7/30 + 8/30 = Halfway Done?

Fractions!  I add them!  I am several days ahead of my photos in this challenge, but I have realized one very frustrating thing: when I picked my items it was unseasonably warm for here with lows in the 40s and highs in the upper 60s and now it is no longer unseasonably warm.  I wish I'd made a few different choices.  So I subbed a couple of things this week (2 dresses for a pair of pants and another warm cardigan), and I'm considering one more substitution.  Those items hadn't been worn in the challenge yet, so it wasn't cheating.

Outfit number 7 has been my least favorite so far of this challenge.  The fabric of the long top didn't play so well tucked into my skirt.  But oh well...

 30x30 Items: 11. Black A-Line Skirt - Sandro + 14. Multi-colored Jewel Tone Blouse - Willi Smith + 24. Purple Cardi - August Silk + 27. Spectator Oxford Pumps - r2

Accessories: Tights - Target (remixed), Ring - Salamanca Boutique (remixed)

My 8/30 was for a day of traveling.  I flew from the Upper Midwest to San Antonio to visit my sister and to run a half-marathon.  No matter the season I freeze on airplanes, so I went with a sweater dress and tights.  

30x30 Items: 3. Blue Sweater Wrap Dress - Target + 30. Grey Slouchy Boots - Steve Madden

Accessories: Tights - Target (remixed), Cami - New York & Co. (remixed), Necklace - Gift (remixed), Ring - Boutique in Murano (Gift and remixed) 

What do you tend to wear when you travel?  Does anyone else freakin' freeze on airplanes and in airports?

P.S. The winner of our CSN Stores giveaway is #37: Food According to Karen!  We'll be in touch shortly to get you your loot!

2/30

Those of you who have been reading our little corner of the intertubes for awhile might recall that I jumped onto the shorts and tights bandwagon last winter.  As I was putting my 30x30 list together, I had the sudden realization that the winter in the upper Midwest is likely to kick my ass and that I had better wear shorts and tights and/or make hay while the sun shines.

30x30 Items: 8. Shorts - ModCloth + 19. Grey Top - Zara + 24. Purple Cardi - August Silk + 26. Bondgirls - John Fluevog

Accessories: Necklace - Etsy (remixed), Tights - Target (remixed)

Saturday the sun was shining, and I wore shorts paired with tights.  I didn't make any hay, though.  Instead I spent the entire day on the couch grading papers and/or watching college football.  I'm trying to be more environmentally friendly so I had my students upload their papers, and I've been grading them on my computer using the comments function and pasting my rubric onto the end.  I'm not a complete convert to the system yet, but it definitely saved me the time it would have taken me to print out 90 papers.  Time that I then spent working on an article, watching an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and taking a rare gratuitous butt shot.

I admit that I like the shorts and tights thing - the 90s were formative years for me, after all.  However, I don't foresee myself ever wearing short in the classroom or to department meetings.  What about you?  Have you jumped on this bandwagon?  Do you consider shorts + tights classroom appropriate?  Library appropriate?

Giveaway Winners and 1

Before I forget I want to announce the winners of our Fluevog Artwork Giveaway.  They are #14 Clare of Between Laundry Days and #33 Suzanne!  I'll be in touch soon to figure out how to get you your loot!

Even though this challenge wasn't technically starting until today, I began the remixing madness on Friday.  I wore my first 30x30 outfit Friday to spend the day grading student papers at home, harassing my foolish dog, and then going out on the town to drink some wine with some awesome women who are also faculty members at my university.  We get together about twice a month for dinner and drinks, and I feel very grateful for their friendship and camaraderie.  

30x30 Items: 7. Dark Wash Bootcut Jeans - Express + 16. Black & White Striped Top + 21. Yellow Embellished Cardi - New York & Co. + 29. Red Mary Janes - John Fluevog 

Accessories: Cameo Necklace - Etsy (remixed), Socks - Target (remixed)

Forgive me for not being overly verbose today, but I still have a shit ton of grading to do.  And I want to meet my word count goal for the day for the article draft I'm working on.  How was your weekend?  Are any of you NaNoWriMo-ing or trying to steal the energy of that event and channel it into your academic writing like I am?

