academichic

17 June 2010 – Candy Striper, originally uploaded by academichic.

Sources:

• Dress: Malia, from neighborhood vintage store
• Belt: Gap Outlet
• Cardigan: Ann Taylor
• Sandals: Target.com clearance

End Notes:

I am kind of in love with this dress. When I tried it on at my neighborhood vintage shop I let a little whoop for joy escape me when I zipped it up for an absolutely spot-on fit in the bust. Plus, I love how the striped pattern of the fabric has been pieced together so perfectly to create flattering lines. And come on, look at this color palette? Red-orange, pink, green, and blue-violet all together? I swoon.

17 June 2010 – Candy Striper, originally uploaded by academichic.

Although I kept the focus on the dress in this iteration with a brown leather belt, tan wedges, and a gray ruffled cardigan, I’ve actually worn — but failed to photograph — this dress previously with bright shoes: on Mother’s Day with my orange pumps and for running errands with my yellow patent sandals.

Next up, I’m imagining wearing this dress with my big floppy hat and espadrilles for a summer picnic. But what I really have a hankering for now is a great pair of blue wedges: turquoise, navy, or even light blue. I think I get a particularly bad case of “bright shoe syndrome” every summer, and this year I’m craving blue (though I could perhaps settle for a really awesome purple). Any suggestions?

17 June 2010 – Candy Striper, originally uploaded by academichic.

17 June 2010, originally uploaded by academichic.

Sources:

• Plaid tunic button down – Zara
• Gray tank – Hanes
• Skinnies – S.Oliver
• Orange sandals – American Eagle
• Scarf – Echo Design
• Silver cuff – gift from dad

Endnotes:

So here’s another incarnation of my ‘uniform’ look that I last wrote about. Except I’ve switched out the flats for orange sandals. This for two reasons: I like how the orange sandals pick up the shades of orange in the plaid button down tunic without being too matchy-matchy, and my much worn Palladium flats have finally been retired after four years of faithful service and many many miles together. They tore at last and I’m putting them to rest in Europe, where we have shared many a pleasant trip together. Thank you, Palladium flats, you were a wise purchase indeed.

So it was in this comfy reiteration of the same look I’ve been sporting for a while now that I enjoyed yesterday’s day despite the rain and clouds.I took cover in one of my favorite bookshops in Munich – the five floored Hugendubel on Marienplatz – and cozied up in their top floor cafe with a hot mint tea, a good cycling book, and some intermittent people watching on the square below…

Cycle Readings, originally uploaded by academichic.

Rainy days in Munich, originally uploaded by academichic.

The second challenge for the LGRAB Summer Games included reading a book on cycling, so I began that task with Mark Beaumont’s The Man Who Cycled The World. Beaumont writes about his adventures riding over 18,000 miles on his bike in 194 days and 17 hours (making him the new world record holder). This book is his personal account of that incredible and often painful yet undoubtedly amazing journey on his bike.

I love reading books about the sports I enjoy, such as running and now cycling. (So the girls over at Let’s Go Ride a Bike didn’t really need to twist my arm with this one). But I’ve never been one to get all technical and read about the mechanics of said sport. Rather, I really love a good adventure memoir that focuses on the thrill, excitement, and discovery resulting from engaging in a given activity. I also like historical or theoretical readings on the development of a sport, which trace the social response to and understanding of said activity. Some of my favorite reads on these topics are:

Running:

McDougall, Christopher. Born to Run. A Hidden Tribe, Super Athletes, and the Greatest Race the World has Never Seen. Knopf, 2009.

(This one made me seriously think that I should be running ultras. It just made me fall in love with the art of running all over again.)

Murakami, Haruki. What I Talk About When I Talk About Running. Knopf, 2008.

(I put it down and vowed to also run one marathon a year for the rest of my life. So I’m not really going to be able to do that, but I still think the book is beautiful and brilliant).

Cycling:

Mackintosh, Philip Gordon and Glen Norcliffe. “Men, Women and the Bicycle: Gender and Social Geography of Cycling in the Late Nineteenth-Century.” Cycling and Society. Eds. Dave Horton, Paul Rosen and Peter Cox. Burlington: Ashgate, 2007. 153-177.

