1 September 2010 – Warm Welcome

Posted on | August 31, 2010 | 8 Comments

2010 Academichic – Warm Welcome, originally uploaded by academichic.

Sources:

Jersey Dress: Even via Off 5^th
Scarf: ?
Turquoise Shoes: Sam Edelman via Off 5^th
Necklace and bracelet: family

Endnotes:
Please forgive my bland backdrop. I have just completed two days of new faculty orientation and am now heading into three straight days of full faculty meetings, so unpacking and decorating my new apartment have both been put on the back burner for now. I wore this outfit to my new bosses house for dinner tonight, and I have to say, it hit just the right note. The headmaster held a lovely dinner at his house to welcome us newbies into the community, so I wanted to be dressed up enough for the occasion of being invited to the Head’s house, but also casual enough to survive the 90 degree weather and end-of-summer vibe. Based on the attire of my cohort, it would seem that I am among the minority who are more interested in dressing, and over the last two days I have consciously calculated my outfits to ease them into my style (i.e., I’ve been holding back on the full-on belting everything that I usually enjoy, and I’ve scaled down the accessorizing to a minimum). In fact, I didn’t even end up wearing the floral skirt I showed last week because, as many of you commented, it was a little too youthful for my first impression at a new job. Granted this has been a tricky time to broker, but I’ve still held to my mantra that over-dressing is better than under-dressing. This midnight blue jersey dress is perfect for the dog days of summer because it gives me full coverage while also being breathable.

2010 Academichic – Warm Welcome detail, originally uploaded by academichic.

Turquoise Shoes, originally uploaded by academichic.

I decided to embellish the built-in waistband with a little pop of color and then matched my turquoise faux snakeskin flats to the turquoise, purple, and green scarf. Because this was a somewhat celebratory dinner I also put on two of my favorite pieces of jewelry – my grandmother’s ultra-modern style turquoise bracelet and my Pisces zodiac charm necklace – both of which were handed down in my family.

Pisces Necklace, originally uploaded by academichic.

Zigzag Bracelet, originally uploaded by academichic.

This bracelet is definitely a powerful piece for me, and I think the lightening bolt zigzag makes me feel a little bit like Wonder Woman, which was just what I needed when I was seated next to the Headmaster at dinner! What power-pieces do you have in your jewelry box?

30 August 2010

Posted on | August 29, 2010 | 20 Comments

30 August 2010, originally uploaded by academichic.

Sources:

Black Shirt Dress – BR Outlet
Belt – BR Outlet
Red Flats – Target
Earrings – Gift from A2
Bangles – Gift from S.

Endnotes:

With a little encouragement from E. and L., I purchased this black shirt dress from BR Outlet towards the beginning of the summer. I love the wrap top, full skirt, and of course, the pockets!

I was dying to wear it all summer but never had the right occasion in the right weather, so it made it’s premier at our department start of the year breakfast. These events can be tricky to dress for because you are asked to mingle with faculty, staff, and other students, meet new students, listen to announcements, conduct beginning of the year business, and what ever else your department chair might throw your way, all while awkwarly balancing a bad cup of coffee and a less-than-stellar pastry.

I, per usual, was one of the more dressed up graduate students, but I felt comfortable and confident – what more could you ask for?

It was at this department breakfast meeting 5 years ago that I first met E. We both often tell this story of quickly picking each other out of the crowd, as we were the only two people in skirts that day. After the breakfast we decided to go buy our books together and the rest is history. I’m glad that E.’s first impression of me was of a fashionable nerd!

27 August 2010 – Flower Power

Posted on | August 27, 2010 | 24 Comments

2010 Academichic – 27 August, originally uploaded by academichic.

Sources:

Shirt: Merona via Target
Belt: American Apparel
Skirt: White Rice
Shoes: Penny Loves Kenny via Macy’s
Sunglasses: Marc by Marc Jacobs
Slip (below): Lord & Taylor

Endnotes:
I’ve been busy this week trying to figure out what I can wear to my first round of faculty meetings next week. Like E noted, it can be tricky to strike the proper balance between formal and casual in this liminal space between summer and fall, vacation and school, student and faculty. I want to look like an adult, but in this setting I would look silly wearing my version of the traditional power-suit, a well tailored button down with a pencil skirt. The “dress code” only specifies “summer attire” but my standard summer attire of shorts and tanks is a little less formal than I’d like to be when I meet ALL of my new colleagues. This skirt is a recent boutique purchase and the bright busy print stands out in my wardrobe. I love the different fabric around the bottom and creamy lace edging.

Edging, originally uploaded by academichic.

This touch reminds me of E’s fantastic DIY grey skirt to which she added a similar bottom edge of a bright yellow fabric. A downside of this skirt is how very sheer it is, but I am a dedicated fan of slips and wear them often.

Slip!, originally uploaded by academichic.

If you don’t already own a slip in a nude color and in black, invest now. My slips have saved me from embarrassing accidental flashes, showy underwear lines, and several skirt-sticking-to-tights-and-riding-up situations. I wanted to finish off this outfit with flat sandals of some kind since I’m sure that my new faculty orientation will involve at least a few campus tours. This is another example of my use of metallics as neutrals. These are my first and only foray into the gladiator fad, and I have to say I like the look of them.

