Harvard’s most fashionable freshmen: Elsie Tellier

Welcome back to The Tab Harvard’s most fashionable freshman contest.

Last time in our search for the Yard’s freshest men and women, we saw the dashing style of Matthew Sarpong.

Today meet Elise Tellier.

I have Cystic Fibrosis, a fatal genetic illness, and as a result of medical complications (related but not always directly caused by CF) I sometimes require the use of a wheelchair. With the help of my cousin, I customized my chair and worked to make it a part of my outfits. I really try to embrace my disability and incorporate my medical items (e.g. sprucing up cannula) into my style as a means of normalizing it. My style is very noticeably pink, it’s my favourite and signature color so it’s probably never going to die. I try to mix classic pieces with modern touches in order to create a polished look without appearing too dated.

Growing up, we could only afford hand-me-downs and clothes from the thrift store so I learned how to find pieces that would help me better fit in a neighborhood that was more affluent than I actually was. My aunt (who raised me as her daughter) and I would regularly watch fashion shows on TV or read Vogue in stores so over time I came to take a lot of inspiration from the pieces which always remained constant. I never buy clothing full price – I still work on a budget – but I make it a personal goal to buy only items which I love and know will work into my wardrobe as a whole.

Keeping my closet consistent and having a clean colour coordination is very important to me. I want my outfits to have a coherency that gives the illusion of being very put-together (but without the effort). As a part of my religious and cultural beliefs, I maintain certain rules of modesty which I feel adds a certain challenge to finding outfits but it often leads to very unique pieces in my wardrobe from a wider variety of sources. I want people to look at the way I dress and have it give off an impression of my personality. The way you dress is the way you actually choose to present yourself to the world and I believe it is a good thing to represent yourself in a way that’s true to you.