Channeling My Inner Coco: I am Pretty Enough to be a Feminist

I've been looking for ways to wear this striped shirt.¹  It's a little too long, so it tends to make me feel frumpy unless I wear it with layers or tuck it in like I did yesterday.  I felt like this ensemble had elements of the simple elegance of Coco Chanel to it along with a more modern twist in the extra polka dots.  I know that I'll never be as glamorous as Coco was, but I did get several compliments on my outfit, including one from another feminist faculty member whom I greatly admire. 

1. Shirt - ??? (Filene's and remixed)

Skirt - J. Crew (thrifted and remixed)

Tights - Top Shop (gift and remixed)

Shoes - r2 (DSW and remixed)

Scarf - from another shirt (and remixed)

Bracelet - wedding gift from my husband

When Karl Lagerfield pretended to be Coco in an interview with Harper's Bazaar a few months ago, he remarked that Coco "was never ugly enough" to be a feminist. These kinds of remarks, the industry pressure for models to be and remain a size 0, the insane cost, among other factors are reasons that I'm not a fashionista -- all the more reason that I'm glad that my Coco inspired outfit came together from thrifted, repurposed, and remixed pieces.

As I've said before I care about clothes.  I also very much consider myself a feminist.  I kept my name rather than taking my husband's for both professional and personal reasons.  When I sat on an undergraduate teaching committee a few years ago, I helped to explore how we might attract more women to the history major.  My academic work has to do with gendered issues and giving sixteenth and seventeenth century women a voice (it also to some extent has to do with what they were wearing).  I am very much concerned with equity for women.  

What I'm saying is feminism shouldn't be a dirty word.  Feminists come in and should come in all genders, races, shapes, shoe sizes, and religious affiliations.  I am one.  My man of honor is one.  My hubs is one.  Ariel is one.  Yet, many women seem to find the term feminist offensive and one with which they don't wish to associate.  Of course, there are many variants of feminism, but, to (over)simplify, fundamentally being a feminist means wanting equal rights, equal opportunities, and legal protections for women.  Do people still honestly believe that we women shouldn't have those things?  Oh, wait, don't answer that.  Just check out Sal's fantastic post on patriarchy and start thinking about ways you can take action as an individual.

So, do you consider yourself to be a feminist?  Why or why not?  And do you see your identity as a feminist as connected in any way to your personal style of dress?