By Drew Sallinger/Gator Galaxy Staff

“Fifty percent  thrift, 50 percent  clearance, 100 percent having fun,” said North Star Art teacher Mrs. Jocelyn Reiss. She is new this year, but has already made quite the splash with her fashion. Some might call it weird, but others would call it retro and fun loving.

Reiss is an 80’s and 90’s kind of person, and, right now, that’s what’s back in style. “It’s pretty much whatever is available and clean,” said Reiss. As a mother of two, she spends much of her time running around with her kids and working on things for school. In regard to her style, she said, “My mantra in the classroom, in my artwork, and in my clothes is ‘why not?’” Her background in art really influences the way she dresses.

Being a sculpture artist, her ideas on things are indubitably more creative than most teachers. There are a lot of very well dressed teachers at North Star, but Reiss’s fun filled style is based off her love of thrift shopping and her “love of the treasure hunt.”

When she was younger, Reiss lived in a lot of different places including Iceland. Another place was Miami Florida, which happens to have one of the largest thrift stores in America. Reiss is very adamant about keeping what she wears as classy as possible, and is a strong supporter of women’s body image and thinks a lot of girls are getting dumb ideas from magazines as to “what’s cool”.

Reiss also said she was very insecure about the way she looked as a teenager and spent the majority of her time trying to cover herself up. She personally is disgusted by the general majority of the magazines on women’s fashion, saying they depict unrealistic standards for girls.

While working at the University of Nebraska as a librarian, she fell in love with the magazine “Bust.” “Bust” uses average sized women as cover models and doesn’t have advertisements on weight loss and diets. “One big thing about what I wear every day is I just want to be comfortable. You’ll never see me in heels, because I’m usually rocking my grandma shoes,” said Reiss. Reiss said she never set out to be a role model, but, at this rate, with her funky style and her “why not” attitude, she’s on the fast track to being a very positive fashion role model for girls at North Star.