When I was in college, I had to trudge miles through the snow to get to class – with bare feet.

Yeah, right. To me, good footwear is like an American Express card. I never leave home without it. I may not have gotten frostbite on my feet or anything, but things sure were different back in the day.

For starters, no one had cell phones. No one. The only logo you ever saw on a bag was L.L. Bean. Beer-can pyramids and the occasional string of colored Christmas lights were considered the ultimate in dorm decor. While shopping for my freshman dorm, I was delighted to find a matching teal footlocker and beanbag chair at Ames, which complemented my bed-in-a-bag from T.J’s. Sort of.

Looking back, it seems my excitement was utterly unfounded. Today, there are whole marketing schemes built around college chic. And the goods? Let’s just say they make my footlocker-beanbag combo look a little – How do I put this? – garish.

It wasn’t until sophomore year, when I discovered World Over Imports, that things started to look up. One papasan chair and a paper lantern later and – voila! – instant style. On a budget, no less. My friends had turned me on to the whole tapestry idea a year earlier – a batiked Indian throw that makes any piece of furniture or bare wall look halfway decent – but since I didn’t have any furniture, it didn’t really matter.

World Over is even better now – where else can you get a polka-dotted papasan chair, funky beaded curtains, collapsible bookcases, a butterfly chair with a built-in cup holder, and one – yes, one – set of dishes for your microwave cooking adventures? Sure, the papasan chair that once set my parents back $99 now costs around $140 – inflation, kids; you’ll learn all about it in Economics 101. But you can get a smaller, more dorm-friendly UMA chair or a retro butterfly chair for $59.99 each. (For the lesson on bargains, keep reading ShopGirl – it’s much cheaper than a textbook.) Even better, World Over will offer a 15 percent discount to shoppers with a valid student ID during the last two weeks of August and the first two weeks of September.

If you’ve ever shared a very small room with four other people, you understand the importance of storage. If you haven’t, wait until you try to fit a fifth of your wardrobe into your dorm “closet,” which is about the size of a large sardine can. This is where risers come in – they prop up your bed so you can stow more stuff underneath. These, along with many other college necessities such as flip-flops and shower caddies, extra-long twin sheets (check with your university before you buy – my bed didn’t require them) and mattress pads and laundry bags, can be found at Bed Bath & Beyond.

The folks at Bed Bath & Beyond make it easy for students with a checklist of essentials and the “Pack ‘n Hold” service. This eliminates the moving truck by allowing students to scan the items in store or shop online and have them shipped to their dorm. Or students can pick up their goodies at a Bed Bath & Beyond near their campus.

At Burlington Coat Factory’s dorm shop, the thing that most excites me is the Dirt Devil electric broom. For $26.95, you can’t beat it. And while it isn’t as exciting as posters and paper lanterns, it’ll get the job done. JCPenney offers a beanbag chair that puts my teal one to shame ($39, www.jc

penney.com). It can be monogrammed, too, to prevent any roommate squabbles over whose chair is whose.

The “Back to College” selection at Target makes me long for my dorm days, minus the Ramen. Heck, this stuff is tasteful enough for homeowners, let alone dorm dwellers. Whether your style is Danish modern or retro lounge, you can cram in style. I like the door-hanger dry-erase boards, sort of like a “do-not-disturb” sign, but cooler, for $4.99. Also fabulous are the decorative strings of lights and the ultrachic table lamps for $19.99.

But my favorite thing? Call me sentimental. Call me tacky. But I’d still buy the beanbag chair for $19.99. Just not in teal.

ShopGirl would love to hear from you! Send questions, comments or suggestions by e-mail to kandresen@bangordailynews.net, by U.S. mail to Kristen Andresen, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor 04402-1329, or by fax to 941-9476. Tune in to ShopGirl at 5 p.m. Fridays on WLBZ-2.