Diamond

diam nd

American or European style?

Exclusive with Agathe Denis

It’s your time to shine.

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Become A Confidence Queen Page 15

Foods That’ll Help Your Heart, Mind, and Body Page 4

TABLE OF CONTENTS Letter from the Editors

4 Happy Healthy Hearty Find out which foods are best for you

3 6

Meet the Diamond Crew

Thrifty Shoppin’ Learn how to create your own shorts and thrift shop

8 Cut from the Same Cloth American or European style

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Shop ‘Til You Drop

Confidence Queen

Short & Easy

Benefits and drawbacks of buying local

Learn how to believe in yourself

Customize your own shorts

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LETTER FROM THE EDITORS Hi Readers!

We created Diamond to give you a magazine that will not only entertain, but also provide helpful advice. We want to give you guys fashion, mental, and health advice that we hope you find useful.

We would like to help you become the person you’ve always wanted to become. You can find advice throughout the magazine on ways to live a healthy lifestyle on the inside out through changing their wardrobe, health routine, and way of life.

You were born to shine!

-Ali, Tabitha, and Zeena

MEET THE DIAMOND CREW Zeena Jarrar tumblr. e she likes to go on In Zeena’s free tim in the t she wants to do ha w ow kn t n’ es She do outside on her activities d se ba t bu , re tu fu she might want to at th ks in th e sh , of school e loves inology because sh im cr in er re ca a t star criminal studies. nd Ali Devany ustin, hopes to atte A in ed is ra d an Ali, born Ali has exas for college.

T of y it rs ve ni U y the participates eagerl e sh d an s, ar ye 8 ts to swum for at school. She wan am te im sw SA A L in the e grows ic scientist when sh ns re fo a be to y ud st older. hester life.

Tabitha Vedrine-C Austin her whole in d ve li s ha ha Tabit ed from the family originat go Her mom’s side of e and she hopes to nc ra F , is ar P of t the hear part in . Last year, she took ay ed m so n ai ag e rt er th d she now takes A an ng li ea K at ub the art cl to AP s of continuing on pe ho d an SA A L 1 at ar.

Drawing 3 next ye All pictures taken by staff

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Story and Photos by Ali Devany

Happy Healthy Hearty Changing the foods you eat can be the easiest and fastest way to improve your life. Whether it’s physical or mental, eating healthy and smart can help your body in ways you couldn’t imagine. Here are some foods that we recommend that’ll make you happy and help your health while still tasting great.

Vitamin C Eating more vitamin-C rich foods such as oranges, tomatoes, and strawberries will give you a vast improvement in your skin in a matter of weeks. The form of vitamin C, ascorbic acid, is a significant helper to the production of collagen in your body. WebMD says this protein helps the growth of cells and blood vessels, and will bring firmness to your skin.

Nuts Health.com praises walnuts, almonds, and macadamia nuts for their abundance of antioxidants and Omega-3 fatty acids that are beneficial to your heart. Omega-3 fatty acids aid in preventing or controlling heart disease, and it also boosts the immune system and helps you lose weight.

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Greek Yogurt Next time you’re at the grocery store and decide to make your way through the yogurt aisle, stay away from the fake and sugary yogurts and pick up some Greek yogurt!

Along with many health benefits, Greek yogurt has a significantly greater protein amount than regular yogurt. The high protein can make you feel full which makes it a perfect snack.

Dark Chocolate Everyone has the idea in their head that chocolate is bad for them, but the truth is that chocolate can actually be healthy for you. Eating a small amount of dark chocolate a couple of times a week has been proven to help your heart health.

Dark chocolate improves blood flow, can lower blood pressure, helps prevent strokes, and has many other advantages.

Oatmeal Don’t think of oatmeal as the mushy gross stuff your mom used to make you eat for breakfast. Think of it as a delicious, fiber rich, and extremely healthy breakfast option.

Eating oatmeal has been proven to be one of the best sources of fiber, and new studies show it cuts your chances of getting type two diabetes.

If you think oatmeal is too plain, feel free to spice it up with fruits, nuts, or yogurt.

For more healthy information, visit these sites: www.drbaileyskincare.com and www.health.com/health DIAMOND 5

Story and Photos by Tabitha Vedrine-Chester

Tired of overpaying for the latest styles? Is your wallet constantly empty? Don’t worry, you can still be in style and not have to break the bank. Thrift shopping is a great way to get oneof-a-kind clothes, not overpay for the trends you love and help out a good cause.

