academichic

23 November 2009 – S. Style, originally uploaded by academichic.

Sources:

• Corduroy jacket: Ross
• Leaf brooch: courtesy of Vintage Threadz
• Mini pearl “brooches”: mismatched earrings
• Hawaiian “E” necklace: vintage, my grandmother’s
• Yellow cardi: Ann Taylor Outlet
• Floral skirt: thrifted
• Boots: Iriss by Steve Madden, via eBay

End Notes:

We celebrated A.’s birthday last month with a little style homage, and today it’s S.’s turn! I think that whimsy is a great way to describe S.’s style. I love how she always adds little delightful and surprising touches to her outfits — frequently in the form of brooches — and how willing she is to be a little playful with her combinations. I’m taking my cue from her today by clustering on some brooches and pulling out the vintage “E” pendant from my grandmother.

Brooch cluster, originally uploaded by academichic.

Vintage Hawaiian E. Necklace, originally uploaded by academichic.

This exuberance in her wardrobe is also very reflective of S. as a person. She is a consummate and committed scholar, but she doesn’t take herself too seriously. Instead, she has an infectious passion for every challenge that she takes on, whether it’s exploring vélocouture or writing a novel.

I miss you, S.! I know that you will enjoy T.’s visit this week, but I wish we could celebrate in person with you as well!

Happy Birthday, S!, originally uploaded by academichic.

For contest details, see more below and visit the contest submission page at Nepali by TDM Design. Submissions are due by December 10, 2009! Winning scarves will be sent out within 30 days – just in time for winter! Good luck to you all!!

20 November 2009, originally uploaded by academichic.

Sources:

• Cashmere scarf: “Scrunchy” from Nepali by TDM
• Navy jersey dress: Gap Outlet
• Cardigan: Marshalls
• Navy tights: Target
• Gray wedges: Gap Outlet

End Notes:

I built today’s outfit around this beautiful scarf that Nepali by TDM Designs recently sent to us. I’ve been craving more ruffles in my wardrobe this fall, so I love how this rippling cashmere scarf adds a great dose of dramatic flair to an outfit of basics, and because I wanted the scarf to take center stage, I kept the rest of the outfit in a muted palette of grays and navy.

Scrunchy scarf by Nepali by TDM, originally uploaded by academichic.

But there are more reasons than pure aesthetics to love this scarf! Nepali scarves are all made from natural, eco-conscious materials. Even more impressive, Nepali by TDM Designs works directly with craftswomen in Nepal, helping to provide them with a sustainable income and offering educational and health care services to their families. Smart style that empowers systematically disenfranchised women? Now that’s something that these feminists can definitely get behind!

20 November 2009, originally uploaded by academichic.

20 November 2009, originally uploaded by academichic.

Sources:
All remixed:

• Green button down – J.Crew
• Striped top – J.Crew
• Navy blazer – J.Crew
• Skinnies – thrifted
• Black boots – Banana Republic
• Green tote – Kenneth Cole
• Flower brooch – Dulken & Derrick, via Blue Onion Marketplace

Endotes:

There is a discussion going around the interwebs regarding style inspiration and where one finds said inspiration. I would have to say that the majority of my inspiration since discovering blogs and wardrobe_remix on Flickr comes from real people who post pictures of their style. I still look to magazines or catalogues (like J.Crew’s, which can be found online), but the ratio of real people to magazine provided inspiration lies at 10:1 for me now.

For example, today’s outfit started with my wanting to wear this striped shirt over my green button down. I thought of doing this when I saw this picture of Julie from Orchid Grey:

Once I had the striped top on, I remembered a few images of Jen from Jen Loves Kev, which show her sporting a horizontally striped top with little flower brooches (made by her!) as embellishments:

So I added one of the beautiful Dulken & Derrick flower brooches generously sent to us by Blue Onion Marketplace, which took this simple blazer and layers look to a new level.

My hairdo was likewise inspired by fellow blogger and my new hair muse Julie.

(Not all of us can just wash our hair, go to sleep on it wet, and wake up with a perfect do. I’m looking at you, E!) so it’s great to find people who appear to have a similar hair length and texture as mine and to see how they make their locks more exciting. It’s similar to discovering a fashion blogger with your proportions and body shape; you feel like you can easily translate their looks into outfits that will work for you.