30x30 Challenge Items List

I'm a little bit terrified of doing this - mainly because it will mean having to actually do laundry on a more regular basis and it's hard for me to limit which shoes I'll wear - but here goes....  Since a number of my choices are currently dirty, I'm listing my choices instead of photographing them.

Dresses
1. Turquoise 90 WPM Dress - Shabby Apple
2. Grey Dress - Target
3. Blue Sweater Wrap Dress - Target - a recent October purchase
4. Plaid Dress - Rabbit Rabbit
5. Patterned Red Dress - Nine West
Pants and Shorts
6. Grey Wide Legged Trousers
7. Dark Wash Bootcut Jeans - Express
8. Shorts - ModCloth
9. Purple Corduroys - Mango - I've had them for several years, yet never worn them on the blog
Skirts
10. Red Pencil Skirt - J. Crew (thrifted)
11. Black A-Line Skirt - Sandro
12. Shifting Buttons Skirt - Anthropologie
Tops
13. Ecru blouse - BCBG
14. Multi-colored Jewel Tone Blouse - a September purchase that I've worn, but hasn't made it on here
15. White Button Down - Zoe D.
16. Black & White Striped Top 
17. Blue Floral Tunic - H&M
18. Wonder Woman Graphic Tee - Old Navy
19. Grey Top - Zara
Sweaters and Cardigans and Blazers
20. Black Turtleneck
21. Yellow Embellished Cardi - New York & Co.
22. Olive Green Cardi - New York & Co.
23. Black Ruffle Front Cardi - Willi Smith
24. Purple Cardi - August Silk
25. Velveteen Blazer - Rafaella
Shoes and Boots
26. Bondgirls - John Fluevog
27. Spectator Oxford Pumps - r2
28. Purple Moccasins - Me Too - I snuck in a November purchase before this challenge begins
29. Red Mary Janes - John Fluevog
30. Grey Slouchy Boots - Steve Madden - an October purchase that hasn't yet made it on the blog

Are you taking part in Kendi's challenge?  What do you anticipate being the most difficult aspect of this challenge for you?

Thinking Pink Days 3 & 4

Please forgive me, but I don't have much to say today about the outfits that I wore on Tuesday¹ and Wednesday.²  I have been grading papers and midterms practically non-stop since last Friday morning.  While I think the teaching of communicating ideas and imparting how to construct an argument and use evidence to prove it are crucial and thus will continue to assign essays and papers, I have to admit that grading student writing often tends to sap my energy and give me hurty brain syndrome.*

 1. Shifting Buttons Skirt - Anthropologie (new to my closet in September), Shirt - H&M (remixed), Scarf - H&M (remixed), Cardi - New York & Co. (remixed), Boots - John Fluevog (remixed), Tights - We Love Colors (remixed)

I did purchase this skirt ($59.95), as well as a pair of trousers ($19.99) and a blouse ($16.99), which I've worn but hasn't yet been featured on the blog, in the month of September.  My budget was $50 + $60 for accomplishing 3 of my writing goals over the course of the month. 

 2. Dress - Target, Scarf - ???, Flats - Steve Madden (DSW and remixed)

*Hurty brain syndrome is a term coined by one of my former students and refers to the condition brought on for students by having to turn in written work and for professors by having to read written work. Symptoms of hurty brain syndrome include uncontrollable laughter, the inability to place commas, and the desire to do the lift from Dirty Dancing.

Are you wearing pink this week?  Have you ever suffered from hurty brain syndrome?

Thinking Pink

A few years ago I lost my beautiful and brilliant aunt to breast cancer.  She battled the disease valiantly and won a first round, but she relapsed. Eventually the disease took her.  After her diagnosis and since her death, I have taken part in a number of Susan G. Komen events.  I often click to fund free mammograms, and I considered Brides Against Breast Cancer as the charity to donate my wedding gown to.  So when I read about Blogging for Breast Cancer AWEARness, I knew I wanted to participate for at least a week or two if not for the entire month of October. 

On Sunday, I donned a casual outfit with some pink elements for a day of grading at a coffee shop with a friend who teaches at a SLAC up the road from me, food shopping, and lecture writing.