A great place to go if you are looking for some cool new finds is Goodwill. Aside from the large variety of clothes and unique styles, Goodwill has a great mission behind its stores. It is a non-profit organization that helps employ people who have barriers with employment and also a way to create an ongoing “trade system” with local people who donate any type of item all around the nation. This is a great way to help out the community by donating your unwanted items to a good cause. With all the new types of items that are being donated every day at every Goodwill, it insures that their stock will always be plentiful with unique items that you can make your own. Learn more at shopaustingoodwill.org.

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www.gq.com/entertainment/tv/blogs/the-stream/2012/10/the-macklemore-bible-of-thrift-store-shopping.html

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1.

Find out your ideal waist/pant size. From this step you have a couple of options: any old pair of “mom jeans” or high-waisted jeans will produce the best results when creating your new pair of shorts. You can visit your local thrift shop and get tons of these jeans for very inexpensive.

2.

After you have found the jeans you’d like to turn into shorts, you should try them on before you cut them, so you know how they fit and where you’d like to cut them.

3.

Then, find a nice fitting pair of shorts that are around or the same size as the pants that you want to make into shorts and line them up on top of the jeans to get ready to cut them (marking them with a pen is optional if you want exact results).

4.

Take your fabric (or very sharp) scissors and cut one pant leg (about 1/2 an inch down) and make sure to be slow and steady so you don’t make any nicks in the fabric. After you finish one leg, take the shorts off the pants and line up the cut side of the pants on the leg that has not been cut yet and repeat the same step.

5.

Now try on your new shorts and see how they fit. If you want to cut more then feel free to keep doing so until you get the results that you want. Another way to wear your new shorts if you don’t want to cut anymore fabric you can also roll up the ends of the shorts for a more comfortable casual look (like I did above). If you want to find out ways to customize your newly made shorts, learn more in the article SHORT & easy on page 18. niftythriftygoodwill.wordpress.com/2012/06/07/diy-high-waisted-denim-shorts-from-thrifted-mom-jeans

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Story By: Ali Devany

CUT FROM THE SAME CLOTH

Imagine yourself walking on the sidewalk downtown, and you see a girl wearing a tight black pencil skirt, a loose white blouse, and at least 3- inch tall plum colored heels.

Her cheeks have the perfect amount of blush on them, her eyelashes have a swipe of mascara, and a sleek pulled back ponytail sits on top of her head. No bulky jewelry or any extra accessories. Design Training, a well-respected fashion blog, would use this girl as a perfect definition of a European chic woman. But what exactly makes this style European?

Determining where an article of clothing originates from can be hard for society because cultures change them over time. Styles become

fashion!” The two styles seem to be defined by opinion; because no holy book exists that defines each and every style out there. Cameron Drake, a blogger on a style blog wrote on one of her blogs,

“Women on both sides of the Atlantic have very individual styles which makes it impossible to generalize.”

Store owners may define each style in simplistic terms that their buyers would understand, and a person immersed in one of the cultures may view and define their fashion differently.

“Women on both sides of the Atlantic have very individual styles which makes it impossible to generalize.”

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Erin Christi is a clothes buyer and manager for a woman’s apparel and accessory store in Houston called French Cuff Boutique.

She says European style is more experimental, individualized, and refreshing. Erin believes that Americans love to follow trends, and that their fashion allows more women to see the freedom in being stylish and creating outfits that make them happy. She thinks that

“American style is fleeting, European style is timeless. When I think of French styles I think of a woman in chic black skinny pants and a tailored tee with a skinny stripe and a gorgeous simple flat and a leather cross body bag. They encapsulate impeccable, timeless style with key, versatile items that suit an active lifestyle,” Erin said.

Pretty layers in muted palettes but luxe fabrications such as silk, cashmere and linen define the basics of European clothing to her.

“Quality, not quantity.”

Photo Taken By: Ali Devany

integrated and can travel all over the world. Two major fashion categories that you hear designers, store owners, and clothing buyers (like yourself) talk about are European and American styles. I bet it has happened to you before where you go into a store and try something on, and the clerk comes up to you and says something along the lines of “You look so European right now!” or “Wow, that truly speaks American

American women seem to choose styles that work with their lives, and the trends they follow are based off of the comfort of clothes fitting seamlessly with their lifestyle.

