Alaska News

Alaska Style Profile: APU's bold and colorful Hillary Walker

Style inspiration is easy to find in glossy fashion magazines, on blogs or Pinterest but often vanishes when needed most -- as you stand and stare at your Alaska closet. It's at those moments when a little local motivation is necessary, when a stylish Alaskan could help finesse your fashion. That's where I come in. Every now and then we'll talk to an Alaska-grown muse, someone who's in the business of beauty or who's simply figured out a way to work it through the fashion obstacle course we call home.

Who: Hillary Walker, a public relations account executive and master's degree student in psychology at Alaska Pacific University

Why her style is noteworthy: Do you second-guess pops of color? Get concerned a silhouette strays too far? Take a page from the Walker playbook; this 25-year-old finds confidence in the unconventional. Walker, who spends much of her time in skirts and dresses, goes bold with colors and embraces the eclectic.

On the sartorial surface, Walker's style could easily be considered anti-Alaskan, but it's pretty much homegrown. Born and raised in state, with just a few years Outside for college, Walker is proof that style needn't be defined by geography.

On her personal style: "I consider myself to be exuberant, eclectic and fearless. I like to mix patterns. I don't really believe in rules, I guess. If you love it, it will work. I wear a dress almost every day. I've done it since high school. I went to Paris my sophomore year, and I bought this skirt, this turquoise A-line skirt. I just loved it so much and felt so wonderful in it, and it just inspired me to look for more.

"Most people think I do it to dress up, but it's actually very comfortable. Just throw on one piece and go. I'm pretty feminine, though. Not like super frou-frou, but interested in feminine silhouettes.

"I'm not afraid of color. I really like orange and mustard, yellow and tomato red. I also really love lavender. This is my signature nail color. It was actually discontinued from OPI, so I order it off of eBay and hoard it."

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The one thing in her closet she can't live without: "I have this vintage marigold coat, like a winter jacket with a fur-trimmed collar. I don't even know what kind of fur of it is. I bought it in Providence, R.I., at a second-hand store for $60. It's seen me through three winters now, and I don't think I could ever go back. It's kind of oversized car-coat style. I love it because you can layer as much as you want underneath it.

Products/brands, etc., she swears by -- and why: "I love Anthropologie but I'm really wary to order anything online. Even if you know your measurements, it's really hard because fit is such an important part of style. One brand I'll love is Chie Mihara. They are the only heels I'll wear. I'm really into comfort and really picky."

Where she shops locally or otherwise: "Honestly, I shop everywhere. I like Her Tern, Circular, Mable McKinley -- they have really great dresses. I love Nordstrom. Honestly, I'll shop anywhere. I love Target, of all places. I go to a lot of the consignment shops around town, Plain Jane and Second Run. I used to do a lot more vintage shopping in L.A. and Massachusetts. But up here, it's not so great.

"Sometimes I'll go to Value Village or Salvation Army, but I don't really have the time and patience to do the hunt-and-peck thing. But I did find this coral jump suit from Nordstrom with the tag still on. It was like a $150 back in the '80s. It still had the old Nordstrom tag on it. I wear it with slouchy knee-high black boots. It has a built-in belt and has a really nice shape."

On her current shopping list: "The timing is funny, I'm actually on a shopping hiatus -- well, actually a diet, a shopping diet. But forgetting about the hiatus, I'm a pretty spontaneous shopper. I try not to keep a list because it almost stresses me out. I get greedy and fixated, and I don't get to enjoy the hunt. On the other hand, I'm really bad about buying basics, like a white blouse or black skirt. I am looking for polka dot tights though, if you see any!"

Something style-wise about her that might surprise people: "People don't think of me as very sporty, but I have a totally intense love affair with gym clothes, probably because they're so colorful. There's nothing like going for a run in orange tie-dye leggings. I kind of like to dress up when I work out. I never, like, just decide that I'm going to wear yoga pants today, that's just not my thing."

Her biggest style challenge and how she works with it: "I'm not a jeans and T-shirt girl, for the life of me. I have jeans and people tell me I look great in them, but I'm just not myself. I have a really hard time wearing them. It's not pants. I have pants. I have these tomato-red slacks from J. Crew. I was just in Germany and got these crazy-printed pants from Zara. It's not the silhouette.

"It's something about the material. Relative to my waist, my legs are really muscular, so it's hard to find ones that fit in the waist and the legs. I guess it's just about finding the right brand."

Her take on Alaska fashion: "I guess my take on Anchorage style, or Alaska style, is that -- I don't want to sound cavalier -- but I don't really care. I think people should wear what they want, and if they want to express themselves through their clothes, they should. I don't think Alaskans dress that much differently than the rest of the country.

"Every place has its own niche style, but a lot of people here are fabulous dressers. I see a lot of creative combinations."

Anchorage freelance writer Leslie Boyd writes a regular column on local shopping and style. Ideas, information or tips? Contact her at akshopgirl(at)gmail.com or find her on Twitter @akshopgirl

Leslie Boyd

Leslie Boyd has been writing about shopping and style in Alaska for more than eight years and will buy just about anything but the excuse that living in the Last Frontier means you shouldn’t have to dress up. She loves exploring statewide shopping options and “only in Alaska” style. She lives in Anchorage with a "sneaker head" husband and a French bulldog that has a penchant for polar fleece and argyle. While she might have silk and sequins hanging in her closet, she’ll always have a pair of Sorels by the door.

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