Ladies' Choice: Jean Shopping with the Man Repeller

When asked to name a pair of jeans she particularly liked from her Teen Vogue shoot, Leandra Medine doesn't miss a beat. "The ones that look like a denim mattress," she says, referring to a pair of Current/Elliott boyfriend jeans with quilting. "I saw those and was like, Ah, I have to wear them."

A denim-mattress pant may conjure up the least sexy mental image ever, but to anyone familiar with Leandra's blog, that's exactly the point: Launched in April 2010, The Man Repeller is dedicated to the notion that most of the fashion that women like is repellent to men. It features snapshots of Leandra, a 22-year-old from New York City, in fashion-forward getups (think shoulder pads and harem pants) accompanied by witty, self-deprecating one-liners, like "Holy macaroon seed! I look like a casino table!" The blog is a hit—Leandra has attracted a following of 700,000 visitors a month; media attention from outlets like the New York Times; and a slew of side projects, including a collaboration with jewelry label Dannijo that hits stores in September. "It's crazy. My brother uses me as a pickup line now," she says. "It turns out being the brother of Man Repeller has made him a woman propeller."

It's easy to understand why: In person, Leandra's like your BFF shopping partner. When she's discussing fall's top denim trends, her advice is not only helpful, but it's delivered in the same hilarious quips that populate her blog. On colored washes: "Wear them in a maroony shade—in purple and green they get too Avril Lavigne 2006." On overalls: "Roll them up so you're not fully Amish." And on the flare leg (her favorite): "Men get confused when women dress like it's 1977."

She admits there are styles that are foolproof man-getters—namely, Daisy Dukes. "They're like denim panties," she notes, before adding, "but I have a theory that the girls who dress like that are actually the real man repellers."