Fall Flowers

Although it's much colder today here in the Midwest than it was the past couple of days, it's still a tad bit unseasonably warm for November.  So I decided this morning to wear a pair of open toed high heel shoes.  I probably wouldn't have worn them regardless of the nice, sunny weather, if it hadn't been for the fact that I only had to teach one class today and only had to schlep around one campus.  I like high heels, but on days when I know I have to walk more than 30 minutes on campuses and to buses I just don't think they're worth it (or, as a runner, worth the potential blisters).  I also probably wouldn't have worn these particular shoes if they hadn't gone so well with my skirt and matched the red of my shirt.   I love the floral pattern of these shoes. It also helped that one of this season's trends is to embrace flowery patterns for fall not just for spring.  I complimented the floral look of my shoes and the leafy pattern of my skirt with my lovely faux cameo necklace.

At any rate, my colleagues noticed my shoes.  As I was standing in the kitchen of my office building waiting for water to boil for a cup of tea, a colleage - who was also getting hot water - remarked that my shoes matched my skirt perfectly.  Then, another colleague, who had walked in to get his lunch, commented that they were perfect camoflage for walking around in fall leaves.  A third colleague, whose office is located right off the kitchen, heard this and insisted that I come into her office so that she could see my shoes. 

*Footnotes

Shirt - Pixie Hopkins (Filene's Basement)

Skirt - New York & Company

Tights - Target

Cardigan - August Silk (thrifted)

Shoes - Steve Madden (b-day gift)

Necklace - Etsy

Later when I thought about this, I realized that I didn't and don't feel any mockery in any of their remarks.  In part, no doubt, they have become used to seeing me in my many pairs of boots and shoes.   In part, these three colleagues all dress nicely.  I also felt that what thechemist-coture noted the other day is true: that there is increasingly a sense of approval for being dressed well, if not necessarily for being dressed stylishly.  Of course some academics (and people in other professions) still view fashion and any interest in fashion as empty-headed frivolity, but I like to think of clothing and style as enabling self-fashioning.   Do you find this to be true in your field?  Do you see increasing numbers of colleagues in your discipline caring about their appearance and wardrobe?