Snuggling with Midterms

It's Valentine's Day, folks!  And in my neck of the woods that means one thing: snuggling up with . . . big stacks of grading!  I have one big pile from my Modern Europe survey, and M. has his own pile of midterms to deal with as well.  We keep a bag of chocolate and one of candy hearts in between us.  That way, whenever the marking starts to get us down, we can lift our spirits with more than enough sugar to take an entire class of 3rd graders over the edge....

 (Dress - NineWest (remixed), Cardi - Say What (remixed), Tights - Target (remixed), Boots - John Fluevog (second-hand and remixed), Ring - Boutique in Salamanca (remixed), Earrings - H&M, Watch - NY&Co. (remixed)

Slightly Nutty Expression - Modern Europe Midterms

While I'm not much of one for a big to-do over what I consider to be largely a Hallmark Holiday, I do enjoy taking a special moment to appreciate my awesome partner and friends on February 14th.  What are your feelings on Valentine's Day?  Academics, do you win your students over with candy?  Whatever you're doing this Valentine's, we hope it's a good one!  

P.S. Liz (Comment #80) is our special FA Valentine and the winner of our CSN Stores Giveaway!  Thanks to all who entered!

Just a Few Reasons I'm a Nerd

1. I spend most of time engaged in some form of reading or writing or talking about reading and writing.

2. I drew hearts in and highlighted the shit out of my elementary school history and social studies textbooks.

3. I love Star Trek: The Next Generation.

4. I am a huge fan of Jane Austen.  I've read Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility many times.  I watch the BBC version of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice at least once a year.  My love of Jane Austen, however, did not prevent me from reading and enjoying Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters.

5. I love this shirt.

  (Hello Kitty "I Love Nerds" Tee - Imaginary People (gift and remixed), Cardigan - Target (remixed), Jeans - Express (remixed), Flats - Me Too (remixed))

6. My hubs and I spend a fair amount of time cracking nerdy jokes and making bad puns.

Why are you a nerd?

P.S. Fashionable Academics is delighted to announce that Megarita gave birth to a healthy and beautiful baby girl over the weekend.  Mother and baby are doing well.

The Pantomime Time of Year

1. Sweater Dress - Viola/Anthro
Tights - Accessorize
Boots - Ann Taylor Loft (remixed)
Scarf - Lithe/Anthro [sash to dress]
Earrings - Corcoran Gallery, DC (remixed)

I wore this dress to a conference this past weekend (which was fantastic!). Before the conference I had only worn it one other time this fall and that was to see a play. I usually don't repeat outfits so close together, but I had a hard time figuring out what to wear for the first really cold day yesterday (and the last day I taught before Thanksgiving) so I listened to the advice of the Devil Wearing Anthro and repeated.

This dress, by far, is one of my favorite pieces of clothing. It's essentially a large, soft black sweater, but it tends to look very formal so I usually add funkier, more playful accessories to it. I repeated it yesterday to teach and paired it with what I call my "King of Hearts tights."
I bought these tights at Accessorize years ago and they have held up better than most pairs of leggings or yoga pants do. They bring back not only memories of the time I spent in England, but they also remind me of the time my college boyfriend borrowed them to play The King of Hearts in a Christmas pantomime. He wore them, a t-shirt, and a large cardboard playing card for the part. Luckily, college boyfriend is now Shakespeare's Masculine Ending so we had a good laugh while I was getting dressed yesterday and I reminded him where the tights came from and that he had worn them before.

And there's another secret nerd touch to this outfit: the sash that I'm wearing as a hair scarf has early modern English print flourishes all over it. In fact, it's the same flourish EEBO uses (scroll your mouse over the menu on the left) to indicate a link.

I've got to get back to making cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, and Thomas Kelleher's bread pudding for tomorrow because the turkey gets the oven for the entire morning, but before I do I was wondering what your favorite secret nerd piece is?

6/30: F@#!-ing Poetry Slam!

Last week the students in my Renaissance and Reformation class had a poetry slam during the first half of class.  For extra credit they could do a dramatic reading of a poem written by any author who lived during the time period that the class covers.  During the class period before many of them had expressed their excitement about the slam and some had even engaged in a bit of shit talking - to use the vernacular, so I thought I would wear my Wendy Brandes swear rings¹ to class for the event.  This was their debut in the classroom, and I think that the setting was perfect for them.  Even so, I decided to keep the rest of my outfit on the more conservative side.

