Ilyssa Pachao represents the individuality of the ‘70s eclectic fashion, which she grabs influence from.

Pachao, a sophomore pre-nursing student, has a collection of clothes that has been compared to an art gallery.

Pachao hosts pop-up shops in her residence hall, where she sells unique clothes she finds at thrift stores. She encourages people to wear clothes they never thought they could wear.

In high school, Pachao would wear lingerie tops to school and classmates would respond by saying they could never wear that. She would always ask why, and her classmates never had an answer.

Pachao hates the idea of people not wearing something they like out of fear. Although she struggles with caring too much about how people perceive her based on her clothes, she tries to put more emphasis on what she finds beautiful.

“The way you dress is supposed to be a supplement of your personality, it doesn’t define you,” Pachao said.

It was normal in ‘70s fashion to take different trends and combine them, giving it an eclectic look. It was very common to combine earth tones with bold patterns and colors.

Pachao embodies ‘70s fashion by combining clothes from different decades to create her unique looks.

“There doesn’t need to be this constant nostalgia of longing for a different time. We can still have it and make it our own,” Pachao said. “My friend told me we can make this decade just as groovy.”

Pachao shops at thrift stores to help create her own aesthetic, opposed to retail stores picking trends for her.

“Composition, color and texture all matter when it comes to creating outfits,” Pachao said. “Clothing is art.”