Fashioning Manipulation

 I am engaging in what Jess calls Monogomous Dressing, which I do frequently.  I am once again wearing The Most Versatile Dress I've Ever Owned because I wore it last week when I visited my mom in Kansas City and promised myself that that would be the last time I wore it before I got it dry cleaned.  Well, what's one more time? Especially since I'll just be spending my afternoon in the library writing and students aren't exactly known for smelling great.  But that's what the Chanel No. Five is for.

dress - Corey Lynn Calter/Anthro (remixed)

cardi - GAP (giftcarded  & remixed)

tights - Assets/Target

boots - Plenty by Tracy Reese via Piperlime (remixed)

necklace - Urban Outfitters (remixed)

earrings - Anthro (remixed)

scarf and sunglasses - H&M (remixed)

 I'm at least a month overdue for a trim and because I have an important interview and a conference coming up I'm freaking out about the length of my hair again.  In the fall, I contemplated cutting a lot of it off because longer hair makes me look younger and generally connotes youth.  I tend to place a lot of anxiety on my hair because its changeable and I can't change my height, which has the biggest impact about the perception of my age and academic authority upon seeing me (as opposed to conversing with me).  For a few days last week I was convinced that I needed to cut off at least five inches otherwise my paper will not be well received and I will bomb the interview.  Then, Sara linked to a hair-do-how-to and since I saw that I've calmed down a bit and decided that I will continue to keep it long but start experimenting more with ways of putting it up that aren't a haphazard ponytail tuck thingie, i.e. Gym Hair.

Had I not been visiting my mom last Friday I would also have participated in Modly Chic's Friend Friday on Feminism. Many thanks to Katy for her questions and to the participating bloggers who took them on (and also, a congrats to Katy on the DIY publication of her YA novel, Aurora Undefined.) As it's Tuesday, I'm not going to respond to this now, but I was especially delighted to see questions 1 and 4, which were "Do you think there is an incompatibility between feminism and a love for fashion?" and "How is your self-image and the way you carry yourself informed by your beliefs?" All I will say is that there must be some critical navigation and self-introspection when it comes to feminism and fashion, even fashion is a verb and has a DIY quality to it. 

And I liked the other question even better because it cast a wide net about the intersection of fashion and our beliefs, convictions, politics, and ethics and about the place of visible public subjectivit(ies)y.  It's something I think a lot about as an academic and as an instructor, both in terms of research and self-fashioning.  My research into spectatorship and visual culture can also make me hyper aware of how things are "read" by others and how little control we have over reception and perception, hence my apprehension about my height, hair, and age in academic settings.  I think our knowledge of the wide variety of ways in which our appearances can be received actually causes more manipulation and dissembling through fashion than it does "authentic self-expression."  Not that that's necessarily a negative thing.  I wear pearls in the university classroom but have never worn them to teach  ESL (English as as Second Language).  Alternatively, I often forgo wearing a Miraculous Medal, which I wear on a nearly daily basis, in high stakes situations when I am initially meeting others (interviews, conferences, first day of class), but I've never taken it off for ESL.  I would be incredibly naive and self-deceiving if I said that the difference is simply accessorizing preferences from one day and time to the next.

What sartorial or accessorizing choices do you find yourself manipulating?  Do you have a "neutral" outfit that you wear when you want the focus off of yourself? Academics, is there anything you took off or put on for job talks or interviews?

Spring Studs

OK, so maybe rain boots don't go with everything...but at least I didn't wear them during downward dog this evening!
I'm also finally rocking studs and other patterns--I usually want a safe solid color in addition to patterns but wanted to do something more exciting for a nice dinner out. I've actually worn my yoga clothes to this place before (but nice lulu lemon ones!) and felt that I should make it snazzier tonight to make up for the last time.
Do you ever feel you have to make up for previous outfits at restaurants/classes/conferences?

Weekend Wear: Somewhere Warmer

I've been a bit quiet for the past couple of weeks, as I've been finishing a stage of a publication project over the past couple of weeks and also grading mountains of exams and papers.  I even took my work with me the week before last to spend several days hanging out with my mom and her sweet, old, rescue dog in a warmer location than the upper Midwest.

(Dress - Anthropologie (remixed), Cardigan - Say What (remixed), Flats - Steve Madden (remixed)) 

My mom had to work most of the time that I was there, so I dug into my work with breaks each day that I was there for either running or walking outside in sunny 60F weather.  I loved spending time with my mom and goofing off.  

Although I was technically on spring break and do not actually get paid for my labor those days, let the record show that I graded 50 exams, wrote two lectures, and made substantial progress on a research project during my so-called vacation.  But being able to do it in a place where I could walk outside without putting on snow stomping boots or a coat and where I could hang out with my mom made it a wonderful break all the same.

Academics, have you had your spring break yet?  What did you do?  What are you looking forward to most about spring?  Has it arrived yet in your neck of the woods?

