Starting the Semester with Sniffles

I'm back from the annual meeting of the American Historical Association, where I was suiting up for a couple of days.  I saw many old friends and colleagues and met some new ones.  Luckily, I had the opportunity to meet up with the super smart and stylish Courtney of Sartorial Sidelines on Saturday afternoon.  We didn't snap any photos, but we did have a drink together and a chat about the awful academic job market, our research interests, Canada, and the possibilities of both an awesome blog collaboration and putting together an exciting conference panel some time in the future.  It was a great trip, but rather exhausting.  It seems that between all those conference sessions, all that catching up, a healthy dose of job market anxiety, and the travel I finally succumbed to the cold that M. had right after Christmas.  So I'm starting the semester off with a sore throat and stuffy nose. Yay...?

I had fully intended to go into campus today to do some work.  However, since I don't teach on Mondays this semester and since I'm feeling less than stellar, I decided to finalize my syllabi, prepare my first classes, and do some reading from home.  Before I made the decision not to go into my campus office, I was wearing a sweater dress I purchased at the end of last term to celebrate surviving the semester before I went on GAAD and Fluevog cowgirl boots that are good for stomping through shit snow.  Now I'm back in my pjs with cough drops, hot tea, and some journal articles to read.

 (Dress - Anthropologie, Cardigan - Target (remixed), Boots - John Fluevog (gift via Ebay and remixed), Tights - We Love Colors, Watch - New York & Co.)

Academics, have your terms started back up yet?  Does anyone else have a tendency to come down with a cold after traveling?

Belated Conference Attire Post!

Dearest readers,

My humblest apologies for the delay on this post! Being pregnant and teaching a full load has made the fall difficult, to use polite language. Thankfully, my grades are in and I'm settling in for a long winter's nap. Baby's due in mid-January, so I'm hoping to live on the sofa through the holidays.

But I was rather busy professionally several months ago! I had to attend a smallish conference in North Carolina and present a paper properly attired. Since my suits stopped fitting around the end of my first trimester, I had to invest in quasi-professional maternity wear for this outing. (I will explain the "quasi" below.) I was about 6 months pregnant for this trip.

Now, a few words of introduction for those of you who have never delved into maternity clothing. First, there are two price tiers. The upper echelons (this is Pea in the Pod territory) are literally hundreds of dollars for an article of clothing. Basic outfits are not inexpensive. They are well-made, but I have found myself infuriated at the prices for the simple reason that these are temporary outfits. I will not always look like a orange balanced on toothpicks. I swore that I would do this shopping on the cheap.

Enter the world of consignment/hand-me-downs and the flawless retail opportunities offered by Old Navy Maternity and Target Maternity. Girlfriends who had been through this process mailed me their sweaters and jeans, which have been godsends the past few weeks. Everything else I got from Old Navy and Target. I have lived in the two pairs of maternity corduroy trousers from Old Navy (teaching outfits), and the tops from both stores have been worn and worn and worn.

Target is where I found my conference outfits. Once I resigned myself to the prevalence of black in maternity wear, I embraced it. You can make many outfits out of a very few pieces and a handful of accessories. The first day, I wore a pair of herringbone trousers and a black wrap top. The slacks were Target, and while not made of anything born on this earth, they could pass for wool in a pinch. The top was also Target, and the wrap shirt is a great way to show off your newly ridiculous rack while keeping the tum at bay.

Day two, when I was presenting, offered a different challenge. I could wear my clogs with slacks. (Buy clogs, pregnant ladies! You can look put together, even chic, and they're good for your feet. I'm a Sanita girl, although my preg friend A. swears by Dansko. My oxblood clogs have not left my feet for weeks.) I wanted to take it up a notch for the talk. So, I invested in some boots with low heels. (The concept of a "low heel" made no sense to me for a long time, but I found that I was more comfortable in a 2" heel than I was in a flat boot or shoe. Go figure.)

Boots in hand, I could wear a skirt! I found a very sweet jersey dress (Target maternity!) in black, of course, and paired that with the INDISPENSABLE sweater wrap concoction from Victoria's Secret. It's called the Cotton Cashmere Wrap. I bought mine in chocolate cherry heather, which is a lovely rich purple. Great with black. It is so damn chic. I hope to wear it a third as much once this baby's out.

Hotel bathroom shot. I'm wearing the long sleeve jersey dress under the wrap with the boots. As I said, it's a little leggy, but it was almost refreshing to show flesh again. :)

Only problem? This dress is not long enough to really be professional. I was showing some leg at this conference. No tights for me, because of lady issues while pregnant but also because I couldn't find a pair to stay on me. The tum pushes them down. So, as you'll see in the picture, I was pushing a few boundaries. This would have been totally fine for most presentations, but for the fogeys at my conference, I was a little sassy. But then, it can be a bit of a relief to know that you have the capacity for sass while pregnant.

My other attempt to dress up, around 7 mos. This is MOD from Macy's, as I recall. I wore it all the time pre-preg. Those empire waists are lifesavers!
The boots are a staple at this point, as you can tell.