(Pink Tank - Target, Cardi - Willi Smith (TJ Maxx and remixed), Jeans - Express (remixed), Shoes - John Fluevog Bonnies (remixed), Little Woolf Necklace - Wendy Brandes, Crazed and Glazed over Eyes - c/o Grading Fest 2010)

Yesterday I was back in my trusty plaid dress for a day of teaching and extra office hours (Hola, midterms!).  I had planned to wear my bright pink flats with this outfit, but after my 8 mile run in the morning, I was having some trouble keeping the flats on my feet, so I went with my old faithful spectator, lace-up pumps. 

(Dress - Rabbit Rabbit (remixed many times), Cardi- Say What (remixed), Tights - HUE (remixed), Shoes - r2 (DSW and remixed), Belt - De Lonti (TJ Maxx and remixed))

Are you thinking pink this month?  Have you participated in any events to raise breast cancer awareness or to raise funds for breast cancer research?

Dusting off the Wheels and Social Cycling

I had been meaning to dig my bike out of the basement (its winter home and this year its fall, winter, and most of spring home) a couple of weeks ago.  My husband and I had even planned to go on a bike date last week, but then the weather turned rainy and his family came into town, so my bike stayed in the basement until the other day, when I finally decided there was no time like the present to air up my tires and bike into campus to run some errands, drop off some library books, and meet with one of my committee members.

I also took the opportunity to participate in Let's Go Ride a Bike's Summer Games.  While on campus, I left a note on a cute cruiser with a basket.   I hope that the bike owner thought that it was cool rather than creepy.  Maybe the fact that I wrote the note on the back of a neat flamenco postcard, which I had been using as a bookmark, helped to push it into the cool category.

It's only about 2.5 miles from my house to my campus office at R1 school, but since it was a very hot day and I hadn't been on my bike in almost a year (for shame, for shame), I decided to dress pretty casually and to wear flats.¹  I used to have a bit of a reputation for biking around campus in heels, but that was a few years ago when I lived much closer to campus and rode every day.  Maybe I can earn that reputation on my new campus next year.....

 1. Shirt - H&M

Capris - NY&Co. (remixed)

Flats - Steve Madden (remixed)

Sunnies - Esprit (thrifted and remixed)

Backpack - ??? (I've had it for years)

Bike - Schwinn

The outfit photo is from after my return ride, and I was a bit sweaty and dusty.  If I had been smarter, I would have hosed my bike off a couple of hours before heading into campus, as my bike was embarrassingly dusty from it's basement exile.  Oh, well.  Now it's been washed off and is clean and just waiting for a date ride with M. sometime in the next week or so.

When's the last time you rode your bike?  Do you tend to dress differently if you're cycling or walking into campus/work than if you're driving/taking public transit?

Monochromatic: Purple

Yesterday, Sally McGraw of Already Pretty posted about creating monochromatic looks, including some great tips for putting such a look together, and I commented that I had done purple monochrome and blue monochrome in the past.  I had never posted these outfits, though, as one was before my blogging days and the other was post-blog, but before I started participating regularly in the cultural phenomenon of outfit of the day style blogging.  So I decided yesterday to go monochromatic and to enclose my body in my favorite color: purple.¹

 1. Dress - Zara (remixed)

Tank - NY&Co. (remixed)

Cardi - August Silk (remixed)

Tights - Steve Madden (remixed)

Shoes - Fluevog (remixed)

Earrings - Ebay

Purse - Target

I added my purple hobo bag, filled with all the shit I told you about yesterday, and my students' graded term papers and headed off to campus to lecture about early modern nuns.

I thought that this outfit might garner some comments or raised eyebrows on campus at SLAC, but it didn't.  I guess my colleagues and students are pretty accustomed to my style at this point.  So what do you think?  Too Grimace? Too 1970s Vikings?  Have you done a monochromatic look?