Oddy, Nicholas. “Bicycles.” The Gendered Object. Ed. Pat Kirkham. New York: Manchester University Press, 1996. 60-69.

Simpson, Clare S. “Capitalising on Curiosity: Women’s Professional Cycle Racing in the Late-Nineteenth Century.” Cycling and Society. Eds. Dave Horton, Paul Rosen and Peter Cox. Burlington: Ashgate, 2007. 47-65.

(All really great and accessible articles on the social development of cycling and the gendered aspects of said activity, especially in the early stages on bicycle development).

Aesthetics and Sport in General:

Gumbrecht, Hans Ullrich. In Praise of Althletic Beauty. Harvard University Press, 2006.

(A beautiful and moving book on the aesthetics of athletics. I read this for a class on aesthetics a few years back and have since reread it for pleasure. Gumbrecht is a professor at Stanford University and I had the pleasure of meeting him shortly before coming to Germany. I had him autograph my book. Yes, I’m an academic groupie).

Do you have any great adventure memoirs you’d recommend? What are some of the books (aesthetics or athletics related) that have moved you? I’d love to get your reading tips! S.

17 June 2010, originally uploaded by academichic.

16 June 2010, originally uploaded by academichic.

Sources:

• Floral Blouse – Maurices
• Maroon Belt – Target
• Black Skirt – Banana Republic
• Black Cami – BR Outlet
• Pumps – DSW

Endnotes:

As I mentioned yesterday, for the next five weeks, I am teaching every morning. In an effort to not default to the jersey dress too soon, I pulled out this floral blouse from Maurices.  I picked this out earlier this Spring when I knew we would be doing a week on florals.  It’s rather outside my comfort zone and, in fact, the first time I wore it, I felt like I was playing dress up as S.  I decided to give it another shot today and to try and make it feel a little more me.  I added the thick belt that picks up on the pink flowers and adds some structure and hardware to the ruffly sheer top (belt anything and it seems at least a little more me!)

Needing a break from lesson planning yesterday, I treated myself to an iced coffee and a little grooming. Every once in a great while (like once a year) I get my eyebrows waxed and then maintain them by tweezing. I’ve been itching to have them professionally cleaned up again and have heard several people swear by threading – including my little sister L.  L has fabulous eyebrows and I generally trust her advise, so I mustered up the courage and had my eyebrows threaded!  I have to tell you, I think I am a convert.  It was much less painful and didn’t leave my skin raw, red, and tingly. Just thought I would share a little grooming secret.  How about you? Do you have any grooming tips to share?

Florals, originally uploaded by academichic.

15 June 2010 – School’s IN for Summer, originally uploaded by academichic.

Sources:

• Bag – Troubadour Tote by Crystalyn Kae
• Tank – J Crew
• Pencil Skirt – Banana Republic
• Belt – Gap
• Wedges – Kenneth Cole Reaction, via DSW
• Earrings – Gift

Endnotes:

That’s right, I said “school’s IN for summer!” Yesterday I started teaching a 5 week summer course that meets every morning.  Part of me is actually looking forward to be back on campus everyday  and I’m really excited to be teaching this course.  I’m also quite happy to have an excuse to pull out my professional wardrobe again, but I think creating 25 professional outfits appropriate for the extreme heat of June in Academichic Central will likely be a tough challenge.

Luckily, I now have the perfect summer school bag!  Last week I received this beautiful Troubadour Tote courtesy of Crystalyn Kae. I love the slouchy but refined shape of this tote and adore the pleats and rivets. It actually comes in a variety of great colors but I’ve been looking for a bag to replace my reddish brown tote, which broke last year.

Crystalyn Kae Accessories – Troubadour Tote Bag, originally uploaded by academichic.

Inside the bag, originally uploaded by academichic.