Top shop is a European brand store that opened locations in America. Their clothing shows how different styles become integrated.

“American style is fleeting, European style is timeless. It’s about quality, not quantity.”

Erin perceives American clothing as “the basics” that women wear on a daily basis. Agathe Denis, a student at LASA high school agrees with this statement, too.

Denis, a junior known for her chic style, credits her fashion sense to spending time in France growing up, and looking up to her stylish older cousins.

“When I was young my mother would buy my clothes, and she would generally buy them in France, and I would always try to dress like my older cousins who are all very stylish. My style would be different if I did not have a French background,” Agathe said.

Like many Europeans, Agathe has the same concepts of American style.

When she imagines the typical American outfit, she thinks of bright patterns, many colors, and tennis shoes.

“I hate it when people wear tennis (exercise) shoes with an otherwise normal outfit!” Agathe said.

Agathe doesn’t think there’s a true way to define each style, “If you are talking about a specific article of clothing specifying whether the item is American or European doesn’t mean much more than it is. However, people often classify clothing trends in certain countries as being American or European though it may be untrue, however it gets the general point across,” she says.

Now, let’s go back to the girl you saw walking downtown. Do you think you’re able to put her outfit into a style category like Design Training’s blog easily did? This brings us back to the question of if you can define a style by a generalized definition.

Styles get mixed together over time, and the lines get blurred when it comes to their origins. No dictionary of fashion defines whether or not something is American or European and making a blanket statement based off of an opinion shouldn’t be how you define a style.

Agathe models for Rowan Youngs’ photoshoot for an artistic photography project.

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A dab of delight for your lips.

Keep your lips feeling baby-soft and super smooth with the all natural blend of eos lip balms.

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Shop ‘Til You Drop Story and Photos by: Tabitha Vedrine-Chester

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Emily Etheredge, an artist with a camera in hand, walks into her favorite Forever 21. As she held it she scours the accessory shelves for ideas.

As an artist at work she regularly looks for inspiration from the variety of rings, necklaces, or earrings dotting the shelves.

By using the pictures of the items from chain department stores she is able to create her own handmade versions.

Etheredge says, “A huge goal for my jewelry has been deciding on a style that is so specific to me that if my pieces got famous, someone would be able to pick them out on the street and know that they’re my designs.”

worth the extra money.

From prior experience Etheredge shares her own views on buying from local artists, “Local art is very cool to own and the people that I buy them from always excited me to start my own projects.”

Since the beginning of the 1970s Austin has had a boom of artistic culture. There are numerous art shows such as the Armadillo Christmas Bazaar and Blue Genie Art Bazaar that have been supporting local artists for many years. With such an abundant source of handmade local art many teen girls have had different ideas about whether buying local art is

She shares the values of meeting face-to-face with local artists, “They make you see why they designed this piece, how long they spent on it, and how important it is to them.”

She stands by her belief that, “When you know the story behind a piece, it is so much cooler to own, which is the idea I want to convey with my pieces.”

Elizah Flores, a talented up cycler and expert thrift shopper, makes her all her clothes.

“I generally re-purpose my clothing to get the fit or style that I want by taking cheap second-hand clothes from thrift shops, or hand-medowns, and cut them up and sew them back together however I think they’ll look good.”

Flores creates most of her clothes by continuous thrifting from many thrift store chains.

“I like to buy graphic tees and jeans from chain stores from time to time, although I usually alter them. It really depends on what I’m looking for. I go to Buffalo Exchange, a chain/thrift store at least twice a month.”

Handcrafted gold plated chain necklace created by jewelry maker Emily Etheredge.

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Flores mostly dedicates her clothing to re purposing to fit her own needs but does make them for her own profit. She greatly admires local art but shows a contrasting opinion about purchasing local art for herself.

“I think that local art items, especially jewelry, are a lot more special than store bought items because they’re very individual and creative but, I truly think everyone should have a good mix of local and store bought items, since local items aren’t always the most wallet-friendly.”

“I like buying local art, but sometimes it gets expensive. Store bought items are usually lower priced, but lacking in uniqueness. I guess it takes a balance between the two with my clothing.”

