A few months ago after a facebook conversation with some far-flung friends, I, along with a few fellow Fashionable Academics, decided to start a blog by that name.   All of us Fashionable Academics are in some stage of our academic careers, from assistant professors to PhD candidates on the job market this year, to PhD students about to take their candidacy exams.  We represent the Midwest, the South, and Canada.  While one of the things we do is share ideas about what we wore to teach in, to present in, to interview in, we also seek to explore some of the problems with caring about fashion as an academic.  (There is a reason that so many of those who commented on your last Monthly Roundtable said that you should err on the conservative side when dressing for a tenure-track job interview.)  I was excited to find academichic within a few days of starting this blog, and I’m happy to have this opportunity to create even more dialogue among chic and fashionable academics.  So please check us out: http://fashionableacademics.blogspot.com/ Thanks!

La Historiadora de Moda, Ariel, Ann Underfunded Humanity, the chemist-coture, and Megarita

Go check out this wonderful site if you haven’t already come across it on your own!

Meanwhile, the lovely Lauren of This Little Piggy Went To The Market wrote to us saying she’s been inspired by all the dress layering going on at academichic and tried her hand at wearing two dresses as well. We love the resulting coral and black combination:

And thank you to the First Lady for sending us this picture from her personal photo album, showing how A. inspired her to belt her cardigans:

Just kidding! Thanks, reader Erin, for sending this our way!

You may remember this gorgeous blue dress from our Reader Question post on what to wear to a winter wedding. Sassy Molassy (the reader in question) followed up with this lovely picture from the event, showing the gorgeous black pashmina she chose as a cover-up for the strapless gown. We love the way she tied the pashmina in the front, allowing for ease of movement while keeping the wrap in place. You both look very elegant, thanks for the follow-up!

As always, if you have a question to offer up for discussion, or an image or link to share, email us and join us at next month’s roundtable event!

How about a brown bag about proper attire for an on campus T-T job interview? (They’re coming up in the next three months!)

one key question: wedding ring on, or off?

T-T interviews, for those of you not campus situated, are “tenure track” interviews, offering the most coveted of all academic jobs to those embarking on the job market. So, naturally, a key question is What To Wear? How to best present oneself to these potential employers?

Our approach would be to mix and match suit separates and ‘dressier’ pieces to create a look that is simultaneously professional and still personal and representative of our style personalities. As for the wedding ring question…we’ve already put in our two cents when this topic surfaced a while ago, but we would happily reopen this ever present dilemma for discussion.

So we open the forum to the rest of you, in true brown bag fashion, to engage in a dialogue what will hopefully provide our readers with many great ideas. And good luck to all of you interviewing this fall!

Wedding Chic:

Remember reader J’s question about what to wear to a summer wedding? She had a teal dress and red accessories and was looking for the perfect purse. After our suggestions and your thoughtful comments, this is what she ended up choosing for a stylish and perfectly accessorized wedding ensemble:

We love her final choice of a vintage wicker purse with beautiful brass detailing. In her own words: “After careful consideration I went with a bag that had a touch of orange, a bit of texture and was perfect for an afternoon wedding at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. I chose a vintage wicker purse with a swirly orange plastic/celluloid handle & details. Perhaps not the best choice, but certainly a fun one that has gotten a lot of use this summer.” An excellent choice and even more so for having proven to be a versatile and useful item all summer long!

Conversions:

Meanwhile, the lovely Dusty of All Things G&D sent us this image after being inspired by S’s conversion of a maxi skirt into a dress. Dusty, who’s one stylish pregnant lady (seriously! check out her site if you’re looking for more fabulous maternity style now that E’s out of the business) wore her maxi skirt as a strapless summer dress:

Professional Style:

Reader U. sent us this example of a more structure professional look, which incorporates a beautiful top purchased at a street fair in India. In her words: “Since I started to think more about what to wear and planning my outfits, I feel like I get more accomplished during the day. Its hard to explain but its like having coffee every morning, putting more thought in my dressing jump starts my day by activating my brain cells and thought process.”

Thank you for your wonderful submissions! If you’ve been inspired by a topic or look on this site and want to contribute to the dialogue, send us an email or an image at the below address. We look forward to your contributions! And stay tuned for the October Roundtable next month!

Every once in while, we receive fabulous reader submissions that were not generated by one of our Call for Papers. An inspired reader will send us a picture with a great professional look, a carefully considered color mix, or simply with an outfit that makes them feel put-together and confident. Sometimes a reader will be inspired by a trick we discuss here and give it a shot herself. Other times, a reader will have her own neat trick to share and is generous enough to send it in.

We love receiving these emails and seeing the dialogue we started here continue on with many more voices adding their contribution. On campus, we often attend brown bag lunches or roundtable discussions which are rather informal gatherings for students or faculty to come together and discuss a topic and share information. These meetings are wonderful for introducing one to new faces on campus outside of the cohorts and faculty of one’s home department.

Similarly, we would like to introduce you to new faces and voices and to broaden the discussion on academic style, professional attire, color combinations, or wardrobe remixes in our new monthly feature: The Monthly Roundtable.

Stay tuned for its debut!