• a tiny make-up pouch that holds cover-up, chap-stick, mini-sunscreen, bobby pins, and a hair band (not pictured)
• my new i-phone pouch from pomella on etsy – I love the vintage green fabirc, the pocket for my headphones, and the bright green band that holds everything in place
• a small zipper pouch of campus essentials that holds,  among other things, a laser pointer, adapters for my laptop, pens, post-its, band-aides, hand lotion, gum, etc
• my incase neoprene laptop sleeve

organization, originally uploaded by academichic.

15 June 2010 – School’s IN for Summer, originally uploaded by academichic.

14 June 2010, originally uploaded by academichic.

Sources:

• Jacket: Banana Republic Factory
• Tank: Target
• Belt: Old Navy
• Skirt: thrifted ages ago
• Wedges: Kenneth Cole Reaction, via DSW

End Notes:

Somewhat ironically, although S. and A. have been having days of simple or repeat duds while traveling or working away from campus, I’ve been secretly relishing the excuse to dress up every weekday for my translation course. The only problem is that since the class consumes so much time my picture-taking and post-writing moments have been severely constrained!

While one cannot ever entirely separate clothing’s form from its function, I do feel like I’ve been dressing primarily for function for quite a while now. When we started this blog, I was dressing to accommodate my growing baby bump. Then, I was dressing for ease of frequent breastfeeding (nursing tanks and surplice necklines). Now, I’m dressing to be able to bike to campus in hot summer weather (hence the recent lack of pencil skirts and pants). While I may sometimes whine about how the demands on my body circumscribe wardrobe creativity, I have to admit that the default primacy of functionality in my clothing choices certainly reinforces the notion of style always being understood in a social context, of clothing as woven (pun!) into our lives of doing, not only being perceived.

Perhaps I should also qualify the notion of “functionality.” Certainly some spandex and sneakers would arguably be “more functional” for commuting via bike. But I’m not really interested in finding the “most” functional outfit, just as I’m not really interested in finding the most creative or aesthetically pleasing outfit. For my specific ride to campus, for the specific schedule of my day, for the particular thermostat levels of the classroom I’m in, and from my particular closet, I make choices. It’s this sense of clothes-in-context that first drew me to style blogging, and what I miss when I’m just flipping through a JCrew or Anthropologie catalog or looking at Banana Republic’s lookbook online. I love seeing how clothes accompany and enable the “doing” of people’s lives, right down to the various iterations of skinnies-and-tunics or tanks-and-bermudas that let S. and A. do all that they do.

14 June 2010, originally uploaded by academichic.

14 June 2010, originally uploaded by academichic.

Sources:

• Sunnies – drug store
• Silk scarf – 1 Euro find at Vienna flea market
• Eyelet top – TJMaxx
• Brown cardi – TJMaxx
• Skinnies – S.Oliver
• Flats – Palladium
• Pendant – Anthropologie
• Earrings – gift from husband

Endnotes:

These are my last travel photos from Cluj, Romania. As you can see, I wore more of the same ‘uniform’ I’ve been sporting throughout my trip to Prague and Romania. I pretty much switched between two pairs of skinny jeans, rotated through a variety of loose, comfortable tunic-like tops, and wore the same tried and tested pair of Palladium flats each day…

This look works really well for me because I’m somewhat of a straight-up-and-down rectangle, so tunics, empire waist tops, and loose blouses work really well with my shape. Someone with more of an hourglass figure might do well to pack tops that define a waist and show off some curves, but for me, it ends up working quite well to highlight my thin legs in skinny jeans and not bother trying to create curves where there are none. When I’m just trying to get dressed quickly and comfortably, that is. Style savvy-readers like Sal mentioned trying travel outfits on at home before packing and I have definitely approached my packing in that well-planned way before. But when time is short and I just want to throw things in my bag that I know will work, I stick with simple pieces that work with and not against my figure.  And with well worn-in and tested shoes. Even if it means that I wear pretty much a version of the same outfit each day. When I’m traveling, I want my surroundings to be my focus and not my outfits.

