academichic

21 May 2010 – Black and Tan, originally uploaded by academichic.

Sources:

• Black top: BR Factory
• Necklace: Target
• Belt: Old Navy
• Skirt: thrifted (The Limited)
• Shoes: Target

End Notes:

Yesterday, the New York Times published an article on khaki’s comeback: Khaki Gets Street Cred. My favorite line from the piece? “More dressed up than jeans without getting all fancy-pants.”

You may recall my previous vacillations over the place of khaki in my wardrobe past and present, but after reading that NY Times piece yesterday I decided to give this skirt another try. I may not have “street cred,” but I figured that layered necklaces, a belt with hardware, and cage heels could combine forces to fight the khaki skirt’s inherent preppiness. Plus, I figure that any outfit that you can name after a duo of beers has to be worth a shot.

(Hmmm, that’s an idea for the weekend…)

How are you giving khaki “street cred” this spring? Or does the entire notion of khaki-with-edge confound you?

21 May 2010 – Black and Tan, originally uploaded by academichic.

We’re finishing off our round-up of your fantastic participation during Dress Your Best week. (Don’t forget to check out parts 1 and 2!) Some of the most powerful posts we read were ones that situated their bodies in time and space.

For example, many of you looked past pure aesthetics in favor of praising your body for what it can do. Strong arms, anyone? This especially hit a chord with runners, cyclists, and dancers, who praised their strong legs for carrying them so many, many miles. These are bodies that move, amazing in their corporeality.

On the other hand, for someone who tends to get too caught up in function, celebrating her body purely for its form was a pretty big deal too!

We were also reminded that bodies have histories and that sometimes the parts you value the most are the ones that serve as markers of triumph over past struggles. Does your nose connect you to your family history? Have you become more confident in your body as you’ve gotten older? Did you read the stories behind  Tania’s hair, Sarah’s back, Sara’s curves, or Julie’s legs? How about Andie’s eyes, Becca’s “bewbs”, and Katie’s smile? These are bodies mixed with emotional histories, bodies themselves shaped by time and perceptions of these bodies shaped through experience.

Did dressing your best make a difference? Was it something of a struggle to find and acknowledge five things you love about your body? While it may be difficult to literally dress to show off your hands or lips or cheekbones, owning your “flaws” and taking them on as a challenge can be an empowering thing. Maybe it meant recognizing that casual clothing can still highlight your body or discovering a favorite brand that always seems to show you off best. Or maybe it meant truly dressing just for yourself last week.

Sadly, “body griping” has become a commonplace practice in “female bonding.” Replacing that with body positivity isn’t going to happen overnight. But we hope that DYB week allowed you to recognize bonds with others — seeing beauty in shared traits and in differences — and that (even if you have to write a letter of apology to your body first) this little paradigm shift of dressing your best has proven itself valuable. We certainly enjoyed it.

Finally, we were thrilled to see several bloggers spread the message of Dress Your Best by translating our manifesto and contributing their bilingual lists and making this project available to a broader audience outside of the Western world. Thank you!

A huge “thank you” to everyone who participated. We were moved, inspired, and excited by you.

Sources:

• Pashmina scarf – small shop in Romania
• Blue cardigan – vintage, was my grandmother’s
• Jeans – thrifted
• Boots – Banana Republic
• Cropped coat – from “free” pile in dorm
• Tote – Kenneth Cole
• Bird earrings – gift form A.

Endnotes:

These pictures are from a little while back when my friends were in town and we spent one day visiting Regensburg, Germany. Regensburg is a beautiful old city in Bavaria that dates back to the Stone Age and that definitely merits a visit if you’re in the Southern Germany area.

Unfortunately, our weather here has been cold, rainy, and gray for the most part of May, so back out come the sturdy boots, the heavy coat, and the thick scarves. Good thing I came across this warm yet cropped (and therefor less wintery) wool coat in the ‘free’ pile in my dorm foyer. It’s proven just right for this cold spell we’ve gotten.

Little Bird Earring, originally uploaded by academichic.

Pattern Mash, originally uploaded by academichic.

I’m now hoping for nicer weather since my husband just arrived in Germany and we’re spending some time here, some time in Prague, and then a little time in Romania in the coming weeks. I would love some nicer weather to really enjoy our sightseeing and traveling together. We have never been to Prague before, so I welcome any tips and suggestions any of you might have!

For now, I leave you with a few images from gorgeous Regensburg and I hope to report back with more beautiful backdrops to future outfit shots and hopefully some more bike adventures (weather permitting) to contribute to the LGRAB Summer Games as well. S.