Gold and Silver Glads, originally uploaded by academichic.

The gold and silver together also allows for other accessories in either color. I’ve chosen not to wear necklaces or bracelets in order to keep this less formal and also because I think the bold print and shoes need the most attention in this get-up. What tricks to you have to make an outfit more casual?

2010 Academichic – 27 August, originally uploaded by academichic.

Goodbye Summer…

Posted on | August 25, 2010 | 6 Comments

Goodbye Summer…, originally uploaded by academichic.

Sources:

Dress – Marshalls
Belt – BR Outlet
Flats – Target
Sunglasses – Marshalls

Endnotes:

Well, summer officially comes to an end this week as the semester begins tomorrow. I’m looking forward to the Fall, but sure will miss the summer! I successfully started a veggie garden, clocked over 400 miles with a new running buddy, met up with old friends, convinced my advisor my dissertation topic is a worthy one, and of course GOT MARRIED!!

These are pictures taken a few weeks back, while on one of the many mini summer vacations we took to visit friends and family. This is the dress I bought to wear the night before my wedding, but knew it would get a good amount of wear. I added the woven leather belt and red flats to dress in down enough for brunch and a walk around town.

Check back later this week to see what ensemble I pull together for the first day of the semester!

Goodbye Summer…, originally uploaded by academichic.

A Return to Orange…With a Split!

Posted on | August 23, 2010 | 12 Comments

A Return to Orange…With a Split!, originally uploaded by academichic.

Sources:

Blue Tank – Banana Republic
Red-Orange Belt – BR Outlet
Yellow-Orange Flower – Blue Onion Marketplace
White Skirt – score form clothing swap
Sandals – Charlotte Russe
Earrings – Gift from A2

Endnotes:

Like L., I failed to get my last color-challenge outfit in last week, but here it is – a split complementary using two shades of orange! I really wanted to push myself with this go at the Fashion 101 on color mixing. I already tried out this red-orange shade in my monochromatic look, but this time I took it a bit further by incorporating it into a split complementary. As E. explained quite well last week, a split complementary has you start with a color on the color wheel (in my case blue) find its compliment (orange) and then the two colors on either side of that complement (red-orange and yellow-orange). If orange is a daring color choice for me, yellow-orange is flat out radical! This fabric flower brooch from Blue Onion Marketplace is the only yellow-orange thing I own, and in the past I have only used it to adorn a summer bag or clutch. Today, I took a cue from S. and pined it up near my face.

A Return to Orange…With a Split!, originally uploaded by academichic.

I think the two shades of orange each pop off the deep blue tank and really help add the needed bunch to this otherwise simple ensemble of blue tank and white skirt. This skirt came from a small clothing swap E. and I recently went to (I also walked away with one of E.’s dresses and she left with one of my belts and a pair of my jeans). I have been looking for a fuller white skirt all summer and have even bought a few, only to return them later. This one might not be perfect, but its a fun summery piece that fits well enough considering its price tag. I love the scalloped hem and the embroidered and eyelet detailing.

Detail on White Skirt, originally uploaded by academichic.

Two things both the color challenge and the clothing swap had in common: the chance to reassess my closet and the chance to create new ensembles for free!

Have you ever been to a clothing swap? Did you walk away with a bunch of great new items? How was it organized? Was it just free for all or where there rules? I’d love to know the best way to host one.

A Return to Orange…With a Split!, originally uploaded by academichic.

18 August 2010 – New Faculty Orientation Outfit

Posted on | August 18, 2010 | 15 Comments

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!

13 August 2010 – Turquoise Triad

Posted on | August 13, 2010 | 5 Comments

13 August 2010 – Turquoise Triad, originally uploaded by academichic.

Sources:

T-shirt: French Connection
Skirt: J. Crew
Sash: somewhere in Paris
Shoes: Ann Taylor
Jewelry: gifts

Endnotes:

First I wanted to thank one of our readers for pointing us to this most helpful and interactive color wheel online called Color Scheme Designer. You can select a color and then have it generate the complementary, triad, split complementary, and analogous colors! I wish I’d been using this since the beginning of the challenge, but I will definitely get some use out of it in my daily dressing as well!

13 August 2010 – Turqouise Triad, originally uploaded by academichic.

I guess E., A., and I all needed to feel like superheroes this week with our blue-red-yellow triads. I do feel like my red sandals might have wings! When we started this challenge I knew that this yellow and orange scarf was going to come in handy seeing as how it was one of the few pieces I owned that covered that end of the color spectrum. However, it is pretty short and doesn’t lend itself well to being used as a belt. As E. discussed in her post the other day, getting things to stay wrapped around your head can sometimes be tricky, and many of you have come up with helpful tips. I decided that to break up this analogous pairing of blue and turquoise (which I think counts as blue-green) I would use this bright swath as a cummerbund of sorts and simply knot it in the back.

