The competitive graphic design program at its nationally ranked fine arts school and the appeal of the city as a cultural hub made the University of Texas at Austin the perfect choice for stylish freshman and blogger Lindsay Gallagher.

Story by Sara McCann

Photos by Veronica Briones

Passionate about travel and fashion, Gallagher has always documented her adventures. About a year ago, her journaling and photography habits manifested into a lifestyle blog. The blog features everything from carefully crafted playlists to outfit inspiration, with each post characterized by Gallagher’s signature sense of style in graphic design and photography. Her casual, witty writing makes it seem as if a friend is giving you lifestyle advice, making her beautifully put-together pieces all the more pleasing to read.

ORANGE Magazine spoke with Gallagher over coffee about her inspirations and what she hopes to accomplish with her platform.

What inspired you to start the blog?

Gallagher: All my friends would tell me they could see me doing it. I’d say most compliments I have directed towards me are towards the clothes I wear. Ever since 7th grade, I’ve started really getting into fashion and style and reading other people’s blogs. My sister showed me really good ones, like Sonya Esman, Alexa Chung and Camille Roe — they have really good style inspo. I basically just wanted a creative outlet kind of thing, so I’m like, I’ll give it a shot. It’s kind of like a lifestyle blog, but mainly fashion.

Traveling is a big factor. You can’t really put your finger on what it is about a culture, but it’s just a vibe. Like everyone in Rome had the coolest sneakers and I just wanted to know where they got them. Everyone has this look, and it’s really badass. And their hair — their hair is so good.

I love taking photos and writing, but honestly, before the blog, I never saw myself as a writer. Writing is more challenging for me, but I’ve learned how to write more through it.

On traveling, how do you plan to keep that up in school?

I try to travel as much as I can because my sister and I love to. Definitely over Christmas break I want to try to go back to Rome. Australia is a possibility. Maybe back to Peru. I go to Peru fairly frequently because all of my mom’s side of the family is there. I’ve always wanted to celebrate Christmas in the northeast, maybe Boston where it’s white so we can have a snowy Christmas.

I went to the study abroad fair and I know there’s a maymester for design majors in Italy and that looks really great. I don’t know if I’ll do it freshman year, I might do it sophomore year though. I would definitely blog — I might post it after my stay, but I’ll definitely write about everything, including what I wear.

What inspires your style in general?

Especially right now, I’m really inspired by ‘50s, ‘60s fashion. I’m considering getting my hair cut in the ‘60s style. I’m also really into ‘80s style and music — those go hand in hand. Even shows, like Stranger Things, give me so much style inspo.

I definitely get inspiration from places like magazines, Pinterest or assignments in graphic design. I’m like, “This is cool, I can incorporate this into my blog.” I’m also really into combining photos with illustrations. I really want to do that more. I really don’t want to try to copy anyone, but if I see something I like, I’ll stem an idea off of that and develop it into something different.

I take a lot of pictures of people on the streets.  Like in London, people had really good style.  I just take a lot of pictures of strangers, they’re the best.

Is there anything in Austin that has inspired you?

I kind of want to start blogging about people I meet here, especially at ACL [Austin City Limits]. I met these two really cool people — Sess, who transferred from NYU [New York University] to here and is really good at writing poetry, and this girl named Carla, who doesn’t go to UT but is from Austin. We just really vibed well and I want to blog about it. People like that inspire me.

Describe the process of creating a post from start to finish.

So, if it’s like an outfit post, basically I’ll just like wear an outfit one day and once I throw it together, I’m like, “This is really cute, I should blog about it,” or if I order clothes from a new store like Frankie Phoenix — I featured them in one blog post because I got one of their tops and their fishnet tights. I really liked those, and they actually followed me on Instagram. They have a really cool online store. So, basically I’ll just write about what I’m wearing, why I’m liking it and trends I’m in. If I’m into a trend, I’ll blog about it. And then like travel ones, I already take photos everywhere I go, and then I just make it like a narrative.

Whoever I’m with takes photos for me — my sister does really well. My friend Chloe just shot one that I still have yet to post. I’m also incorporating graphic design in it — I took two semesters of graphic design in high school and was certified, so I just use Photoshop for illustrations on photos.

Who is your target audience?

Anyone that has a passion for the arts or fashion, or for traveling. I also feature music on my blog, so anyone who is looking for new music or maybe has a similar music taste as I do. I’m all about finding new music.

How would you describe the theme of your blog?

Minimalist and eclectic.

What are your main goals for your blog?

I guess throughout the whole blogging process, for me, I enjoy collaborating with others. I’ve met some photographers here that are really cool, so working with them would be fun. As for a specific goal, I think that I want to start collaborating with and featuring companies. Austin-based company Beehive would be really cool. The University Fashion Group actually featured them and that was cool.

I also want to add food content. Being vegan for almost two years, I want to expand to that area, maybe with recipe ideas. I feel like a lot of people think being vegan is hard, and I feel like showing how easy it is is important for lifestyle. I actually just bought a pair of vegan shoes on Depop too, but I’d mainly write about vegan food, not as much vegan style.  I get inspiration from Frey Haley, a vegan blogger from Australia, who’s very ‘70s, which I’m also into. ‘50s to ‘80s — those decades are prime.

What’s the overall purpose of your blog?

Honestly, I do it for me. It’s very satisfying to read through my old posts. It’s kind of like a diary, and I like that. Also maybe one day, if I could collaborate with companies, I feel like it’d be awesome to feature companies that I genuinely like.

Be sure to check out Lindsay’s Austin (and beyond) adventures at her website.