19 May 2010 – Introducing, originally uploaded by academichic.

Sources:

• Necklace: Honolulu swap meet
• Tank: Target
• Belt: Forever 21
• Skirt: self-made
• Patent sandals: Old Navy
• Helmet: Nutcase

End Notes:

I’d like to introduce…my bike. Over the past year, my husband N. has become a 4-season bike commuter and increasingly committed to biking for all possible local errands. And, bless his heart, he spent six months tracking down the perfect bike for me and a trailer for baby e. to tag along in.

We finally found a winner in this Takara 6-speed, purchased used from a local non-profit bike organization. Turns out I’m a sucker for bikes with tall, elegant head-tube-stem-bars areas. It’s kind of the sterno-clavicular area of bikes, I suppose.

19 May 2010 – Introducing, originally uploaded by academichic.

We’ve been a full-fledged biking family for a couple of months now that the weather has turned agreeable: N. on his gorgeous Raleigh pulling baby e. in his Burley trailer while I follow behind. We’ve biked to dinner, to church, to the grocery store, to a department party, and, as of today, to pick up our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) box o’ goodies.

Let’s be frank. I’m far from an accomplished biker. I still have trouble finding my optimal gear, I’m not terribly fast, and I get exceedingly nervous when wending my way down curvy handicap ramps on campus. But biking has afforded me a new means of comingling my roles as wife, mother, and graduate student. Indeed, perhaps the thing I appreciate most about biking as a family is how it integrates so many aspects of our life together. To be able to get some exercise, spend time with N. and baby e., and check an errand off of my to-do list is a triple-win situation.

Plus, I love the sound of baby e. “singing” from his trailer as he vibrates down the road.

This is my first entry in the Let’s Go Ride a Bike Summer Games in the “Social Cycling” category. I’m so excited to play along, and I hope that many of you all will be participating as well!

In Part I of our Dress Your Best Round Up, we recapped the various approaches you all took to the DYB challenge, focusing on oft-overlooked body parts or celebrating your frame or proportions as a whole. Another trend we noticed among participating blogs was an awareness of how social norms have shaped the ways we perceive our bodies. Many of you emphasized the constructed nature of these societal standards, refusing to accept them as “natural,” and you instead foregrounded and embraced the ways in which your body or clothing style fell outside those narrow parameters.

We tip our metaphorical hats to those of you who laid claim to legs with scratches and bumps, pale legs, a strong but not flat tummy, and a fluctuating-but-sturdy belly. Or just celebrating your butt without feeling the need to qualify it.

Some of you took on the very notion of femininity, arguing that body-positivity and dressing “mannishly” are not mutually exclusive. Or that muscular legs and a strong jaw are attributes to be celebrated not apologized for.

And certainly that ever-shifting social phenomenon of the baby bump deserves to be showcased, right from the get-go!

Interestingly, two attributes that received quite a bit of praise — breasts and hair — are also body parts that are at the center of millions of dollars of advertising campaigns. It was thrilling to read how so many of you have come to embrace the particulars of your cup size or hair texture and color as an intrinsic part of your bodily identity.  Whether you know them as your breasts, bosom, girls,  bust, ta ta’s, or boobular area all shapes and sizes were celebrated. A+ for A-cups, indeed. And no matter how much you may have wrangled with it in the past, hair — wavy with natural highlights,  long and thin, or with massive curls — featured frequently as a body part that contributes to your overall sense of self.

Up next: bodies in time and space. How our experiences shape our bodies and our perceptions.

19 May 2010, originally uploaded by academichic.

Sources:

• Tank – BR Outlet
• Cardigan – Gap Outlet
• Denim Skirt – BR Outlet
• Wedges – Kenneth Cole Reaction
• Bangle – gift from S.
• Necklace – Gift

Endnotes:

Last night, a little before midnight, I submitted a draft of my dissertation proposal to my dissertation reading group.  It’s full of typos, ellipses, incomplete footnotes, and sketches of ideas, but it’s a draft!

My look-into-the-horizon-hero-pose that appears in both these pictures was unconscious but may say more about how I feel today then I realized.  After a couple days in sweatpants in which I mostly left the house for coffee and bad-for-me food, it suddenly feels amazing to have “real” clothes on. Today I plan to take my car to the shop, send my little sister a package, mail the giveaways, do laundry, and meet some friends for a run – nothing all to exciting, but I find that whenever I submit a paper, take an exam, or finishing a pile of grading I emerge ready to reclaim my previous life as a human being.  Each time I vow to not let school work shut out house work, exercise, family time, etc and I am getting better with the years of practice, but maybe one day in sweats with too much coffee and junk food and too many dirty dishes, only makes me appreciate structured clothes, fruit, and the dishwasher all the more!

A.