1. Rings - Wendy Brandes

30x30 Items: 16. Black & White Striped Top + 25. Velveteen Blazer - Rafaella + 27. Spectator Oxford Pumps - r2 + 9. Purple Corduroys - Mango

Other Accessories: Scarf - Oscar de la Renta (TJ Maxx and remixed)

My students demanded that I do a reading to start them off, which made me especially glad I had worn the rings in honor of the occasion.  I read a Campion poem about how youth think they're all that but death comes for them first.  I worked my rings into the performance.  And my students seemed to approve - they applauded at least....

The slam was a lot of fun.  One of my students brought in a feathered cap as a prop and another acted as an early modern heckler, jangling his keys between performances (a slight anachronism as a Renaissance heckler would have done it to drown out the speaker).  I am thrilled that the atmosphere that my students and I have created in this class is one that allows me to do these kinds of activities every now and then.

Would you wear these rings in the classroom or would you classify them as NSFW (not suitable for work)?

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?

Wonder Women

Once upon a time in a land called Graduate School, two women, the Dissertating Yogini and La Historiadora de Moda, met and became good friends.  Then the former left to pursue doctoral research in Holland and Indonesia.  The latter stayed based in the Midwest and went to pursue research in Spain and Mexico for a couple of years.  They managed to talk on skype, email lots, and spend a few days together in Amsterdam.  Then finally one day after several years La Historiadora de Moda managed to get the Dissertating Yogini to come back to the Midwest for a week and to wear matching Wonder Woman graphic tees...

In the four years since the Dissertating Yogini left the main Fashionable Academics campus, both of us have gone through some major life changes.  She's had a spiritual awakening and donned a turban; she's become a yoga teacher and traveled in India; she's battled dissertation super villains and written hundreds of pages about delinquents.  I've started a style blog and adopted a beagle; I've run a marathon for charity and I got married; I've also battled dissertation super villains and written hundreds of pages about Hapsburg Spain.  And, in spite of the facts that life has taken us to such different places (geographically and in many ways personally and professionally) and that we had only seen each other four days out of the past four years, our friendship is as strong as it ever was.  It was great to spend a week together, laughing, chatting, practicing yoga, running, and even doing some academic work.

During her time here, she wanted to go shopping for a few specific items, and requested to go to Target, Old Navy, and Filene's Basement.  While she was trying on skirts at Old Navy, I came across these Wonder Woman graphic tees.  Since they were on sale and made from 100% recycled materials, I decided to get one -- I figured I could get some ironic and humorous use out of one.  Plus, Wonder Woman was created as a feminist character.  When I showed the Dissertating Yogini the shirt, she said she wanted one too, so I bought one for each of us. 

For the last full day that she was here we decided to wear our new Wonder Woman tees and style them differently.  She went for Americana, pairing her tee with jeans and sneakers.¹  I went for cowgirl with my Fluevog boots and a denim skirt.²  And then we goofed off some more to celebrate our friendship and our strength.

1. Wonder Woman Tee - Old Navy

Jeans - Levis

Shoes - Ziengs (Holland)

Turban - from India

Sunnies - Oscar de la Renta

Watch - Carl F. Bucherer (remixed)

2. Wonder Woman tee - Old Navy

Denim Skirt - H&M (remixed)

Boots - John Fluevog (Gift via Ebay and remixed)

Sunnies - Esprit (remixed)

Barrette - Goody (Target)

... La Historiadora de Moda may be wearing this graphic tee a lot this summer, as she recently heard back from a journal about an article that she submitted a few months back, so she has to "revise and resubmit."  The Dissertating Yogini might also get substantial use out of her tee, as she is in the final stages of revising her dissertation for a defense in the next few months.  Hopefully they'll be able to channel their inner Amazons to defeat the last of those dissertation super villains who are lurking just around the corner....


Which Super Hero do you most identify with or find yourself trying to channel?  

Weekend Wear: Hello Kitty Tee

On Sunday I went to brunch, did some lecture writing, went to the library to pick up eight or nine books that I needed for dissertation revisions and/or lecture writing, met up with a friend, and finally came home to do a little more writing.  As an academic, my weekends usually involve just as much work as my weekdays.  So sometimes I need a little extra motivation or self-deprecating humor to keep my fingers on the keyboard.  Sunday I got a little of both, and they came in the form of the graphic t-shirt that my mom gave me a few months ago.¹

 1. Hello Kitty "I Love Nerds" Tee - Imaginary People (gift)

Jeans - Express (remixed)

Cardi - Old Navy (thrifted)

Shoes - Kenzie Girl (remixed)

Earrings - Target (remixed)

In a previous post, I wrote about the fact that although I love Hello Kitty, I tend to relegate my more cutesy paraphernalia to the weekend wear category.  I have decided, though, that this little tee might just see the light of day occasionally during the "work week" in the future.  Would I wear it to campus to teach in or to listen to a visiting scholar give a talk?  Probably not -- unless I could find a way to make this tee into a pun about the topic or theme.  However, I might pair it with a blazer or a cardi for a day at the library.  And, since I just ordered several more books, I have no doubt a library day will be coming up soon....