To vary my looks a wee bit and to make me feel like I’m adding a dash of style to my ‘travel uniform’, I packed a bunch of scarves and used those to add color, texture, and diversity. Scarves are great because they’re so light and small that you can pack a whole lot of them without sacrificing much luggage space at all…

I have actually been feeling a bit like a ‘one trick pony’ since so many of my outfits have been of this skinnies + tunic + flats variety and even wondered whether to post them or not, but then A.’s last post really struck a chord. I liked her honesty in saying that she doesn’t always look put-together, nor that she tries to always look put-together, and that she questions whether style bloggers ought to admit that or pretend otherwise. I have often thought about this myself (being of the not-always-so-put-together-as-I-may-like-to-pretend variety) and it seems to me that what sets fashion blogging apart from magazine spreads and professional models is the portrayal of a somewhat more realistic approach to style, fashion, clothing, and wearability. (Although the spectrum of fashion blogging runs broadly enough that arguments could be made both for and against this). Our site has always been about showing what we would wear on campus, to teach in, on research days, for office hours, or for any other given activity that we would realistically engage in. Thus, it follows that I shouldn’t have to edit out those images of me repeating the same jeans and top for the sake of creative documentation. At the same time, showing off the same look over and over defeats the purpose of creating a platform that seeks to inspire creativity and innovation in one’s approach to dressing.

If you’re still with me and I haven’t lost you with my ramblings, I would love to hear your thoughts on this. Where do you see the role of fashion blogging fitting in? Is it more of an art form and should a good blogger strive to create the kind of unique, often extravagant, and decidedly varied looks found in the pages of your favorite glossies, or rather, is it about documenting the everyday, albeit at times repetitive and perhaps even lackluster outfit creations of regular people? (And yes, I realize that I’m creating a somewhat oversimplified dichotomy here, but you get what I’m saying…)

So which type draws you in more?

Close-up, originally uploaded by academichic.

14 June 2010, originally uploaded by academichic.

And as I leave you to ponder those questions, I will offer you a few more images of gorgeous Cluj… Hope you enjoy! S.

Cluj, Romania, originally uploaded by academichic.

Cluj, Romania, originally uploaded by academichic.

Cluj, Romania, originally uploaded by academichic.

I haven’t done a blog love post in a while, but I’ve recently come across a few great new-to-me sites that I just had to share with you. So sit back, enjoy your Saturday morning, grab a coffee, and peruse some of these lovelies with me…

First up is the bike and style blog évoluer written by California designer, Eva. It combines gorgeous photography with writings on cycling, fashion, and an active lifestyle. I love looking at Eva’s images and am constantly inspired by her eye for vintage and retro mixed with modern and contemporary items. Added bonus: she rocks all of those great looks while cycling all over the Bay area…

Next up is the super funky site What Katie Wore co-authored by Katie and Joe. This stylish London based couple posts one image a day of Katie’s outfits with Joe’s words narrating the look. I was drawn in by Katie’s bold and colorful style and stayed after reading Joe’s charming and humorous anecdotes below each photo…

And last but not least is the lovely blog of Australian based recent mom and graphic designer, Anna. Her site, Rummey Bears, is full of wonderful images of everyday life with her newborn daughter, of style inspirations, and of quiet, simple pleasures. Something about it always make me feel very peaceful and happy when visiting it, just see for yourself…

And I think her delightful preggers shots played no small part in luring me in. How could they not, when they make me want to have a big bump on which to balance my morning drink?

Have you discovered any great new (or not so new) blogs lately? Let’s exchange tips! I’d love to hear your recommendations in the comments section below! Happy reading, everyone! S.

11 June 2010 – Two Ways, originally uploaded by academichic.

Sources:

• T-shirt: Target
• Black belt: Charlotte Russe
• Brown belt (below): Gap Outlet
• Skirt: refashioned from a Target clearance dress
• Sandals: Target
• Orange pumps (below): Dolce Vita, via Sole Struck

End Notes:

It’s a little funny to me that the entirety of the first iteration of this outfit hails from Target (though I did refashion a Target shift dress into a skirt) since I don’t think it feels very “Target-y.” (I can’t define “Target-y.” Let’s just go with it.)

Last week I mentioned the idea of “non-sequitur” shoes, and a couple of you pointed out in the comments that accessories like shoes and jewelry can be so-disjunctive-they-work not only in terms of color but also in material or level of formality. I think that S. frequently does a great job of mixing “registers” of clothing, like wearing a silky skirt for day or jacket and blouse with torn jeans.

