With all the cookie-cutter styles available around State College a la Abercrombie & Fitch and The North Face, it can be challenging for Penn Staters to establish a unique style. Some students have a found a solution to this problem by creating their own fashion styles.

For students interested in creating a style of their own, the independent women's magazine, Venus, provides a do-it-yourself section for guidance.

Emilie Zanger, the do-it-yourself (DIY) editor of Venus magazine, said the section covers everything from sewing and crafts to small business advice.

"People are making everything these days," she said. "It takes you out of your consumerist loop we're stuck in, like shopping at the Gap or Urban Outfitters."

Anastasia Hershey (freshman-division of undergraduate studies) said she creates a variety of clothing pieces as a hobby.

"Well, I made some of my friends pajama pants for Christmas," Hershey said. "I can do skirts, dresses, and just like craft stuff, I guess."

Hershey said she also knits and crochets. She said she made her dress for a school dance.

"I made my homecoming dress my sophomore year of high school. My mom took it for adjustments, but I pretty much did it myself," Hershey said.

As for actually wearing the clothes that she creates, Hershey said the weather is not always permitting.

"All the stuff that I have here is stuff that I've bought," she said. "A lot of the stuff I made is like summery."

Hershey said she doesn't have her sewing machine at school because there's no space for it in her room in supplemental housing.

Robin Koeller (freshman-environmental resource management) said she makes some clothing items, but not her whole wardrobe.

"My mom sewed, like I can always remember her sewing when I was little, so I guess it just sort of rubbed off on me," Koeller said. "I'd like to pursue it. I'd like to do it more than I do but I feel like I never have time."

With the extra room for her sewing machine in her downtown apartment Koeller said she can her to continue her hobby with the time she does have.

"Usually, I make just skirts because they're pretty easy," she said.

Koeller said she also makes dresses and T-shirts.

"I made this shirt that I applied a heart on it and wrote Axel Rose on it because I have a huge crush on him," she said.

Koeller also said she recreates unattractive high heels into something fun and wearable.

"I usually paint shoes," she said. "I buy them and paint them and just make them really fun," she said.

Shelley Banker, owner of The Rag and Bone, 220 S. Allen St., said some of her student customers buy vintage clothing to make something new.

"They'll use it to make something entirely different, or they'll kind of alter something and use part of it to make a whole other top or skirt or whatever," Banker said.

Banker said using existing vintage pieces can be a cheaper solution rather than going out and purchasing new fabric.

"Fabric can be pretty expensive," she said. "Even if you bought a dress for 15 bucks, it still could be cheaper than buying a fabric, so I think sometimes people look at it that way."

Banker said vintage buttons and trims can be appealing to students for decorating something they're trying to create. She added that she asks her customers to return and show her what they've created with the vintage pieces.

"The tie skirt really stands out in my mind," Banker said. "A girl made a whole skirt out of vintage men's ties, those wide '70s ties that kind of have crazy prints and colors. She took those and attached them all the way around so the bottom had the zigzag of the tie, like pleats."

Some customers make accessories out of the vintage pieces.

"I remember one time a girl made a bag purse with some fabric of a dress she bought here," Banker said.

Zanger said that besides having fun creating pieces, homemade clothing and accessory creators can pursue their passions by getting the attention of others.

For Penn State students interested in starting a small business featuring their creations, Zanger recommended talking to people who are actually doing it.

"It doesn't take much money, it just takes some business savvy and believing in what you're doing and if it's worth someone buying," Zanger said.