Date Night Tights

On Saturday night M. and I gave our dissertations the slip and went out for dinner at a wonderful local Italian restaurant and for dessert at our favorite ice cream shop in town.  It was good to get out of the house and away from grading and writing and trying to write decent prose after grading.  Plus, it gave me a legitimate reason to wear my new blue footless tights from We Love Colors.¹

 1. Dress - Nine West (remixed)

Belt - from another dress (remixed)

Footless tights - We Love Colors

Shoes - Steve Madden

Purse - Harrods (Gift and remixed)

Ring - Boutique in Salamanca (remixed)

For my fourth day of the Oranges and Apples bag challenge I carried this little purse that M. brought back for me from a research trip in London.  I love it.  However, I usually tend to carry larger bags because Lord knows I need to haul at least one monograph, three sticks of gum that fell out of the package, 18 old receipts, and a random finisher's medal from a half-marathon around with me in addition to my wallet, keys, phone, ipod, and lipstick.  Whenever I go out with a neatly organized, smaller purse in hand, I feel almost naked and like a fraud.  Plus, I can't smuggle pints of gourmet ice cream home in these small purses.... 

What do you tend to carry with you in your purse or briefcase?  Are you organized or is it all a (crumbling) facade?  And even more importantly, what's your favorite flavor of ice cream?

Yellow Dress Challenge Day 3: Colorful Comfort

First of all, I want to say thank you all for your comments and votes on my hair conundrum yesterday!  I'm not going to do anything for a couple more weeks, but the general consensus about going shorter ended any remaining indecision.  I will be getting my hair cut a week or so before my defense.  In the meantime, I'm going to get as much updo action out of my longer hair as possible.

For the third day of my dress challenge, I went with a colorful and comfy combination of dress, wrap sweater, and flats.¹  I had to make a brief trip into campus to run some errands, and I met quickly with one of my advisers while I was there.  I spent most of the day reading and writing at home, though, with the sunlight and fresh air streaming in through the windows.

 

 1. Dress - Signature by Robbie Bee (remixed)

Wrap Sweater - Banana Republic (remixed)

Flats - Steve Madden Girl (DSW)

Earrings - Target (remixed)

Would I be more productive working somewhere else, such as a the library or a coffee shop?  Maybe, but my dog has such horrible separation anxiety (she's on drugs for it, but they only do so much) that it breaks my heart to leave her for more than two or three hours at a time.  Plus, when I work at home, I have constant access to cups of hot tea, which give me the energy to read, write, and take breaks to stretch and jump.

I've been trying to rev myself back into excitement mode about my dissertation because I know enjoying working on my project will make this round of revisions before my defense much less painful.  I've been working to rekindle the excitement that I felt in the earlier stages of researching and writing.  I've been doing some free writing and re-reading some archival documents in an attempt to relight the fire.  It hasn't entirely been successful, but I am infinitely less frustrated with my project now than I was a week or so ago.

How do you rekindle the romance between you and your research or the work you do in your profession after you've passed the "honeymoon" stage?

Yellow Dress Challenge Day 2: Bumblebee?

You might recall that I have challenged myself to wear this yellow dress three times this week.  Today I wore it for the second time, and this time I added the three B's: belt, blazer, and boots to the ensemble.¹ I was in a bit of a rush, since my alarm failed to go off this morning (I just found out a moment ago, when it went off, that I must have set it for PM accidentally), and I woke up over an hour later than I had intended.  So I went with something simple and easy -- really this type of outfit is a kind of go-to teaching outfit for me, especially in the fall and on those wonky spring days, when the sun is shining but it's not really particularly warm out.

1. Dress - Signature by Robbie Bee (gift and remixed)

Blazer - Vision Apparel (remixed)

Tights - HUE (remixed)

Boots - Ariat (gift and remixed)

Belt - from another dress (remixed)

As I have mentioned previously, a blazer always adds an extra element of authority which I can appreciate when discussing controversial subjects or when handing back a batch of papers that weren't particularly good.

My only qualm about this outfit is that maybe the color scheme makes me look like a wasp or a bumblebee.  I didn't think the color combo created such a bumblebee effect in the mirror this morning, but now that I'm seeing the pictures I am having some second thoughs.  What do you think? 