This is perhaps why I have found fashion bloggers and wardrobe_remixers to be exciting sources of style inspiration. They offer a much wider selection of aesthetics, size, shape, hair-type, colorings, and budget than the models and looks frequently gracing the pages of women’s magazines.

What about you? Where do you draw your inspiration? Where do your style muses reside? S.

20 November 2009, originally uploaded by academichic.

19 November 2009, originally uploaded by academichic.

Sources:

• Eggplant swing jacket: BR Outlet
• Teal nursing tank: Old Navy
• Orange necklace: Forever 21, extended
• Gray skinnies: thrifted, skinnied by me
• Brown wedges: thrifted

End Notes:

I usually wear this necklace as a statement piece, the focal point of an outfit. Today, however, I thought it might be fun to play peek-a-boo, wearing it under this swing jacket and letting it pop out occasionally for a fun bit of color.

But, onward to the discussion at hand.

I certainly agree with A.’s assessment of the dangers of essentializing language when describing clothing as “masculine” or “feminine,” but I think I’m more comfortable using those terms in the context of this blog to explain why I think an outfit “works.” In my last take on my plaid shirtdress, for example, I suggested that the outfit gained visual interest from the juxtaposition of the dress and earrings that would be perceived as “feminine” with the plaid dress that would be perceived as “tougher” (in our particular socio-historical context, of course!). Articulating those assumed perceptions offers insight into just what made that outfit a little bit surprising and, I think, successful. I suppose I could have described the wine dress and earrings as adding a “softer” component to the “edgier” plaid,” but I guess I would argue that those words also carry gendered connotations with them as well. The power of the juxtaposition is due not only to the visual contrast but to the disruption of social expectations, even on a small scale.

So here’s where I get occasionally stuck, both in describing my clothing style and in my own scholarship and personal activisim: the juncture of self-disclosure and public perception. And it’s why I’m glad I have A. and S. around to help me think through it!

19 November 2009, originally uploaded by academichic.

19 November 2009, originally uploaded by academichic.

Sources:

• Navy cardigan – H&M, remixed
• Navy tank – Old Navy, remixed
• Wrap skirt – Boden, thrifted, remixed
• Navy tights – my mom’s from the 80s
• Gray wedges – Report, via Solestruck.com, remixed endlessly
• Ring worn as pendant – C&A

Endnotes:

This outfit was designed around this gorgeous Boden skirt that I thrifted this past summer in San Francisco. It is the one patterned skirt that I chose to bring with me to Germany and I’m so glad I did. This morning, it hung there in my closet just begging to be pulled out and worn. To keep it as the outfit’s focal point, I added only navy around the skirt – tights, top, cardigan in navy and, of course,  my beloved gray wedges.

Inside out braid, originally uploaded by academichic.

In an attempt to be more creative with my hair, I followed the wonderful video tutorial of Orchid Grey on how to do a braided thingy that wraps around your head and ends in a side-knot. (Here are some images of it when perfectly executed). I left my hair in a low side ponytail rather than in a knot because I was happy with it like that, but will have to try the knot next time.

I just discovered Orchid Grey and I’ve already bookmarked it as a new favorite. The author, Julie, has a wonderful sense of style and the most amazing hair. I want to copy both her wardrobe and her hairdos. I admit it, I have a slight case of Single White Female going on here, but I think you’ll understand if you go check out her site. S.

19 November 2009, originally uploaded by academichic.

18 November 2009, originally uploaded by academichic.

Sources:

• Black t-neck – Zara
• Green cord skirt – thrifted, remixed
• Black tights – DM
• Black boots – Banana Republic, remixed
• Green tote – Kenneth Cole, remixed
• Jade bracelet – Chinatown, San Francisco, remixed
• Green necklace – thrifted, remixed

Endnotes:

Monochrome, Take II – this time I’ve paired shades of green with black (a neutral). I don’t wear monochromatic outfits often so this always seem exciting and out of my usual style-zone when I do put them together. I often wear one color with neutrals but then I introduce additional colors with my accessories. It’s rare that I will accessorize using only shades of the same color present in my outfit. But today’s greens worked out so well that I’m tempted to try this more often.

Greenery, originally uploaded by academichic.

