LSU student talks fashion blogging on a college budget

When Claire Plauche gets dressed in the morning, she quizzically looks into her closet — much like many other female college students probably do — but she is peering into a closet of clothes which she has deemed “man repellant.”
“I typically wear clothes that turn guys away,” Plauche tells USA TODAY College. “So while some girls go with the fitted dress and smoky eye look, I tend to lean towards feathers and purple lipstick. A lot of things I wear leave guys scratching their heads.”
Plauche displays these outfits on Crème de la Claire, a blog to which she posts at least three times a week. Blog entries include pictures of Plauche sporting different outfits, with descriptions detailing where she bought them.
Plauche, a sophomore Fashion Merchandising major at Louisiana State University, started Crème de la Claire after a bad cheerleading accident left her temporarily paralyzed.
“I realized that I needed to find something new to focus my energy on,” she says. “That is when I had a little epiphany and realized that I have to get dressed every day, so it may as well be fun.”
Unlike some of her fellow fashion bloggers, Plauche is on a college student budget.
An “avid Forever 21 goer,” she takes pride in her clothes being attainable to the average college student, as most outfits cost under $75.
“I don’t have an endless wardrobe or an unlimited bank account,” she says. “So while a lot of the bloggers that I know and follow carry Celine bags and wear Louboutins, I am the first to know about a sale. I am relatable and my style is attainable.”
Plauche says she received the best fashion advice from her mother, whom she deems the “least fashionable person” she knows.
“She would always say, ‘If you like it, then wear it.’ That may have been the best thing she has ever done for me as a parent – let me grow and develop my own style,” she says. “If I wanted to wear something over-the-top and out-of-the-house, she would never question it.”
Crème de la Claire now gets hundreds of views every day. In addition to displaying outfits, Plauche also posts about designers or style icons.
She specifically enjoys writing her “Sunday Six,” which is a list of objects or events that made her feel some emotion that week, from a shirt, to a movie, to her brother.
“I have a very eclectic style in the sense that my outfits could range anywhere from Blair Waldorf to Nicole Richie,” she says. “I am that girl who wears high heels to the grocery store or furs to the gas station. I love the ‘who does she think she is’ looks I get from people. I thrive off of it.”
Plauche, whose style icon is Rihanna, says her style portrays who she wants to be that day.
“If I wear a structured dress and dark lips, I feel like I could take over the world,” she says. “If I wear denim shorts and a flowy top, you could swear that I am Kendall Jenner at Coachella. It sets the tone for the entire day. I dress for the woman I want to be.”