Adorned in a pink polka-dot dress, with gold bangles along her arms, a frosted bunny cookie ring on her finger and earrings looped through her hijab, Asiya “Meribelle” Amin, a senior social work major, has become known for her fashion on Seton Hall’s campus.
For Amin, fashion is more than what she puts on in the morning. It has become a creative outlet that she shares with thousands of followers through her Instagram account, @softymwilk.
“It’s been around since quarantine days,” Amin said. “I started posting myself on it [in] 2023, and then I archived all of my posts. Then [in] 2024-2025 I started taking it more seriously.”
After she began posting her content regularly, it took only one video for Amin’s account to go viral.
The video centered on “Arcane,” a popular animated television series that Amin loves.
“In the video, I was wearing a sweater with flowers on it and a floral skirt, and everyone was like, 'Oh my God, I really like your outfit,’” Amin said.
As she began her junior year at SHU and experimented more, she kept posting.
It didn’t take long for her to strike virality again.
“A photo that I posted that really blew up my account was my birthday outfit…that got 21,000 likes on Instagram,” Amin said.
Her birthday outfit featured a pink, polka-dot dress, heart heels and nails to match—still one of her favorite outfits to date.
But Amin’s closet wasn’t always filled with such bright colors and bold styles.
Growing up in a more conservative household, Amin only recently started experimenting with her personal style.
“I grew up in a very sheltered household,” Amin said. “My family was very religious and very Caribbean. Honestly, an alternative fashion style could be something of a shock to them.”
“Going to college gave me the confidence to start dressing in my own style,” Amin continued. “I think what inspires me is a lot of Japanese substyles, such as gyaru, J-fashion and lolita—EGL fashion.”
However, many of her whimsical looks are also inspired by Fancy Nancy.
“I like to think of myself as dressing up as my inner child would like to dress up,” Amin said. “So colors, frills, patterns, those are the things that inspire my style.”
As a Muslim, her religion strongly influences her fashion and identity.
“A lot of people think that because you’re modest and because you’re religious, that means you can’t wear any colors, you can’t wear cute clothing,” Amin said. “That’s not true.”
“You can definitely be whimsical while maintaining modesty,” Amin continued. “That doesn’t mean that you have to dress boring.”
Beyond promoting whimsical modesty, Amin has also become an advocate for sustainability, often finding new ways to reuse and re-style her old pieces.
“I do reuse a lot of my pieces because I do believe in sustainability,” Amin said. “If you can’t mix and match your pieces, if you’re too afraid of outfit repeating, then maybe look into yourself because you’re always going to repeat the outfit.”
However, she acknowledges this can be difficult for people to do, given her previous fast-fashion use.
“I do get a lot of my clothes now from thrifting,” Amin said. “Before I started thrifting I did get it from SHEIN. I used to shop fast fashion. I’m trying to cut back on that. I still use places like Amazon, AliExpress, which still contribute to the fast fashion industry. But I am trying to be careful with how I source my clothing, which is why I reuse outfits.”
Amin even shared some of her thrifting secrets.
“Vinted is a good site for finding the best pieces. Depop [too],” Amin said. “I thrift here in New Jersey. My favorite thrift store is American Thrift in Passaic [County]. That [place] is two stories; it’s huge. I also shop at 2nd Ave Thrift Store.”
Amin acknowledged that thrifting can sometimes be discouraging. In the end, though, finding pieces that reflect your personality can make the process all the more special.
“It’s all about carefully curating your clothing,” Amin said. “I know a lot of the time, we’re often in a rush to get things. We want to have this aesthetic by tomorrow, but in reality, it takes a lot of time to curate your pieces.”
While the clothes may be the base, the accessories are essential to completing the outfit.
“Accessorizing, for me, really makes a simple outfit feel like it’s complete,” Amin said. “Even if I put on jeans and a shirt, as soon as I accessorize, it’s going to look good. I always recommend people to wear accessories.”
Amin’s attention to detail extends beyond accessories, as she also enjoys experimenting with intricate nail designs.
“For the summer I did a floral French tip look,” Amin said. “For August, I did a circus-themed look. And for September, I did a back-to-school themed look.”
Amin frequents louisluciouscuticles, and gives them complete creative freedom.
For her September set, Crayola crayons, an apple and other school supplies were beautifully crafted on her nails—all of which were freestyle.
Amin believes the creativity in her styling is what people resonate with, especially those in Black and hijabi communities.
“We don’t get to see a lot of, you know, whimsical and fun, creative and out-there representation,” Amin said. “There’s a stigma against us…for hijabji’s, for example, it’s ‘oh, you can’t do this, you can’t wear color, you have to remain modest, you have to remain hidden.’”
Through her content, Amin hopes to push back against negative stereotypes, while showing younger girls they can embrace their individuality without compromising who they are.
“For Black girls, it’s always ‘a Black girl can’t be cute, a Black girl can’t be whimsical’ and that’s literally not the case,” Amin said.
“I am living proof, and there’s other people that are living proof that that is a false statement,” Amin continued. “So when I get the chance to inspire little girls who I used to be, that’s something that’s really heartwarming.”
With such a strong online presence, Amin does receive some hate comments on her page. However, she doesn’t let them get to her.
“I do find myself continuously getting, you know, really weird comments. There’s always going to be one or two hate comments within the thousands of positive comments I get,” Amin said. “What I do is I just hit the block button.”
Amin has learned to brush off the criticism of her content. Comments about her character are harder for her to ignore, though.
“I do get angry,” Amin said, candidly. “However, I try not to act out of my character and put that online, and have that be people’s portrayal of who I am.”
Rather than allowing the hate to silence her, Amin has used her growing platform to find her voice and advocate for change.
Amin mentioned being shy as a kid, but said that after becoming a creator and being given a platform, she feels responsible for speaking on the issues she cares about.
“As soon as I got my platform, I started to speak up on issues more,” Amin said. “I think going to school, and taking these classes, and learning more about my major gave me an extra amount of confidence to be louder with my voice."
“A lot of people don’t have the opportunity or privilege to speak up against injustice,” Amin continued. “And if I have this platform, I’m going to use it for good.”
Amin hasn’t stopped posting lighthearted fashion and art content, but mentioned it’s important to balance it with advocacy.
“Of course I like to post my little fun stuff, but I do talk about the struggles of being a hijabi, I do talk about the struggles of being Black, especially in America, especially in today’s climate where you have to watch over your back,” Amin said.
Amin has built her account over the years, consistently posting and using her platform to advocate for the issues that matter to her.
In the future, she hopes to see her account grow and watch her style develop.
“I just want to see how I grow in my style, as a person, and how my self-expression grows,” Amin said. “And let's see where it goes from there.”
For others who want to know the secret to building a platform, Amin says the message is simple: be yourself.
“People like uniqueness,” Amin said. “People like when you are yourself. So if you’re trying to be somebody else, if you’re trying to be like another influencer of some sorts, it’s not going to work.”
Kaelyn Blizard is the head editor of The Setonian’s Features section. She can be reached at kaelyn.blizard@student.shu.edu.