On a different note, I want to continue the discussion A. introduced yesterday on the gendering of clothes. I hate the use of ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’ to describe certain garments or styles because it perpetuates restrictive ideas about what is appropriate for one gender and what it a borrowing from another gender (“the boyfriend jean, the boyfriend cardigan”, etc). This suggests that certain looks are inherent to one gender and that certain things are ‘natural’ to one gender over the other, and leads to such binaries as soft, delicate, frilly femininity and harsh, dark, somber masculinity. This bothers me because these attributes aren’t just restricted to clothing, they usually translate into how people think they or others should act and be.

What we associate with ‘feminine’ or ‘masculine’ dress is a cultural construct and is time and context specific, as some of you commented yesterday. Since a terrific reader mentioned looking to the film Dangerous Liaisons as an example, I present you with just that. I have used this clip in my classes before to point to the performance of identity and gender roles and it also happens to be a film clip that most wonderfully demonstrates how what we would now see as effeminite clothing was at one point considered the height of masculinity, suitable for a regular ‘playboy’ to wear. So much for pink and ruffles and satin as being the antithesis of virile masculinity – not for eighteenth-century France they weren’t. S.

16 November 2009, originally uploaded by academichic.

Sources:

• Striped Cardigan – J Crew, birthday gift from mom
• Long Black Tee – don’t remember
• Grey Long-sleeve Tee (not seen) – Gap
• Grey Cords – Banana Republic
• Brown Boots – Banana Republic, via ebay
• Scarf – China Town, NY
• Silver Hoops – Banana Republic

Endnotes:

Online shopping has long been one of  my favorite forms of procrastination.  Now, this online shopping rarely actually results in purchasing, but I do love to make mental wish lists, get ideas for how to style items I already own, and be reminded that there are things deep in my closet that are suddenly in style again.

I often clip photos of ensembles I like or new styling ideas I want to try out.  These images  most often come from J Crew — I think they offer really creative styling that I  wouldn’t think of myself, but can imagine recreating in some way.

Lately, I am also really liking Banana Republic styling too.  I loved this warm cozy layered look and decided I could recreate it with items I already own.  I swapped in my teal and grey floral scarf for the red plaid (although now I am pining for a large plaid scarf) and my brown boots for thee black (I wanted flats and my black boots have heels).

My cardigan is much thinner and shorter than the rather bulky sweater coat featured in the BR version and I  discovered that my bootleg grey cords are a little too bulky for tucking into boots, so now I may be adding skinny-leg cords to my Christmas wish list.

BR Inspiration, originally uploaded by academichic.

Stripes and Flowers, originally uploaded by academichic.

16 November 2009 – Two Dresses Redux, originally uploaded by academichic.

Sources:

• Gray dress- Target, remixed
• Black shirt dress – H&M
• Gray tights – DM
• Black rushed flats – Kenneth Cole, remixed
• Earrings worn as necklace – TJMaxx, remixed
• Vintage onyx and pearl ring – gift from mom, remixed

Endnotes:

I went into H&M this past weekend to get a pair of tights, when I spotted this black shirt dress on clearance for 15 Euros. Having just relayed my love of shirt dresses to you, I was still on a shirt dress high and decided I had to ‘splurge’ and get this one. I’m glad I did because I can already envision all the ways this will remix with my current items.

Earrings necklace, originally uploaded by academichic.

For today, I created a monochromatic look by layering this black dress over my gray jersey dress. To keep with the monochrome, I turned these two onyx earrings into a necklace by stringing the first one on a silver chain and the second one onto the first earring for a cascading effect (A. inspired me to try this after seeing her repurpose earrings as necklace pendants several times).

Vintage Ring, originally uploaded by academichic.

My mother’s onyx and pearl ring and black flats with gray tights complete the monochromatic ensemble. While this may have been simple and subdued in color, I think it’s the details that make this outfit stand out; the ruching on the shoes, the jewelry, and the deep pockets on this dress (who doesn’t love a dress with pockets?).

Shoes, originally uploaded by academichic.

And while we’re on the subject of colors, thanks to some of you for pointing out that fuchsia is spelled *fuchsia* and not fuschia. I’d like to pretend that it was my subconscious Germanization of the spelling, but that would be a lie.

To recap, since fashion blogging, I have learned the correct spelling of the following words:

• Polka-dot (not Polk-a-dot)
• Corduroy (not Chorduroy)
• Fuchsia (not Fuschia)

and I have also spent way to much time thinking about Gray vs. Grey.
S.

16 November 2009 – Two Dresses Redux , originally uploaded by academichic.