Yellow Dress Challenge Day 1: Sunday Simplicity

The other day my husband asked me if I wanted to go shopping with him at Filene's Basement/DSW.  At first, I said no because for the first time since I entered graduate school, I actually owed the government money when I filed my taxes this year.  M. took pity on me, though, and, since he was getting a nice return, he offered to buy me one item of my choosing if I went with him to look for new shirts and shoes.  So I went with him, and I picked out this yellow dress.¹
 

 1. Dress - Signature by Robbie Bee (Gift)

Sandals - Michael Kors (remixed)

Earrings - Gift (remixed)

Sunglasses - Oscar de la Renta (thrifted)

I wore it yesterday for a lazy Sunday, and decided for its first wearing the dress would stand by its sunny self.  I might not have even worn the shades if it hadn't been so sunny out when we left for brunch and then to take Bailey to the park.  It was the perfect simple outfit for a mellow day of brunching, chatting with other dog owners while my crazy dog ran in circles in the park, writing a lecture, and grading a few papers.  I would have preferred to stay outside all day, but to compensate for the fact that we had to be inside and working, M. and I opened all the windows and blinds. 

  

So maybe I set the bar low by styling this dress so simply yesterday because I'm challenging myself to wear it two more times this week...?  Check back to see how I style it for teaching and for a day of meetings and errands later this week.

How was your weekend?  What did you do? I hope your weekend was relaxing and/or productive!

Dress Challenge Day 5

Monday was International Women's Day.  So it was only fitting that I had coffee with a female faculty member who is a great mentor to me and then I taught about the witch-hunting phenomenon in early modern Europe. (The vast majority of those accused of witchcraft were women.)  My students had some interesting documents to read and only one class discussion left in which they could prove themselves so there was a pretty exciting discussion about popular and clerical beliefs about women in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.  That morning I briefly considered wearing a "witch" costume, but I decided that it was too campy.  Plus, I don't have any striped or green tights (clearly something that must be remedied at some point in the near future), so I wore my Shabby Apple dress one more time instead.¹

1. Dress (as blouse) - Shabby Apple

Cardi - August Silk (thrifted and remixed)

Skirt - Anthropologie (thrifted and remixed)

Tights - Target (remixed)

Shoes - Kenzie (DSW)

Sunglasses - ??? 

I suppose it was inevitable that I style the dress this way for the fifth and final wearing for this challenge.  I had been wanting to wear this skirt again for a while.  It's kind of tricky to remix because its color palette is a little bit odd, but I thought it worked well with the bright turquoise and the browns of the cardi and shoes.  I'm glad I decided to go with tights and the extra warmth of the cardi because it enabled me to sneak in some reading outside in the sun and not feel the least bit chilly.

So which was your favorite?  Was it #5 or was it:

#1

#2

#3

#4?

How else would you style this dress?

Stop by this evening because when I return from administering a final exam I'm going to announce our next giveaway!

Dress Challenge Day 4

For the fourth wear of the 90 Words Per Minute dress that I bought from Shabby Apple, I decided to attempt to wear it with mostly bare legs, as it was finally (almost) warm enough for that this weekend.¹ It really wasn't all that warm, but if felt comparatively balmy, and after the grey winter we have had here, it was so nice to have sunlight streaming into windows over the weekend.

1. Dress - Shabby Apple (remixed)

Cardi - Target (remixed)

Knee Highs- Target

Shoes - Fluevog (Bellevues Pearl Heart)
Necklace - Tiny Genie by Wendy Brandes

Since I spent Saturday at home with my dissertation and some other work, I also felt that it might be a good time to wear the new Fluevogs that M. bought me for Valentine's Day.  They are gorgeous and fit perfectly, but they still need some breaking in before they hit the sidewalks of campus for a full day.  I wanted to wear this with ankle socks, but I only have a couple of pairs that aren't athletic socks and none of them were clean, so I went with fishnet knee highs.  Some may think I'm splitting hairs, but while I would, have, and no doubt will wear fishnet hose into the classroom, I'm less prone to wear knee highs.  I've done it once on the blog with argyle knee highs just peeking out over the top of a pair of tall boots, but something about knee highs makes me feel like I'm dressing like a school girl, and that's definitely not the image that I want to portray at the front of the classroom.

What are your thoughts about fishnets and knee highs in the work place and in the classroom?  Do you find the former too sexy and the latter too private middle school uniform?

And don't forget to stop by tomorrow because we are having a special giveaway!