Dark and Stormy

Ah.....the orange sunset of....my rain boots. And ginger beer, an umbrella, and rum. It's that never-ending rainy season here, which made me feel like now was the time to make some home-brewed ginger beer and sit back with a nice dark and stormy post-writing (and, OK, during writing. sometimes).
These Eddie Bauer rain boots are stylin' enough for me to keep them on during talks (much to the amusement of a senior faculty member, who exclaimed about their orangeness). They also seem to match anything....today it was a blue skirt, black v-neck and pearls. Yes, pearls and rain boots.
Do you have rain boots you'd wear to medium-dressy functions? Would you like to see me rocking these with pearls?
By the way--the link on ginger beer will give you a step by step on how to make it--it's actually not that difficult and you can adjust the ginger and lemon to your liking.

Candidacy Couture

Yesterday I became A Slightly Better Funded Humanity after passing my candidacy exams!
I wore a blue top and this skirt to my M.A. exams two years ago and thought I should wear the same for luck, though had to swap out the old H&M top for the Target shirt pictured above.

I'm so excited (and yet frazzled!) to be done that I've gone a little blurry in the photo above. While preparation for exams went from being fun to nerve-wracking and back to fun, the oral exam experience itself was oddly enjoyable and I'm looking forward to dissertating. I honestly still can't believe at this point that I don't have to turn around and take another exam in a week, though! What lucky outfits do you wear?

Top: Target
Skirt: H&M
Necklace: St. Christopher from St. Patrick's (remixed)

Smelling the Roses

This week has already kicked my ass.  I've been busy with more revisions, lecture writing, and trying to figure out my schedule for the fall semester at my new institution.  I have been on the go for the past two days and the next two look just as busy, if not more so.   Since there is no time right now for me to stop and smell the roses, I've had to carry my flowers with me -- or in this case on me.¹

 1. Dress - LoL for Target (remixed)

Cardi - Say What (remixed)

Shoes - Franco Sarto

Necklace - Gift (remixed)

Earrings - Filene's Basement (remixed)

I considered taking my class outside again today, but I ruled against it for a couple of reasons: I didn't want to sit on the ground in this dress and the fact that I wanted to show a bunch of great images today so I needed technology.  Let me just say some of these images involved hats and neck ruffs. 

Have you been able to take advantage of the spring weather and spend more time outside?  How do combat the distraction that seems to attend the warmer temperatures and sunny skies?

OK, Sun. I'm Dressed For You

The other day LHdM and I went out for coffee and sun-propritiating in a nearby amphitheatre. What better way to ask for sun than to wear a summer BCBG dress given to me by LHdM and my silvery Target sandals (which felt right at home in the amphitheatre, let me tell you).

Who needs accessories with a dress like this? I love the empire-area detailing (have absolutely no idea what that's called and would appreciate any help!) and just the feel of it. It also transitions from classroom to party to....amphitheatre.

Much as I love pulling out all the fantastic spring wear, I'm finding myself clinging to a few fall favorites, like my ruched red shirt with a pair of brown sailor-ish slacks. All in all, this in-between period has been fantastic for showing off the best of fall and spring.

Are you still between fall and spring outfits? Going anywhere fun for break? If so, what are you wearing?

Oops!

Yesterday seemed to just be a comedy of errors.  To start off, when I went to make coffee, the water just drained right out of my machine.  I honestly thought it must have been me accidentally spilling it due to early morning/bad cold ineptitude, so I got a towel and tried to fill my coffee maker with water again.  Well, it was definitely the machine.  I turned my kitchen into a pond.  Oops!

M. ever so kindly went and got me Starbucks while I started getting ready to leave the house for my commute.  I then spilled said Starbucks on my first outfit.  Oops!

Then I left my office without grabbing one of the books that I had told myself to make sure to bring home for this final stretch of dissertation revisions.  I don't really think that I need it, but I would have liked to have it at home rather than in my office an hour away, especially because small liberal arts school is on Spring Break.  Oops!

At least the sun was shining brightly for the first time in days.  Maybe Spring will actually arrive, after all!  However, apparently because it hadn't graced us with its rays for so long, M. and I no longer knew how to take photographs in the sun.  None of my outfit photos turned out.  Oops!

So I went through my back log and found the outfit¹ that I wore out to the bar to celebrate thechemist-coture's birthday a couple of weeks ago.  I hadn't posted it previously because M. had cut off the top part of my head in the photos.  Oops!

 1. Dress - Target (remixed)

Shirt - Target (remixed)

Tights - We Love Colors

Boots - Fluevog (remixed)

Some days it's best to not operate any heavy machinery.  At least I'm now on break at one institution and can turn more of my attention to getting well and taming that last chapter into submission, starting today. 

What are your weekend plans?  For those of you in the academy, are you on spring break yet?

It's Spring on the Streets

I can't wait for winter to be over. Really. So I ate smoked chocolate and salty caramel ice cream with LHdM and a few other fashionable academics and then went out (OK, briefly. It's 30 degrees) in my spring wear.

I love lilac and grey as a combination and decided that this look worked better with flat sandals rather than heels. I do have a black pair of wedge sandals that I'll wear with this outfit sometimes, but wanted to show off my gladiator-ish silver ones.

And here I am looking off into the distance waiting for a flock of birds to start singing. I'm also happy that this entire outfit cost under $60. The skirt is thrifted Banana Republic, sandals are this season's Target, and the shirt is Target from a year or so ago. My expression being weirder than upside down lady's? Priceless.

What pieces of last year's spring outfits are you planning on keeping? How are you planning on integrating them with new styles? Do you find that you do better work in the spring or does the pleasant weather distract you?