30/30 Finally! Finals & Finale

I wore my last 30x30 outfit on the first day of finals week, which also happened to be the day that I gave my first final exam here.  My students had a take-home essay and a paper revision due for the final exam, and although they were turning them in online I went into campus just in case there were any issues/disasters.  Thanks to Murphy's Law, because I went in for the afternoon, everything went off without a hitch.

 30x30 Items: 4. Plaid Dress - Rabbit Rabbit + 25. Velveteen Blazer - Rafaella + 27. Spectator Oxford Pumps - r2

Accessories: Amethyst Tights - We Love Colors, Polka Dot Tights - Target, Belt - from this dress

Here are some things I have learned doing this challenge.  I am pretty good at remixing - years on a grad student budget will do that to a person.  I do not have the time to take photos on a daily basis -- much less write up a post.  That's okay because I have never envisioned this blog as a daily outfit log or journal.  While I post some of my outfits, I've never felt the need to post all of them, and my goal all along had been more to invite discussion on particular issues that have to do with the intersections of sartorial choices and other issues, particularly those having to do with the strange workplace that is academia.  I certainly enjoy and appreciate comments on particular outfits and welcome those!  However, I want to get back that original mission along with the outfit photos.  If you are only here for the outfits, you may just want to scroll down to the last line....

As an academic I self-fashion myself into and perform the role of researcher, writer, instructor, colleague, advisor, and often all on the same day.  There are few jobs that involve dealing with so many sensibilities on a regular basis.  Not only am I dressing to teach my classes, but I'm also dressing to meet with colleagues and occasionally administrators.  Some of them may have particular feelings and expectations about the dress of their students and colleagues.  Just read the comments on any Chronicle article about attire or hotness, there are clearly academics who believe that students and fellow faculty in miniskirts or baggy pants aren't politically aware.  Some think that a hint of cleavage or a visible tattoo are indicators of an academic lightweight and/or an unworthy colleague.  Yet, others consider the ability to flaunt tattoos and to show a hint of cleavage or to wear trackpants one of the perks of working in academe.  Negotiating this can be fascinating and problematic.  SFE has blogged about her longer hair being a potential marker of her youth and thus potentially one of her inexperience as a teacher in the classroom.  I have blogged about my reticence in wearing skinny jeans or shorter skirts on campus. Herr Doktor and I have dialogued about visible piercings in the academy.

Ultimately who defines what is professional attire in the academy?  Is it women and men and genderqueers with some semblance of agency?  Or are we only barely managing to push against an entrenched patriarchal framework that is part of the legacy of academia's long domination by white men in tweed jackets?  So that's your final exam prompt readers.  You have 1 hour and 50 minutes.

On another note, make sure to stop by tomorrow because we'll be having an awesome giveaway!

5/30 - Observation Outfit

Earlier this week one of my colleagues came to observe one of my classes so that he could write a letter of recommendation for me.  Shakespeare's Feminine Ending has mentioned that she tends to gravitate toward neutral color palettes and avoids certain types of shoes when she's being observed.  Since both last year and this year, I have been a faculty member in relatively small departments where my colleagues and I tend to see each other on a regular basis and pop into each other's offices for quick chats or go grab a cup of coffee together, I don't really feel the need to put on a suit or to deviate much from my when one of them has visited my classroom.

On the day that I was being observed I went with a pretty standard ensemble for teaching days: dress + cardi + boots.

 30x30 Items: 4. Plaid Dress - Rabbit Rabbit + 22. Olive Green Cardi - New York & Co. + 30. Grey Slouchy Boots - Steve Madden

Accessories: Purple belt - Target (remixed), Cameo earrings - Ebay (remixed), Bracelet - ?? (remixed) 

How do you tend to dress if you're being observed by a colleague or a faculty mentor if you are a graduate student?  Do you eschew Mary Janes or some other item of attire unless you forget you're being observed, like SFE?  Or do you tend to dress within your standard parameters?

Observation

1. Dress - Moth/Anthro (remixed)
Scarf - H&M
Trench - LOFT (remixed)
Maryjanes - New York & Co. (remixed)
Tights - LOFT (remixed)

Yesterday my mentor observed me teaching. We had planned this in advance, but both of us forgot about it until she e-mailed me 20 minutes before class started. If I had remembered I probably would have written out an obsessively-detailed lesson plan and chosen a different outfit.  When I have been observed in the past, I have tended to go overboard on lesson-planning and try on a series of outfits before settling on something more black-and-gray and structured.