When I put on this shirt and skirt this morning, my gut instinct was to keep things sweet and summery with a brown belt and wearing orange pumps. I really like this combination, and I’ll probably wear it out in the near future.

11 June 2010 – Two Ways, originally uploaded by academichic.

But in the interest of pushing my style safety zone — and making the other students in my French class roll their eyes at me — I thought I’d go in another direction with my accessories today. Although the belt and the shoes match in terms of color (and pick up the black outline of the flower on the t-shirt), the cage heels, in particular, inject an edgier feel to the softer pastel and floral shirt and skirt combination. It was unexpected — and as such took a little convincing in front of the mirror to go with it — but I liked it. A lot, actually.

11 June 2010 – Two Ways, originally uploaded by academichic.

Finally, my inner nerd is snickering a bit at the idea of a feminist art historian wearing an oversized flower. Do you know why?

10 June 2010 – Simple Duds for Simple Days, originally uploaded by academichic.

Sources:

• Tank – J Crew (on super sale)
• Navy Shorts – J Crew
• Sandals – Charlotte Russe
• Earrings – F21
• Bangles – Various

Endnotes:

I’m having trouble getting posts up lately because I am spending most days make-up-less in shorts and a tee-shirt or tank (that is when I am not in running shorts, dirty gardening clothes, or sweats) because it’s HOT here and I’m just prepping for my summer course at home or at a coffee shop with breaks to run and tend my new garden (details coming soon I promise).    I’ve actually taken a couple outfit pictures of myself in said shorts and tee but never feel like they are post-worthy.  Often on these kinds of days, I could care less about color combinations, summer trends, or really even proportion.  I know this is not what a “style blogger” is supposed to say, but it’s my dirty truth!  Truth: I wear sweats for many hours of the day and I have no problem going to Home Depot in dirty work shorts or the grocery store in my running clothes (pre-run only).

Today I wore a new tank from J Crew clearance and threw on a handful of bangles to dress up my shorts and sandals uniform, and the result was cute enough to post.

Bangles, originally uploaded by academichic.

Outtake, originally uploaded by academichic.

10 June 2010, originally uploaded by academichic.

10 June 2010 – Cluj, Romania, originally uploaded by academichic.

Sources:

• Teal scarf – souvenir from Prague
• Green top – Old Navy, thrifted
• Skinnies – S. Oliver
• Flats – Palladium
• Shades – drug store

Endnotes:

After the day in Sibiu, T. and I spent some time in Cluj, Romania. I continued my pattern of dressing comfortably for lots of walking and sightseeing. Wearing those flats was a good idea too since we ended up walking up a somewhat steep hill for this gorgeous view of the city. Coffees with a view – bliss.

To add a bit of interest to my outfit, I looped this teal and silver scarf around my neck, creating an analogous color mix with the green top. I used to think analogous color mixes to be a little ‘too close for comfort’ but after doing our Fashion 101 series on colors, I’ve become quite enamored with this subtle yet beautiful color combo. I picked up this teal scarf in a little shop in Prague on my recent trip there as a little keepsake from my travels and it was nice to already pull it out and enjoy it.

Analogous Color Mix, originally uploaded by academichic.

Yesterday, I noted how I often like to peek in thrift stores for some unique yet affordable souvenirs from my travel destinations. And just today, I came across this awesome post from the creative Tricia Royal, founder of wardrobe_remix and writer of Bits and Bobbins. Check out this cool collage she’s working on using the colorful price tags of thrift store items…

I wish I had kept all my tags over the years, especially since the collection would include pieces from all over Europe, Canada, and the US. Tricia is actually looking to collect more tags from all over the world if possible and is asking for anyone willing to send thrift tag donations her way. If you thrift often or on occasion and would like to support this art project, read the full details here on Bits and Bobbins. It looks like my tags will be making their way to New York to find stardom in the art world soon. S.

10 June 2010, originally uploaded by academichic.

Coffees in Cluj, originally uploaded by academichic.