What are your thoughts on graphic tees in the classroom or in your place of work?  How do you like to style them? 

Bonus question: who is your favorite self-professed nerd?  Mine is my husband, but I have to say that I also really adore Tania of What Would a Nerd Wear!

Thanks, Mama!

Check out what my mother sent me for the holidays!

I can't wait to wear it soon!  Hopefully, it will give me the strength to revise, revise, revise, and write lectures for a new class that I'm teaching next term.  No doubt, it will show up in a gratuitously nerdy outfit post before long.  (Perhaps you'll note that I couldn't resist wearing my red NISI jacket on Christmas day....)

I hope you all had a wonderful and relaxing Christmas and that you'll enter our Giveaway!  Since now it's safe to reveal such things, did you give any good gifts?  Get any good gifts?  How did you spend your Christmas day?

It's Not Easy Being Green (With Envy)

A couple of weeks ago, T. of What Would a Nerd Wear asked me to write a guest post about academic interview attire.  Even though I've only had one on campus interview, this is a topic that I've given a lot of thought to having observed many job searches.  Writing this piece, though, among other things, such as my very grim job prospects for next year, put me into a very dark place for a couple of weeks.  As I compulsively checked the wiki in my field to discover that almost all of the very few places that are hiring in my field had arranged convention interviews with candidates who weren't me, I became more depressed by the day.  I have given up hope of even being granted an interview for a tenure track job on this year's market.  I was becoming envious of friends and colleagues who had received good news about interviews and almost cried in a colleague's office, when I told her that after being asked for more materials by a fantastic institution, they had decided not to grant me an interview.  Sounds depressing, right?  Well, it is - or it was....

The other day I realized that before I go completely insane, I have to work on controlling my mood.  I'm still hopeful that there will be quite a few one-year and adjunct positions and that something will work out for me.  In the meantime, I'm going to focus on the things I can control: revisions, getting my dissertation defended in early spring, preparing my classes for next term, being more consistent with running (after my marathon in October, I've been spending too much time on the couch and not enough time on the running trails and treadmill and I know that exercise really helps to energize me and keep me sane), and dressing stylishly on a graduate student/adjunct faculty budget.

Thanks so much to all of you who read my blog and to those who write such thoughtful comments!  You have been a great source of positivity for me during a very difficult time.  I'm taking today off from work.  Classes are done for the term, and I need a break after all that grading before I try to refocus on my own scholarship tomorrow.  I also need to run some errands and finish up some holiday shopping, so today I'm dressed for comfort and channeling Kermit the Frog instead of Oscar the Grouch for strength.¹ 

1. GEEK shirt - I've had it for years so I don't remember where I bought it

Cardi - Target

Jeans - Express

Boots - Steve Madden (DSW)

Leather Jacket - New York & Co. (sale)

Green Faux Fur Vest - Cejon Accessories (Filene's Basement)

Has your semester finished up?  Are you done with your holiday shopping?

Nerd Alert: The Hola Shirt Makes Its First Gratuitous Appearance of the Semester

I am a raging hispanophile.  I'm not ashamed to admit it.  I used to live in Madrid.  I've done archival research in Spain and Mexico.  I went on pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela.  I specialize in Spanish history.  I listen to flamenco music.  I make tortilla. I own a ridiculous shirt that I bought two years ago at Urban Outfitters that proudly proclaims, "HOLA!"*

Now I try not to wear this shirt too often anymore.  Partly because I wore it a few times too many to teach in, and then I wore it a few too many times to nerd out in with other scholars at a month-long seminar/workshop back in my early days of ownership.  I also may or may not be known to almost sing "Hola!!!!" when I enter a room (at home, on campus, at the pub).  This August I safely tucked the shirt away under a bunch of other clothes in a dresser drawer.  Yet, I could hear it calling to me morning after morning.  It's persistent and exuberant "HOLA!" only slightly muffled by sweaters and long-sleeved t-shirts.  This morning I could resist its clarion call no more.  I wore it to work in my office and to teach my class. 

I readily admit that this is not my most fashion-forward of outfits.  I'm not even sure it qualifies as geek chic, but I got all of those suppressed "HOLAS!!!" out of my system for a few months at least....

*Footnotes

T-Shirt - Urban Outfitters

Skirt - Chico's (Clothing Swap)

Boots - John Fluevog

Blazer - Filene's Basement

Necklace - Etsy (gift from my fiance)

What elements of your wardrobe are decidedly nerdy?  How do you make them more fashion-forward?