Dress Challenge Day 3

I spent most of the day working on my dissertation at home, but since a couple of friends came over to join M. and me for what we call a "Think Tank" I felt inspired to shower and dress¹ before they arrived at 10am.  Think Tank is a concept that I got from a friend of mine who is a professor in another discipline.  The general idea is that everyone works on their own project but at the same time in blocks that are about an hour long with 5-10 minute breaks in between and a longer break for lunch.  Sometimes people share a few paragraphs of writing for feedback or use one of the blocks to read over someone's chapter manuscript or an article they hope to publish.  The breaks serve as an opportunity to get up and stretch and share progress on how things are coming along.  The format doesn't work for some people, and everyone has to be disciplined enough (or at least have one person who is bossy enough) to make sure that the breaks don't get too long, but it has been a tremendously productive way of working for me when I'm able to attend one or host one of my own.

 1. Dress - Shabby Apple (remixed)

Shirt Dress - Target (remixed)

Magenta Tights - We Love Colors

Boots - ??? (gift and remixed)

By the end of one, though, I'm usually mentally exhausted, and I definitely was yesterday.  I was feeling better but still a little dodgy, so I decided not to go out and socialize with an even larger group of friends afterward.  However, I did reward myself for so much productivity with time on the couch with my husband and some episodes of LOST.

Shopping Ban Violation Dress Challenge

Almost two months into my shopping ban, I fell off the wagon.  Last week I was suddenly tempted to buy everything and anything.  I compulsively visited the Fluevog website.  I visited Shabby Apple's site repeatedly in an hour. I plotted and schemed how I might convince my husband to buy me something -- to no avail.  He saw right through my offers of a trade.  Then I received a check from a relative and suddenly found myself back on Shabby Apple's website and justifying to myself that it would be okay to make just one purchase.  Since I was (and still am) pretty sure that my mom is getting me the dress that I covet most for my birthday, I found myself buying the 90 Words Per Minute Dress.¹ 

1. Dress - Shabby Apple

Cardi - H&M

Tights - We Love Colors (remixed)

Spectator Pumps - r2 (DSW and remixed)

Earrings - Gift (remixed)

Ring - Boutique in SMA, Mexico

I love the dress and was really surprised by how quickly it arrived in the mail.  It came Friday afternoon, and I wore it to a meeting and to teach in yesterday.  I do feel a little guilty about violating my shopping ban, but I thought it best to go ahead and fess up to it.  I don't feel guilty about buying something with money that someone sent me because I got married.  We really don't need any more towels or kitchen appliances.  I also don't feel too bad because I don't think I've ever gone two months without a single non-necessary purchase for myself since I've been an adult with income (albeit a meager grad student or adjunct's income) before now especially if you count music or make-up or all those little luxuries that I included in this ban. However, I do feel a bit like I broke faith with myself and with you.  Just to remind myself that I still have two weeks left without shopping, I'm challenging myself to wear this dress five times in the next two weeks.  I hope you will forgive me my slip!

Have you ever been on a shopping ban?  Were you able to stick to it through the duration? 

Cleavage in the Classroom?

Yesterday I wanted to wear a BCBG dress that I love, but that fills me with trepidation every time I wear it to campus.  Why?  Because my right breast threatens to fall out if it every other time I wear it.  I'll think I'm safe, I'll be wearing a proper bra, then I'll bend over to plug my flash drive into a computer console and uh-oh!  I'm suddenly concerned that there's going to be a case of indecent exposure.  I had taken to only wearing this dress with a cardigan buttoned up over it, but it was an unflattering look for me because the dress has a built-in sash.   I realized yesterday that I needed to be a little more savvy with my layering.  By putting a short-sleeved turtleneck underneath, I was able to solve the problem.¹ (Yesterday's outfit also rounded out my week-long boot challenge.)

1. Dress - BCBG (Filene's Basement)

Turtleneck - Necessary Objects (Filene's Basement)

Cardi - August Silk (thrifted)

Tights - Target

Boots - Kenneth Cole Reaction (DSW)

Beads - Blanco

Earrings - Gift

So this brings me to an issue that I've thought about a lot off and on over the years: is cleavage appropriate for professors in the classroom?  How much is too much?  Or is any too much?  I freely admit that I have worn some shirts and dresses that show a bit of cleavage, especially when I'm teaching a summer class. Thoughts from those who teach students and those who sit in classrooms or used to would be much appreciated.

