Welcome, college life when you can stock up on everything that your wardrobe missed out throughout school. You can experiment, reinvent and have loads of fun because there's just one style rule – Don’t blend in!

The orientation

To begin with let’s check out the season’s trends – eighties neon colours (ahh bliss), gladiator sandals, dresses (maxi and mini) shiny disco ball sneakers, hair accessories, chunky neckpieces, ultra skinny jeans and voluminous dhoti pants.

Neon colours are high on the fashion charts and you can dig Tees, belts, hair clips, bangles, nail polish in these electric hues. These are the essentials to be oriented as Miss Trendista of your college.

Bunking rules

Tee-shirts and jeans are for assembly line products. You’ve got to be experimental and try something that has your style stamp. It’s like pairing sneakers with a dress; style reference Twilight actor Kristen Stewart’s short dress teamed with sneakers at the MTV movie awards.

Someone I know wore a maxi dress with silver sneakers for a party and danced the night away. It’s about discovering something that you haven’t yet tried and making it work for you. And don’t grumble about your small frame not being able to flaunt a maxi. If Eva Longoria with her 5 foot 2 inch frame can trot around in a maxi, so can you.

All you’ve got to do is try new combinations and break a few rules. Once I spotted this girl outside a college wearing a fitted ethnic kurta with a short skirt, gladiator sandals and chunky earrings. Interesting, huh!

The graduate

Since college shopping is defined by pocket money, you’ll be a qualified graduate in street shopping soon enough. In your quest to discover your style quotient, you’ll also chance upon shops that sell interesting bric-a-bracs.

It’s good to experiment but wearing different coloured nail enamels on each of your fingernails is a bit much! Trying to blatantly rip-off the style ideas of Miss Popular of your college will earn you the wannabe tag. Also, expensive doesn’t mean more stylish.

Focus on yourself, what works for you and watch out for trends. This way you’ll never feel that your clothes belong to last season and you’ll stand out in a crowd.