Hope that helps, friends! Take good care of yourselves this holiday season. I will likely evaporate until I return to post on how to dress your fashionable academic spawn at the spring conferences. :)

xoxo,
Megarita

A Late One

1. Dress - Floreat/Anthro (eBay-ed)
Tights - Assets/Target
Boots - Ann Taylor Loft (Remixed)

You really don't want to see my face in these photos. These were taken on Friday, when I was about to run out the door for the first day of a two-day conference and I'm already exhausted. I'm not exactly crazy about how this dress fits me--it's tighter around the hips but has a lot of room at the top. I usually stick to a-line shapes, but I thought I'd give a different shape a try. Either way, it was an eBay buy and since I'm stuck with it, I've decided to make the best of it. The next time I wear this dress, however, I will wear opaque black tights instead of micro-fishnets.

Between attending the conference and driving around some visiting scholars, I attended a grant workshop, wrote frantically, and attended a job talk.

2. Cardi - Ann Taylor Loft

Scarf - Boutique (remixed)
Earrings - Corcoran Gallery, DC (remixed)

In the past 30 days, in addition to teaching, I have presented a 20-minute paper on my dissertation research, given two public responses to a visiting scholar and a faculty member, respectively, and composed yet another response to a paper that will be discussed in a working group at a conference this weekend. While teaching this quarter the writing has come in stops and starts. Even though I've felt a little insane lately, I am writing easier than I was a month ago.



I've also been attending job talks and have been seeing a lot of black and gray, which has had me musing about what sort of suit I would wear if I finish the dissertation and am lucky enough to land an interview in this horrible market.  I wonder if I could pull off the following Talbots ensemble? Perhaps in black/gray instead of olive?

Just out of curiosity, I mentioned that the Anthro dress I bought via eBay didn't fit as well as I would have liked. If I had tried it on in the store I probably wouldn't have bought it. Fellow eBay-ers, is there anything that hasn't worked out well for you or that you've outright regretted? I bought a really horrible pair of Banana Republic jeans a few years ago. When they arrived I thought that the seller had mis-represented them, but after I compared what I got in the mail to the photo on eBay I realized I was the moron and had put on my eBay goggles.

Back To School Conference Panel 1

Panelist 1: Courtney Erin of Sartorial Sidelines

Courtney Erin says, "I'm not teaching this fall but I will be haunting the library every day writing my dissertation and shuttling to and fro for meetings with my committee so I thought this jumper was kind of perfect for that.  It's a nice grey color for the fall, very warm, and has pockets that I can cram full of pens and post-it notes as I frantically try to sort out what exactly I'm doing with this whole dissertation thing.  I will definitely be wearing this for my first day back on campus as a full-time writer!"

Panelist 2: Debbie of Dark Horse

Debbie is teaching at two colleges this year, so she had two first days and two back to school outfits. 

Panelist 3: La Historiadora de Moda

For more details, read my post from yesterday.

Panelist 4: Sarah of Classroom Chic

Sarah ventured back into the classroom last week.  You can read more details about her first day here!

Panelist 5: Sophia of Blogsies

Sophia went back to school in a skirt of her own making!


Panelist 6: Tania of What Would a Nerd Wear

Tania had her first experience of dressing for a first day in which she was a teacher and not a student.  You can read more about it here!

Emergency Dress

This has been My Year of Conferences. I usually manage to look professional in the cold-weather months, but many of my dresses are too summery to wear behind a podium. Enter a wonderful mentor and her closet.

My mentor tracked me down half an hour before I left for the conference and asked what I planned to wear. I had two options: a green racer-back dress or a dressy top and jeans. Both were politely vetoed and she told me she'd go shopping with me once we arrived at the conference.

Once there, however, she told me she'd run home and searched for outfits I'd look good in. I tried the above dress on and she told me it was perfect: flattering *and* with sleeves and a more professional-looking back. I love this dress. As I told LHdM, it reminds me of a Baz Luhrmann Romeo and Juliet-style outfit, particularly the heart caught in the folds. At the conference, another attendee said she remembered the last time my mentor had worn it.

My mentor attended the panel and told me later that the dress was mine to keep! I then hinted that the temperature was dropping and she had a wonderful sweater, but that was pushing my luck.

I did also have to borrow a coat and a scarf from some kind lunch companions since it started snowing. In April. All in all, it was a wonderful experience and I appreciate all of the academics who helped dress AUH.

And below: a wonderful book and the two Kerin Rose rings I always wear. One is an adinkra ring with the sun and star symbol and the other is a dragonfly. These are the most comfortable rings I own and I love the contrast between the narrow and thick bands. Do you wear the same pieces of jewelry often? Has anyone ever helped dress you at a conference?
Dress: Elana Kattan
Watch: Nixon
Rings: Kerin Rose
Shoes: Naturalizer

First Day Finery: Virtual Conference Panel II

Last week we issued a CFP for a virtual conference on first day finery here at Fashionable Academics.  All three of today's panelists are doing some interesting and chic layering on top.

The always lovely Kim of The Closet of Kim sent her kids back to school last week and went back to work herself in a beautiful first day outfit.  I am really envious of her thrifted Ann Taylor skirt!

The Law School Fashionista went back to school yesterday.  She attired herself yesterday for the first day of her last semester of school and to combat the cold.  I completely agree with her that the black and white of the leopard print tones it down just enough to make it more classroom friendly.

One of our readers, Laura, put together an elegant trouser ensemble for her first day back at the front of the classroom.  She layered an H&M turtleneck with a shell that her parents gave her for Christmas.  The greyish purple beads complement the purple shell beautifully.

Thanks to Kim, A-C, and Laura for participating in our virtual conference and for putting together such fantastic looks!  If you would like to show us your first day finery, submit a picture or send a link to fashionableacademics@gmail.com by the end of this month.