Sartorial Shifts

My boot challenge has caused me to reflect a bit on some changes in my personal style.  I have many boots, but they have been collected over a period of many years.  I don't still have any boots from high school, but I do have boots from college (my cowgirl boots), my early years of graduate school, and boots that I've acquired since I became ABD and started teaching my own classes a few years ago.  Perhaps I will buy another pair when I get my doctorate here in a couple of months (*fingers crossed*). 

I have to admit, though, that I don't wear some of my boots very much because they don't seem to translate particularly well into my evolving personal style.  For example, these are the boots that I wore yesterday for brunch and grading¹:

 1. Shirt - SweaterWorks (Filene's Basement)

Skinny Jeans - Old Navy

Cardi - Target

Boots - ??? (DSW)

Headband - Target

I bought these boots in late 2004.   I'm not even completely sure what brand they are, but I do remember buying them on a shopping trip to Filene's/DSW with a friend.  At the time my personal style involved mainly jeans, sweaters, and heels or long skirts, sweaters, and big boots.  I still love all of these items, but in the past couple of years my style has shifted to incorporate more dresses than jeans, more cardigans than pullovers, more pencil skirts than long skirts, more whimsical accessories than chunky ones.  I don't feel like these boots go as well with that style, which is probably why this was only the second time that I'd worn them in over a year.

Have you undergone a sartorial shift or shifts recently?  What items in your closet seem to be going unworn lately and why?

Black Friday, Black Boots

Since there is nothing that I needed to buy at the crazy Black Friday sales, I did not do any shopping today.  In fact, I spent most of the day inside looking at spreadsheets of wedding-related crap stuff with my fiance and in-laws and grading a pile of student essays.  Because my future mother-in-law is a very stylish lady, I felt compelled to put something on besides jeans.¹  It paid off because I did manage to escape the history household for a couple of hours to go out for a lovely dinner at one of my favorite restaurants with my mom and my future family.  My beagle really wanted to come too....

1. Sweater - Old Navy (thrifted)

Skirt - J. Crew (thrifted)

Tights - Target

Cardi - Target

Boots - John Fluevog

Handbag - "Prada" (I haggled for this with a street vendor in Rome)

Although I'm still in the middle of my week-long boot challenge, I might have opted for a different pair of boots. But I wore my Bondgirls because my cobbler told me that I should wear them regularly.  He said that because Fluevogs are made of such a high quality leather that they will return to their original shape (which is too tight for my relatively normal sized calves) if I don't.  Again, I love boots, but I wish that the fashion industry would get a clue that we aren't all shaped like pencils.

Far From Stepford

My mom is in town and my fiance's parents are arriving this evening for dinner.  The best part of the holiday is either mashed potatoes or guilt-free procrastination from grading my students' papers.  (Oh, my Friday will be Black, indeed, but it's not here yet.)  I finally got around to some long overdue domestic chores.  Truth: my fiance cooks, cleans, and washes dishes far more than I do lately.  I am a pretty good cook, but If he had been looking for a Stepford Wife, he would have been sorely disappointed.  Yesterday, we cleaned the house thoroughly.  Today, I've been cooking up a storm, and El Historiador has been cleaning up after me and waiting to put his brined turkey in the oven.  I have been doing these tasks in boots.  Yesterday I wore my cowgirl boots.¹  My photographer snapped this of me.  Note how my feet are up because the floor is freshly mopped. 

1. Shirt - TJMaxx

Dress - Target

Tights - ???

Argyle socks - Target

Cowboy boots - gift

Earrings - Target

Today I dressed up a little bit in one of my favorite dresses from Zara.  I bought it around three years ago and couldn't wear it for about two years because of weight gain.  I'm so happy that I fit into again, although it's still a little unflattering in a couple of areas, so I decided to cover that up, playing with analogous colors and wearing my pink and wine Victorian style Fluevogs.² I also have had an apron on most of the day, so I don't splatter myself with flour or mashed potatoes. This is the closest I get to Stepford.

Anyhow, see how scary Stepford is?

2. Dress - Zara (Mexico - glorious sale)

Tights - ???

Boots - John Fluevog

Cardi - Say What (Filene's Basement)

Necklace - Target (clearance)

Apron with cherries on it - gift

For those of you who are in the states, what are your plans for Thanksgiving?  I hope it's a happy one!