05.13 The Style List: Camouflage offers grit & flair

By Stacia Kindler

Editor’s note: Stacia Kindler is Pulse Magazine’s new fashion columnist. Catch her each month as she discusses the latest styles to always keep your look fresh.

I’ve been a fashion enthusiast since before I can really remember ~ wearing mother’s heels as a toddler and saving every penny for a Seventeen subscription during my grade-school years. It wasn’t until after the small-time, shallow dreams of high school’s Best Dressed, however, that the burning “what do I want to do with my life” question of college applications really got me thinking. Who would have thought you could major in such a kick-ass subject and call it a business degree? That was the moment I began to take my wide-eyed starvation for all things fashion seriously.

So, after a lifetime of intrigue, years of schooling and a sprouting career in the industry, here I am ~ proud owner of a fashion design and retailing degree with a concentration in merchandising ~ here to offer my insight to the readers of Pulse. The topic: trends ~ how to wear them, where to find them, and of course, some fun, impromptu topics along the way.

Now after my (hopefully) most brief, yet charming, elevator pitch, I would love to start talking up the latest and most relevant trend this season that is being anything but inconspicuous: the camouflage print. Just in time for the warm weather, camo has been standing out front and center in all of its green and brown glory to reveal a laid-back, urban look that does anything but blend in.

Camo is one of the more matter-of-fact trends adopted by the fashion industry, motivated directly by military and hunting garb seen throughout the decades to land safely in a store near you via the ever-spinning fashion cycle. The print has always had a foot in the door of the industry, most memorably during the uprising of ’90s hip-hop and again glimmering through the cracks of the spotlight in recent seasons.

In full force for 2013, the camouflage print trend is more often than not being observed as an add-on of the army green color palette and surplus silhouettes of the recurring military trends appearing and re-appearing on the runway and in retail ever since the early 2000s. Lucky for all of you trendy readers ~ pull out those old cargos and you’re halfway there.

If the rough-around-the-edges military jacket and cargo pants look is too harsh for you, the great thing about camouflage is that it is an easy print to incorporate into any outfit to simply add a little more visual interest, playful irony or even project your inner Riot Grrrl.

The easiest route to take is to find a strong camouflage jacket ~ just in time to play with some spring layering. Your new camouflage can be used as your fashion weapon to combat all of those frilly floral prints inevitably brought on by the warmer weather. Don’t be shy, mix your prints! Make a springtime dress a bit more interesting with a jacket and boots or edge out a simple jeans and T-shirt day with this spring’s favorite pattern.

Take chances with this fearless trend while shopping and don’t hesitate to get creative. There are a lot of options out there, with basic jacket and denim pieces and various accessories for a more subtle approach. Or, for those of you who don’t fancy the traditional color palette, keep your eyes open for alternative color schemes of the print, such as different blues or grays, which have also been experimented with this season.