“I try to shop for accessories that will last me a while, like nice rings, necklaces, and belts. Mostly things that I can wear all the time and will go with everything which are usually more expensive.”

Does it count if an artist uses ideas or items from mass chains to produce art? Common questions most shoppers wonder if it is worth it if they spend the extra money for handmade art versus buying from chain stores. Local fashionista and skilled painter Sage Birrell likes to balance her quirky style with both handmade items and items she bought from chain stores.

Though she prefers her own specific style she does have her own opinion on past experience visiting art shows around Austin.

“I think that local art items, especially jewelry, are a lot more

special than store bought items because they’re very individual and creative. But, I believe that everyone should have a good mix of local and store bought items, since local items aren’t always the most wallet-friendly.”

Even though these girls have their own individual style choices, they all like to shop at sales but don’t mind to spend the extra money on something that handmade that is unique and special to them.

Elizah Flores, talented up cycler wears some of her re purposed clothes.

“I shop at chain stores more or less 60 percent of the time because those are the ones with the biggest deals and variety of clothing.”

Aside from shopping at all of the trendy chain stores Birrell likes to balance out her style when she goes to sell at many local art shows around Austin. Each weekend she experiences new handmade styles from many artists that she wants to incorporate into her clothes and art.

In fact, she even stated, “I personally love spending the extra money on local art/clothing. When I’m wearing their products I feel like I am the only one out there with this on and I look awesome!”

Star volleyball player Chloe Edmiston prefers to shop at chain stores like J. Crew, Madewell, and Anthropologie where she can get high quality items and stay convenient to her schedule.

DIAMOND 13

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CONFIDENCE

QUEEN Story and Photos by: Zeena Jarrar

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Alone in the silent bathroom at school, Anna Johns sits in the stall during lunch like usual. With no food to eat she sits by herself hoping for the hour to end soon.

Her stomach grumbles but she continues to ignore it, thinking that nothing tastes as good as skinny feels.

Here she battles one more day with anorexia.

“I am forever in a silent battle in my head over whether or not to lift the fork to my mouth, and when I talk myself into it, I taste only shame” Johns said.

10 years ago, before social networking was created, people used face-to-face interactions to bully and harass people now they can use Facebook or Twitter. Online bullying can cause many issues to a teen mentally. Many girls result to eating disorders and self-harm to cope with the bullying. Technology has changed the way teenagers see themselves because people who normally wouldn’t comment on the way some looks in person wouldn’t be afraid to do it over the web.

This can lead to teenagers having to deal with issues related to their self-confidence. Girls pick on other girls’ insecurities because when they make someone feel worse about themselves, they feel better. Teenage girls compete against each other on Facebook, who has the most likes or who has the most intriguing pictures. “It’s almost like each girl is running her own ad campaign on Facebook for herself,” therapist Nicole Shekarchi said.

Many girls struggle with their self-image. This impact on their self-confidence can cause many long term issues such as bulimia, 16

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Possible long-term effects from untreated depression may include; chronicle mental illness, social withdrawal, substance abuse, and cardiovascular damage.

“Learn to be happy with who you are and stop letting everything get you down because you’re beautiful just the way you are” Newman said.

anorexia, or any sort of eating disorders. They feel alone and that no one understands when they don’t realize that most teenage girls deal with self-confidence issues. A girl may seem fine on the outside, but she could break at any moment. People create these profiles on Facebook, only showing the best of them. Facebook is a new environment for teens other than just in the high school halls. It’s easier for people to pick on each other online than it is to do it in

person because you don’t have to see the other person’s reaction to what you say. Women compare themselves to other women’s profiles. They want to see who’s better, prettier, skinniest, and more.

What they don’t realize is that instead of trying to bring each other down, they should work together so they can all feel beautiful.

more open and friendly with their peers. They all have different view on confidence in oneself, and confidence in others.

“People look at you different when you have a lot of confidence,” student Chiara Alvisi said. “It’s good to believe in yourself.”

When people act overconfident it sometimes means that they have low self-esteem. People will put up this false image of themselves because they don’t usually feel confident enough to show their true self. Not staying honest and true to oneself can cause one to feel really lonely, like no one really knows how they actually act because they won’t let others know themselves and all their imperfections. An analogy therapist Nicole Shekarchi said was confidence is like a coin with two sides that consist of one half with low self-esteem, and the other with false image of overconfidence.

