Sources:
White tee – H&M
Wrap skirt – Boden, thrifted in San Fran
Yellow flats – Target
Necklace – thrifted
Endnotes:
No, your eyes are not failing you; this is neither a monochromatic ensemble nor do the colors make a split complimentary combination. I am sporting a triad (pink-blue-yellow) on my skirt, but even that’s a week too late.
I really tried to make a color challenge happen yesterday morning. I stood in front of my closet door and stared at the contents for a while before giving up and reaching for a trusted combination I knew I’d feel good in; this gorgeous Boden skirt, a simple white top, a navy cardi, and these yellow flats for a unexpected pop of color in the shoe. You see, yesterday was my first day of new faculty orientation and I was going to be meeting a bunch of new colleagues and university people and I just wanted to look both professional and comfortable (i.e. – like ‘me’) and the color challenge just wasn’t working with me on that one.
So while I knew I was dropping the ball on the color challenges, I went with my gut and picked the outfit that spoke to me. (Essentially a summer version of this fall favorite). I decided to post this because I think it’s a realistic depiction of how getting dressed often goes; you envision the expectations of others, you try to live up to some picture in your mind of how you should look, and you end up feeling frustrated when it doesn’t all come together the morning of. Even worse, that sometimes ends up ruining your day before you’ve stepped out the door or you end up wearing something you think you ‘should’ wear and feeling uneasy in it all day.
At said faculty orientation, I attended a very interesting session on planning for your first week. The instructor noted that all it takes is fifteen minutes for a first impression to be made. So it’s important to set the stage of how you want the year to go in those first fifteen minutes of class. If you don’t want your students coming to class looking disheveled or wearing pjs, then you might not want to show up looking like you’ve just rolled out of bed either – that sets the tone for the semester to come. I think this applies to other things as well; how you show up to an interview will set the tone for that hour, how you show up on a date will likely set the tone for the dinner and drinks to come, and how you show up to meet your partner’s family will likely affect how they understand you until they get to know you better.
This is not to say that there is a correct way to look for any given activity (there is a plurality of looks that work for most given contexts). It’s just to say that first impressions matter and that it’s not weird that we end up spending so much time thinking about what we put on in the morning. I opted for something that made me feel good, feel like myself, and was university-appropriate in my agenda despite knowing that it wasn’t what I was ‘supposed’ to wear for the day (I say that very tongue-in-cheeck since our color challenges are self-imposed and I hardly thought that E., L, or A. would begrudge my rogue outfit choice here).
How do you figure out how to best present yourself in a first-impression situation and do you remember to strike that balance between dressing as you should and dressing as you want? S.
PS: I met a lovely reader at faculty orientation who recognized me from the site and came to say hi. Hi, Rachel, it was great to meet you!
Great to meet you, too! I love that wrap skirt!
If we can’t wear things that make us feel good and feel like ourselves, then what’s the point? I don’t think anyone will fault you for not going with the color challenge!
I adore that skirt and really love it with the simple white tee and yellow flats. You look beautiful.
I absolutely think first impressions are imperative. As a student, I definitely notice how the professor behaves in the first few minutes. If he/she is shuffling papers, having trouble figuring out where to start, etc, I know I’m in for a long semester because I prioritize organization.
I also think looking and feeling like yourself are important for making a good first impression, so I second your decision to break with the blog experiments you guys are trying in favor of wearing something that felt “right” to you for the orientation. Best wishes for a smooth transition at your new institution!
Congratulations on your new position! I was in the same boat yesterday — new faculty orientation at a new place. And I went through similar closet-debates!
On big first impression days like this one, I am all about finding comfort (both physical and emotional) in my outfit. I definitely want to pick an outfit I feel confident in and that also won’t distract me from the activity at hand (I don’t want to find myself thinking about how much my feet hurt when I’m schmoozing with somebody important). You look very bright and pulled-together with this look – no doubt you impressed favorably!
I tend to revert to a clothing comfort zone on “big days” too, or even just on days where I don’t want to be thinking about my clothes at all.
I learned some good tips for first days from, of all things, a fitness instructor course. Namely: look them in the eye, smile, introduce yourself (verbally, don’t just write it on the board) and tell them the goal (in a nutshell) of the class within the first five minutes. Since then, my new policy for first days of class is not to be there early, because that leads to talking informally to groups of students as they trickle in and not including everyone in the introduction.
Glad you went with your instinct. Fashion is all about personal choice isn’t it? (and if some rules are broken along the way, so be it!) You look great!
What a fascinating comment about first impressions! And glad you chose a standby outfit – I definitely pick tried-and-true combos when I want to be relaxed about my style and focus my attention elsewhere.
I’m definitely with you and Sal, in that I never try new or “experimental” looks when I’m trying to make a first impression. Good old standbys always make me feel confident and like myself, which is so important when making a first impression. That said, I love what you went with. It’s very “S”. :)
I have pretty much stopped documenting my outfits for the new faculty orientations here because there have been so many of them (five to be exact). I hope your new institution sufficiently oriented you in one.
I love the print on that skirt, and I have no doubt that you made a positive first impression and will do so with your students, as well!
Thank you all for such positive comments! It’s good to know that old stand-bys aren’t necessarily the ‘boring way out’. :)
S.
I must say, this is one of my favourite outfits and you look so comfortable in it. I love the hair, skirt, necklace, shoes, and the white top makes perfect sense in this context – love!
[...] apologies for the harsh sunlight) Like S. I stood in front of my closet for a while trying to think of a monochromatic outfit that [...]
the Rhetoric of Fashion–first impressions. They ARE important, though I haven’t decided what to wear for my first classes next Tuesday. I generally do dress up for the first week or so.
I had new faculty orientation today as well–actually today was the first of three days. For all three days I’m planning tried and true comfortable clothing choices so I don’t have to worry or think to hard about my appearance in the midst of all the other new information. Thanks for a thoughtful post!