19 May 2010, originally uploaded by academichic.

Trying to write a round-up for Dress Your Best week is eerily similar to attempting to articulate the “state of the field” at the beginning of your dissertation: there’s a lot of information to distill and you’re loathe to generalize particulars even though that’s the whole point. Perhaps if we were graduate students in the social sciences we could provide you with nifty charts and graphs illustrating trending favorite body parts. But alas, we are humanities students, so we’ll do what we do with words and images.

We’d like to celebrate everyone who participated, so we’re breaking our round-up into several thematic parts. Today, we’re offering up a little cheer for the range of approaches — macro and micro — to choosing your “Top Five.”

We loved how many people called attention to body parts that tend to be overlooked or taken for granted. You cheered for ankles, delicate wrists, feet, lovely bones, and elegant necks. You proudly celebrated clear, pale skin, beautiful olive skin, freckles, eyelashes, and forearms.

On the other hand, many of you took a big-picture approach and proclaimed your love for your entire frame or proportions or coloring. There were cheers for an hourglass figure, a petite “rectangle,“ a long and lean body, a strong and tall body, curves, and finally being confident enough to lay claim to an “athletic” frame.

And then there were those of you who embraced how two features come together:  dark eyes against pale skin or curls resting on collarbones.

Whatever your approach, the thrust of Dress Your Best Week came across loud and clear: celebrate the parts — or wholes — or combinations — that you love!

Next up in our round-ups: Dressing Your Best in social context and bodies-in-time-and-space. Exciting, no?

Last Friday, we hosted two giveaways to end our Dress Your Best week. Thank you for all your wonderful comments on the entries and for all your overwhelming support of Dress Your Best as a project. Based on your feedback, we definitely agree to make it an annual feature! (And you may even have twisted our arms into making it a biannual event, let’s just see…).

So without any further ado, here are our giveaway winners:

The winner of this gorgeous embellished clutch from Beadle Bop’s etsy shop is Liz Rosas, comment #54. Congratulations, Liz!

And the winner of the beautiful sterling silver and Periodot ring from the fabulous jewelery site La La B is Prajakta, comment #75. Congratulations, Prajakta!

To both our winners, please send us your name and address and we will send these items out to you as soon as possible! Thanks for entering and stay tuned for more giveaways in the future.

My friend L. emailed me one day with this link, asking if I was up for trying this simple T-shirt refurbishing project. Since she was offering her crafting expertise and sewing machine, I could not refuse. I struggled a bit with the initial instructions, so I decided to document this DIY project in every minute detail to help other novices (like me) be able to do this even without the help of an expert seamstress. (Thanks, L!)

Materials Needed:

• Old t-shirt (we thrifted these discarded German Army shirts for under 3 Euros each)
• Elastic (approx. 1.5 meters per shirt)
• Scissors
• Sewing Machine (preferred)

Instructions:

After you’ve chosen your t-shirt to deconstruct, begin by measuring the circumference of your chest (watch L. demonstrate…)

Cut the elastic to size so that it will fit around your chest snuggly (this will hold up your top, so a snugger fit is preferred.)

The bottom hem will now be your new top hemline, running across your chest. Using a seam cutter, tear a hole large enough to run the elastic through it. (Tip: choose a spot on the side of the shirt that will likely be hidden under your arm when worn, rather than in the front or back).

» Read the rest of this entry «

17 May 2010, originally uploaded by academichic.

Sources:

• Yellow cardigan: Banana Republic Factory
• Saffron tank: Banana Republic Factory
• Olive belt: thrifted
• Skirt: Banana Republic factory
• Patterned wedges: Kenneth Cole Reaction, via DSW

End Notes:

It’s been raining for days on end at Academichic Central, so today I decided to make my own sunshine and bring back out the yellow that I gushed about on my final day of Dress Your Best week.

(Speaking of, we have a series of round-up posts from DYB week coming soon! We continue to be so delighted by how many folks participated, but next year I want to hire a work study student to do all this data organization for us. Ha!)

As I put this outfit together today, I started humming Jack Johnson’s little ditty “Reduce, Reuse Recycle.” Indeed, I did reduce outfit-making anxiety by reusing and recycling items and combinations from previous outfits. This whole silhouette, for example, is very close indeed to the turquoise top, woven belt, and cream skirt that I wore last week. (Yup, I do own the same skirt in two different colors!) And I’ve worn these patterned wedges with this very skirt and saffron top combination. And, yes, I’ve paired this yellow cardigan and saffron top together before as well. Not so many originality points today.

Wedges, originally uploaded by academichic.

Then again, perhaps I could argue that the privileging of originality is a western construct linked with the masculine notion of the male genius and that by foregrounding the repetition and derivation within my wardrobe choices I am inhabiting a third space of style consciousness. Whee! Can you tell my semester is over and I’m on my one week break?!

What role does “originality” play when you’re putting together an outfit? Do you feel guilty reusing past combinations or do you embrace it?

17 May 2010, originally uploaded by academichic.