Category: Lauren in Maynooth

The Emerald Style

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A complete guide of how to dress in Ireland:

Let’s face it, fitting in to a new country starts with the appearance. Before you even let people know what your accent sounds like, they might already have an idea based off your outfit. Fool the Irish, and look the part with these simple clothing/beauty trends.

Ladies, start stocking up on leggings of every color. In fact, you only need a pair of jeans if you’re going out, or sweatpants if you’re never going to leave the house. Leggings are the moment, and truly have a chokehold on university students at Maynooth. The next article of clothing is crucial, for you HAVE TO pair your leggings with white high top shoes (usually converse but the girlies don’t discriminate). In fact white crew socks with any white shoes will suffice. Now that we’ve established the bottom half let’s talk about the top. The shirts are pretty interchangeable for they are not the center of the fit. Any crop top will work perfect because the real star of the outfit is the giant cropped puffer coat. It can be any color, but black is the most popular. If you really don’t want to haul a puffer jacket you can wear a sweatshirt with a puffer vest, but that is the only exception. Finally, to complete the look wear a slicked back high ponytail. The chances of seeing 50 girls wearing this exact same outfit in class are high, but hey, you’ll fit in.

Men, it starts with your hair. Your mullet, long hair, or even medium length hair, has got to go. Fade’s are the only hairstyle (with the slight exception of a buzzcut) that Irish men have to offer. Even though it only suits a certain style of hair, it does not stop all the lads from rocking it. To pair with the fade you’ll want to grab a pair of joggers (the more it looks like you’re going to soccer practice the better.) These joggers need to be slightly looser than a pair of skinny jeans. To pair with the joggers you have some options. Option one is the athletic half zip of either a soccer or rugby team. Option two involves the same puffer as mentioned for the girls, but instead of it being cropped it will fall just slightly below your waist. There aren’t really any rules to what color the puffer or joggers have to be, however I am almost certain if your joggers are grey your puffer has to be black.

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Pictured above is Love Island’s Molly Mae and Tommy Fury perfectly representing the day to day outfit choices I see on the regular. (Image source: headtopics.com)

Solo Travel For the Soul

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This past weekend I was in Budapest and met someone who helped me put into words how liberating traveling by yourself is. Don’t get me wrong I love being with my friends and getting to make memories with recurring people in my life, but there’s just something about being alone in a new environment that is so important to self-development.

Growing up in the United States we’re told that traveling solo as a female in other parts of the world is not safe and you should always have an accomplice. However, I feel more unsafe walking home during the daytime in Denver than to catch a bus at 3am in Dublin. Obviously not every city is the same and you should definitely look into the safety precautions of wherever you’re traveling to, but from experience it just feels safer at night in Europe. People still live their lives after dark and it’s not intoxicated adult men yelling at you, but rather couples going for an evening stroll, or friends coming home from a park. So yes, be cautious if you travel and look into where you’re going, but also don’t be scared of what could easily be one of the best experiences of your life.

In Budapest, me and my friend Kendall went to the infamous Szechenyi thermal baths. While sitting on the steps and talking about a lost bracelet a girl leaned over and said, “are you guys American?” That one simple line led into a wonderful conversation about how she was also an American on her first solo travel trip after doing some work in Berlin. I did some solo travel before arriving in Ireland so I instantly understood her saying she felt like a freshman in college again. But it’s even better, not only are you placed in a foreign environment with no training wheels to guide you through, but you’re also given the confidence to speak to anyone because, well, you’re probably not going to see them again. I went to the baths with my one friend from DU that day, and ended up booking a river cruise with the stranger I met at the baths, and the Australian she had met earlier that morning (who also happened to be a solo female traveler), and we had an incredible night that I will never forget.

Solo travel puts you out of your comfort zone as far away from the things you’re used to, but also makes you feel more like yourself than ever before. It allows you to find the confidence that was buried beneath your comfort zone, and branch out to make connections and memories that will last a lifetime.