Williamson has limited her food purchases, walked the mile and a half to class instead of taking the subway, and skipped going out to bars and clubs in order to save up for her beloved Lululemon yoga pants and a new pair of designer jeans.

She, and other Gen Y women have grown up on brands just as they came of age with Nick at Nite, Beanie Babies, and slap bracelets. They sought out designer buy goods as early as middle school, first with $150 Kate Spade bags, soon after with $80 Juicy sweatpants and finally with $160 designer jeans. Over the years, Gen Y has become hyperaware of designer labels.

Although the recession has hurt premium apparel brands, they continue to find favor among fashion-conscious, Gen Y women who, so long as companies tailor their marketing strategies appropriately, are buying into affordable luxury.

Branding expert and author Rob Frankel believes that successful lines play to the desire for designer labels. “A big difference from traditional spending is that brand is far more important today than ever,” said Frankel, whose book, “The Revenge of Brand X,” instructs companies on effective branding strategies. He believes that Williamson, who is cutting back, is part of a minority. “Today, consumers will either go into debt to buy their chosen brand — or prefer to do without.” Frankel added.

Whether or not they are going into debt, members of Gen Y have enormous spending power. Adjusted for inflation, they spend five times more than their parents did at the same age, according to “Why Y Women,” an October 2009 study of Gen Y women’s influence on lifestyle trends prepared for Sugar Inc. by Radar Research. Gen Y spent more than $120 billion in 2007, found a recent Harris Interactive study.

With all of these dollars leaving Gen Y’s wallets, there is little doubt that the group is passionate about shopping. They spend more time at the mall, are surrounded by product placement, and are unwilling to repeat the same outfit, said Jayne O’Donnell, a retail reporter for USA Today. “One girl said to me, ‘if I’m going to post something on Facebook on Friday, I can’t be wearing the same thing the next Friday in my photos,’” said O’Donnel, who also co-authored “Gen BuY: How Tweens, Teens and Twenty-Somethings Are Revolutionizing Retail.” With more people watching, the pressure to consistently debut a fresh, impressive style has shot up.

To attract Gen Y shoppers, apparel companies must spice up their images. “Especially during this time, brands really have to focus themselves as providing something unique,” said Kwesi Blair, a senior associate at Robert Burke Associates, a New York luxury consulting and brand development firm. “It’s really going to be about, ‘Why should I get this brand over something else?’” Blair points to Tory Burch, defined by its emblematic $195 shoe, the Reva ballet flat, as an example of a company that has made itself stand out.

For affordable luxury brands wishing to distinguish themselves, digital marketing campaigns are a must. Coach has ramped up its Facebook page, which now has over 470,000 fans. D&G is a heavy presence on the Dolce & Gabanna Facebook page, and Tory Burch updates its Facebook page daily. All of these brands are on Twitter.

But, even with this slew of changes, old-fashioned quality reigns supreme. “It’s more worth it for me to invest in something I know I will have forever and ever than to buy cheaper, trendier pieces that may fall apart after one wearing or that I’m not sure I will like after a few weeks,” said Courtney Griffin, an NYU junior whose closet is filled with pieces from Marc by Marc Jacobs, Juicy Couture, and Free People. All three of these labels fit into the affordable luxury category, with prices ranging from $90 to $500.

Ultimately, young female shoppers are responding well to the ways in which the fashion world is accommodating their desire for affordable luxury. “I don’t necessarily make any sacrifices to wear designer clothes, but I do try to be smart about it,” added Griffin.

The answer is overwhelmingly “yes.” Students are dissatisfied by the college hook-up culture.

Hooking up, defined as a sexual interaction outside of a romantic relationship and with no expectations beyond one night, is often problematic, particularly for women. Nonetheless, with dating -– romantic prospects formally spending time together — seemingly a relic of the past, college women continue to take part in the hook up culture.

Only 50 percent of college-age women indicate having been asked on six dates or more since beginning college, and a third of women surveyed were asked on two dates or fewer, according to “Hooking Up, Hanging Out, and Hoping for Mr. Right—College Women on Dating and Mating Today,” a 2001 report by the Independent Women’s Forum.

When dates are few and far between, women experiment with what for many is an undesirable, but unavoidable alternative: hooking up. “There’s a lot of just hooking up with people you don’t know, or people you regularly hook up with, but are not in a relationship with beyond the physical stuff,” said a junior at Stanford University. “Then, there are people who are practically married. But, there’s nothing really in between. There’s not much real dating.” She occasionally hooks up with strangers when intoxicated because she knows nothing else. “I feel like hooking up is the only way to satisfy my needs. It’s my only viable option,” she said.

Given this lack of traditional dating and relationships on college campuses, the college years are prime for hooking up. “You’re living cheek and jowl where there are no longer separate facilities for the sexes,” said Seaman, the author of “Binge: What Your College Student Won’t Tell You,” an examination of the excesses of modern campus life. “It’s almost like the system is begging you to hook up.”

He also believes that for women, hooking up is more difficult than dating. “Just as women feel they can belly up to the bars and drink as much as guys do, they also think they can probably engage in this kind of short-term sexual satisfaction the way they have seen guys do for a long time,” said Seaman. “But, in the end, even though that appears to be contributing to their freedom, they find it doesn’t get them very far. After they’ve had a hook-up, a lot of women still want a relationship.”

Others, like Salon staff writer Tracy Clark-Flory, consider the hook-up culture helpful to developing relationships. “There’s the potential for hooking up to be a very positive and healthy experience,” said Clark-Flory, whose 2008 feature for Salon, “In Defense of Casual Sex,” garnered hundreds of passionate responses. “Hooking up prepared me to be in long-term, committed relationships. It’s much more relaxed and much more natural.” Clark-Flory’s success in the hook-up culture likely stems from her ability to separate hooking up from relationships. But, many women seem unable to take that attitude, instead hoping their hook-ups will progress into long-term relationships. They are usually disappointed.

Of the 64 percent of college students who report having hooked up at least once, 43 percent of female survey participants indicated that a hook-up would ideally lead to a traditional romantic relationship. However, only six percent of those polled, both male and female, expected this outcome, according to the 2008 Binghamton University study, “Hook-Up Behavior: A Biopsychosocial Perspective.”

This disjunction can make hook-ups psychologically dangerous. “We want attachment, which like sex, is a fundamental desire,” said Justin Garcia, a researcher in the Laboratory of Evolutionary Anthropology and Health at Binghamton University, and the co-author of the study. “That desire for attachment is something we ignore, especially in the hook-up culture.”

One Syracuse University junior craves such emotional attachment. She dreams of a relationship in which she feels loved and appreciated, but at age 20, all of her sexual interactions have been hook-ups. “When I was 13, I swore that in the future, I would never have sex with anyone who wasn’t my boyfriend,” she said. “That changed as sex became more casual amongst people my own age. I realized that our culture is open to fulfilling those needs with people who aren’t our significant others.” Nonetheless, as she runs through a list of her sexual partners, it quickly becomes apparent that in the days following a hook-up, she is always worried about an awkward run-in.

She is not alone in her concerns. Sixty-one percent of women who have hooked up indicated their experience made them feel both “desirable” and “awkward” in “Hooking Up, Hanging Out, and Hoping for Mr. Right—College Women on Dating and Mating Today,” the 2001 Independent Women’s Forum report.

In an attempt to avoid this turbulent mix of emotions, some college women break their hook-up patterns once they realize that hook-ups do not lead to true love. A Barnard College senior is one such girl. “I look for a dating scene off-campus, at bars, events, and organizations,” she said. “There’s this unstated acknowledgment campus-wide that the men here are not interested in relationships.”