,” the broadside “The Avondale Mine Disaster” about the nobility of labor and “The Flying Cloud,” a slave voyage narrative.

Folk ballads, the more common type of ballad and which is still sung today, typically uses dialogue and action to tell a dramatic story. Although some of the most popular ballads in recent history have been about love, not all ballads are.

Here are the ten best ballads:

1957: Patsy Cline’s “Walkin’ After Midnight”
This ballad was first given to pop singer Kay Starr. Country star Cline first rejected the song, as Starr did, but eventually recorded it. As Cline’s first major hit single, it reached #2 on the Billboard Country music chart and #12 on the Pop chart. It is remembered by some as one of the greatest country songs ever recorded.

To read the rest of this piece for Cliche Magazine, click here and go to page 106.

Learning to love ‘me’ and not ‘we’

As Rosella Eleanor LaFevre reveals in her essay, love starts closer than expected – with yourself.

I have had a smattering of blips on the relationship radar and, in addition, one fairly serious – if brief – relationship. And somehow, I always end up alone come Valentine’s Day. This year, I will not complain. Rather, I will celebrate.

After years of exposure to the fairy tale and its grown-up naïve sister, the romantic comedy, I am finally past wishing for nothing more than a guy to set my life straight.

After years of pining for a Prince Charming or a Patrick Verona, I am sure that being in love with myself is enough.

I’m not talking about an unhealthy kind of self-love. The love that I am referring to is respect for my idiosyncrasies and a belief that no one’s opinion of me should outweigh my own. I mean believing in myself enough to take risks and to live my life without fearing that people might see me in a different way than I want them to.

Read the rest of this essay for the Valentine's Day-themed issue of The Temple News here.

Shop Class: Get a love “Smak” on the lips with these sweet gifts

Rosella LaFevre got the scoop on some kitschy presents for Valentine’s Day.

Shopping retail is a lot like dating. Sometimes you have an awkward, terrible first date. More often than not, though, this bad first date is the end of any chance for a good relationship. That is why, when the first date is as perfect as my first trip to Smak Parlour, a 5-year-old boutique at 219 Market St., you want to tell everyone about it.

The thing about shopping is, it’s always an open relationship; cheating is encouraged. And as Valentine’s Day approaches, I encourage you to consider Smak Parlour your one stop for gifts for a girlfriend or best friend.

Guys, for your girlfriends:

Prove to your sugar she is no cheap substitute with a $45 necklace of pink glass cut into the five-letter word for the thing most people use to sweeten their coffee. I double dare you to litter the gift box with sugar packets from a fast-food chain. You can even take the credit for that cleverness.

Show her she spins you right ‘round with Leah Coonan’s earrings crafted from shards of records. Abby Kessler, the co-owner of Smak Parlour with Katie Loftus, said boys from all over the city are buying these for their lady loves. Earn bonus points with your sweetie by including concert tickets in the card that should accompany the $25 earrings.


The entire text of my second fashion column for The Temple News can be read here.