“Beauty doesn’t involve being pretty, you can be beautiful no matter what you look like,” Alvisi said.

suggested ideas they believe would help someone who may be dealing with issues about self-confidence.

Students suggested that those people can listen to music, hang out with friends, read uplifting books, eat some comfort foods, maybe even cry. Find a friend who you can confide in and tell them how you feel; you never know what they might say that could help. Most of all, believe in yourself. “It’s really hard to get somewhere in life, and be competitive if you don’t believe in yourself.” LASA counselor Elizabeth Wallace said.

Wallace suggested that if you know someone who may feel down about themselves find the things they’re good at and do it with them.

Compliment them and let them know that you think they do a good job at whatever it is.

“You shouldn’t feel the need to change yourself to impress other people,” student Nina Newman said.

“Learn to be happy with who you are and stop letting everything get you down because you’re beautiful just the way you are.”

Many students at LASA have

“One thing that young women don’t understand is that when women compete with women it just makes everything worse, that thing about who looks better and whose skinner,” Shekarchi said. “Those kind of remarks just put women against women and everybody loses.”

Students at Liberal Arts and Science Academy, or LASA, believe that the atmosphere at their school is a lot different than other typical high schools. Teens at LASA are

Symptoms of depression consist of; a lack of interest in activities once pleasurable, fatigue, restlessness, insomnia, irritability, isolation, and more.

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Story and Photos by Zeena Jarrar

SHORT &

easy

Have some shorts in your closet that you can’t wear anymore because they don’t fit in with the latest trends? These quick DIY’s are easy to do and fun to make. Using some of these tips you can renovate all your shorts to what you’ve always wanted them like for a very cheap price.

WHAT YOU’LL NEED • Pair of shorts • Pair of scissors • Ruler • 30 studs • Bleach • Bucket • Gloves • White Vinegar • 100 sq. in. of fabric • Needle • 20 inches of thread • Sandpaper STUDDED SHORTS You will need pronged studs because they will stay on your shorts. Lay out your studs where you want them on your shorts.

Poke the prongs of the stud right through the shorts then just press the prongs down flat to hold the stud in place. Beauty Guru Johanna Bjork says if you want to, you could also sew a piece of fabric over the stud prongs, just to make them more comfortable against your skin.

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BLEACHED SHORTS Hang your shorts in a bucket with clips and place it in your bathtub.

Next, fill the bucket with bleach.

Connie Wang, fashion expert with a blog, says to not fill it up to the level you want to be bleached, but to fill it up 2 inches lower than that because the bleach will run.

With gloves on, make sure you keep your shorts as straight as possible in the bleach to assure a more even bleach line. You need to wear gloves or you may burn your hands with the bleach. Leave soaking around 20-30 minutes. Wash your shorts with water and then wash them with white vinegar and water.

DISTRESSED SHORTS First, you sand the shorts. Lay the shorts flat and use a piece of sandpaper to rub thin areas into the shorts. Use short, firm sanding motions, and sand in any direction.

If you sand long enough, you will create a hole, which is a good look for distressed denim.

Next, you will want to fray the edges. Use sharp scissors to fray the edges of the shorts. Lay the blade along the edge of the pant legs and use a scraping motion to fray.

Once you’ve worked the edges with your sandpaper, place your shorts into the washer and dryer. This will finish the process and really give you that worn, distressed look.

FABRIC SHORTS Grab your fabric and measure it to a side of your shorts. Make sure the fabric goes all the way into the inseam on the shorts. Apply some fabric glue on the shorts everywhere you want the fabric to stick or just the outline of where you want the fabric to stay.

Make sure not to glue the belt buckle part because you’ll cut around this.

Stick the fabric to the shorts. Hold it down to make sure it adheres. Allow it to dry for one hour before touching it. Once dry, begin to cut the excess fabric with your small scissors. Cut around the buckle, the zipper, the pocket, the sides and the bottom. Once you cut it perfect, repeat previous steps if you want to do the other side. Make sure to not glue the zipper you leave that part of jean exposed.

For more fashion tips visit laurenconrad.com.

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Covering a wide range of needs for a flawless appearance that lasts.

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