Had I remembered the observation I would have probably worn some combination of black and gray. I would have tried on this outfit and pronounced that the shape of the red dress + the gray tights and maryjanes was too Alice to be professorial.

2. Peacock Earrings - Accessorize (remixed)

Why did I equate observation with necessitating an outfit that sets a serious and professional tone for the first day of the term? My mentor has seen me in enough settings to know that I do not hold to a bland color palette and that my style is quirkier. She, herself, doesn't eschew color. And, to be honest, I think our students expect their arts and humanities instructors to display some quirky sartorial choices. For Pete's sake, academia offers a privilege of sartorial flexibility and self-expression that is not possible with a lot of other types of employment!

3. Teatime in Office

In addition to these reflections on being observed, I also observed something else: I am more productive and more confident in my various academic roles (instructor, historiographer, critic, witty bullshitter) when I dress like I have a job that is not attending yoga classes.

4. Sweater - Gap (remixed)
Tank - Banana Republic
Pants - Talbots (remixed) *these look great IRL, not so much in photos*
Earrings - the Corcoran Gallery, DC (remixed)
Bag - Joy Susan
Scarf - Boutique in Chicago

I agree with Sara of Orchids in Buttonholes who said, "Getting ready for my day as if I were going to an office has made a huge impact on my morale and my productivity and my sense of self." Even when I'm alone in my office grading or lesson planning I feel more confident in my ability to make decisions as a teacher and a researcher when I've outfitted myself as someone who is charged with a task.
I write this because I wanted to get away with wearing yoga pants and a sweater today. The devil on my shoulder told me that my best pair of black yoga pants look better on me than the black Talbots trousers do. The more attractive devil on my other shoulder, however, reminded me that yoga pants were NOT appropriate for holding office hours or attending a small reading group with faculty and grad students. The morale of the story: Take the advice of the devil wearing Anthropologie.

When You Encounter Other Fashionable Academics

1. Dress - Ann Taylor Loft
Cardi - Gap
Boots- Ann Taylor Loft (remixed)
Scarf - Gap

I'm one of those grad students who regularly frequents departments/disciplines other than my own because my methodological issues and historical period overlap with those other departments. I took classes in those other departments and even TA-ed for them. As interdisciplinary as I work, it was still surprising when yet ANOTHER program asked me to give a public response to a lecture from a visiting scholar. And that program consists of many faculty and grad students who come from elsewhere in the world and their styles reflect that.


Giving a paper or a response always seems so high stakes even if its within your department or university.  And actually, giving a response is always scarier for me--what if I misconstrued something in the work I am responding to?  I usually wear a gray cardi and pearls with this dress but I didn't want to feel so formal.  Sometimes sartorial formality betrays an inward nervousness. 

3. Close-up of floral flourishing on dress

So, what about you? Do you, my fellow Fashionable Academics, find yourself being more style-conscience when encountering one type of department/classroom/conference over the ones you normally frequent? Or, is the bar already high in your home department?

Open Forum: On the Perils of Fashion

Megarita's first post on this blog was about the perils of caring about fashion as an academic.  In the early days of the blog, I wrote about why I blog under a moniker. Recently, we were contacted by a reader, Katie, who wanted to know more about our experiences concerning the perils of caring about fashion.  She is working on a thesis about academic feminist clothing and fashion, and came across our blog.  Megarita has already offered some of her insights about this.  I decided to offer some of mine and open it up to you, dear readers.

During my early years in grad school, an older colleauge took my work to task and then later asked me if I spent all of my time accessorizing.  In my defense, it was the first time I had ever tried to use quantitative methods in historical research and there was a bit of a steep learning curve for integrating statistical analysis into historical writing.  One of my friends, who is also very stylish, was told by her advisor that she and I were the most non-academic academics that he had ever known.  Another time, a former student wrote to me and told me that I was the hottest, best dressed, coolest TA he had ever had at Big State School and, even though he was sure I would shoot him down, he just had to ask me out.  One other instance I have to offer is the weird email that I received from a student about my boots.  I shrugged it off as a compliment, but without context, it seemed strange to me.

So let's help Katie out with her research.  Have you ever felt like your personal style has made your colleagues or professors take you less seriously?  Have you ever felt that it contributed to an awkward situation with a student?  If you are not an academic, do you feel that you are judged in your line of work for the way you dress?  Is your profession fashion friendly or fashion phobic?