English student balances fashion and writing interests
Second-year English students Jenna Gulick and Chloe Luthringshausen, creators of the “What’s Been Bruin?” Westwood culture blog, play with the nuances of accessorizing. (Heidy Cadena/Daily Bruin)
By Sam Bozoukov
Jan. 14, 2015 2:39 a.m.
Sitting by the Public Affairs building, second-year English student Jenna Gulick surveys the crowds that pass by. Gulick said the Public Affairs building is her favorite spot to find what she’s looking for: an outfit.
It has to be creative and use simple articles of clothing to build a style that is complex, but not over the top. More importantly, however, Gulick said that she looks for the story of the person behind the outfit.
That person will be featured on either College Fashionista, a website that focuses on fashion trends on campuses across the country, or Gulick’s lifestyle blog “What’s Been Bruin?” that she started with her friend and fellow second-year English student Chloe Luthringshausen. The blog recently reached 10,000 page views.
Gulick became interested in fashion when she was 3 years old, beginning with a dress-up box filled with different dresses she liked to put on. Gulick began writing about fashion the summer before college when she did an internship with Pasadena Magazine.
“In the beginning, I came to the office only once a week, but by the end of the summer, I was there every day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.,” Gulick said.
After her internship, Gulick said she wanted to find other outlets for writing about fashion. In her English 4W class, she met Luthringshausen. The two connected after complimenting each other’s outfits.
During their first spring quarter, Gulick and Luthringshausen decided they wanted to write about fashion on campus through a blog.
At first, they didn’t advertise their blog. Luthringshausen said they did so because they felt the amount of content on their blog was insufficient. However, this fall, the two decided they wanted to make the blog more well-known and focus on Westwood culture, featuring local bands, restaurants, artists and fashion trends.
“We wanted to widen the scope,” Luthringshausen said. “Styles can come through in a lot of different ways, such as art and music.”
Gulick said that they’re starting to gain sponsorships for the blog from businesses around Westwood. Recently, they worked out their first deal with Dan Deutsch Optical Outlook, a designer glasses store in Westwood. Gulick said that the business is letting them use any designer sunglasses for any future features on the blog.
While working on the blog last spring, Gulick was approached by Anna LaPlaca, a second-year communication studies student and representative for College Fashionista at UCLA. She encouraged Gulick to apply and work as a writer after learning about her blog through Luthringshausen. For College Fashionista, Gulick writes an article a week, which includes finding people she thinks have notable outfits that fit current fashion trends and taking pictures of them.
“We’re trying to make College Fashionista a big thing here at UCLA,” LaPlaca said. “We were looking for more writers, and (Gulick) was perfect. She has a good eye for trends.”
Among writing for College Fashionista, “What’s Been Bruin?” and UCLA Club Sports, a website that covers all competitive sports clubs on campus, Gulick said she’s never been this busy. For her, the hardest part has been scheduling the different interviews and photo shoots.
In order to get everything done, Gulick said she’s had to learn how to multitask as well as stay flexible.
“I think there’s a stigma that writers can’t get work. But if you are flexible, it’s totally possible,” Gulick said. “Today I went to work for Club Sports, and then right after I photographed for College Fashionista. It’s a lot, but it pays off.”
With her blog, Gulick said she hopes that it can be something she can leave behind after she graduates. She’d like to have younger writers continue analyzing culture trends in Westwood when she leaves.
In addition, Gulick said she wants to continue writing for College Fashionista and Club Sports until she graduates. Through College Fashionista, she’s already found a new paid internship for Bustle, an online magazine based in New York, that she’ll start writing for in the spring.
Gulick said that her experiences with fashion writing have also opened her eyes to a career as a writer.
“I believe being a writer and communicator helps provide outlets that people connect to every day,” Gulick said. “It’s a very interpersonal job, and that’s how I want to live.”