13 August 2010 – Knot, originally uploaded by academichic.

Perhaps not the most polished fastening, but definitely effective and looks great from the front! The scarf also has a turquoise edge, so my accessories and top both pull from that as well. This bracelet was a gift, and it is simply turquoise chunks on a red silk string. I love that turquoise jewelry is so fabulous that it really can stand on its own with very little embellishment and the delicious shade of blue can set off such a range of other colors.

13 August 2010 – Turqouise and Scarf, originally uploaded by academichic.

Finally, to complete the triad – red shoes! These little flat sandals from Ann Taylor were red enough to pop and yet strappy enough not to compete with the rest of the outfit.

Red Sandals, originally uploaded by academichic.

I usually shy away from anything with an ankle strap because it cuts the leg, and I need all the length and illusion of height I can get. Although, I think these might be changing my mind about that taboo. What are your thoughts on ankle straps on shoes?

11 August 2010 – Boho Experiment

Posted on | August 12, 2010 | 21 Comments

11 August 2010 – Boho Experiment, originally uploaded by academichic.

Sources:

Scarf: courtesy of Echo Design
Top: Target
Skirt: Target
Sandals: Jeffrey Campbell

End Notes:

Triadic color combinations — three colors that are equidistant from each other around the color wheel — do not appear frequently in my outfit choices. It’s one of those combinations that can quickly veer into Crayola territory when the colors are too bright or the colorblocking is too severe. But, as with my earlier foray into saturated complementary colors, I decided that color module weeks deserve a bold effort.

11 August 2010 – Boho Experiment, originally uploaded by academichic.

It’s nice when a pattern does half (or in this case, two-thirds) of the work for you. This oblong scarf from Echo Design already pairs a mustardy-gold with a true red, and with a navy top they form a fairly traditional color combination. Had I worn a khaki or white skirt on the bottom, this could have been an exceedingly classic outfit.

But, for whatever reason, I wasn’t feeling particularly demure when I got dressed, and I was far more interested in finding what I like to call “my inner S.” You know, the super cool, bohemian, quirky chic look that S. does so well. So on went a turquoise tulip skirt (which knocks the triad off by just enough to be interesting) and funky cut-out sandals and…oh yes, I tried to wear a scarf wrapped around my head.

11 August 2010 – Boho Experiment, originally uploaded by academichic.

And I liked it.

Unfortunately, between my super slippery hair that denies bobby pins purchase and baby e.’s grabby hands, the head scarf had to relocate to my neck. But I did find it kind of exhilarating to venture off from familiar style territory by trying a more quirky look in a classic color scheme. It’s like a meta-style-juxtaposition.

Any tips on keeping a scarf in place around your head, especially when you have a shorter hair cut or slippery hair?

11 August 2010 – Boho Experiment, originally uploaded by academichic.

Product Review: Crystalyn Kae Bag

Posted on | August 11, 2010 | 3 Comments

Sources:

gray striped top – thrifted
black linen skirt – H&M
belt – H&M
yellow flats – Target
Green clutch – courtesy of Crystalyn Kae

Endnotes:

I recently received this clutch bag from Crystalyn Kae to review. If this name rings a bell, it’s because A. has been using one of their totes as her daily campus bag and has reviewed it here.

Since I’m biking to campus these days, I usually go for my backpack to hold my laptops, books, and various other necessities. Upon arriving home, it’s been so nice to dump that backpack in a corner of my living room and transfer my basics – wallet, keys, cell, ipod, chapstick – into a small little clutch. And this one is just perfect, I’ve been in love with it since it came in the mail.

Why do I love it so much? Here’s a handy top ten list to explain:

10) The wrist band makes it easy to carry while leaving my hands free
9) It’s surprisingly roomier than it looks
8) Its awesome pleats and folds give it a cool ‘relaxed’ look
7) But it’s still elegant enough that I would use it for a night out too
6) How can you go wrong with a little vintage fabric insert (mine’s striped and corduroy)
5) [Each bag comes with a different fabric embellishment in the center]
4) It’s hand-made in the US (Seattle) so I’m supporting local artisans
3) It’s vegan-friendly
2) It’s simply gorgeous
1) No one else has one like mine

I’m not much of a clutch wearer, I tend to prefer large roomy bags and totes, and still I’ve found myself using this on a daily basis. Since my life resides in my wallet, cell, and ipod (gone are days of large paper organizers and address books), this little clutch is all I need to grab my must-haves.

If you’re thinking of treating yourself to a new bag, I highly recommend checking out Crystalyn Kae’s site. Especially if you’re concerned about shopping locally (from the US) and getting a gorgeous looking bag that is not made of animal products. They come with a one year warranty and shipping to anywhere in the US is free.

Have fun perusing all the different colors…

Or the different sizes…

I used my green bag with yellow accents to create an analogous color combination with my accessories today. Since it’s analogous week over here, I took my neutrals outfit (black, gray, white) and added touches of green and yellow for some interest. While A. voiced her reservations regarding warm color analogous schemes, I can say the same about cool color ones. I typically gravitate towards reds, purples, and fuchsias but went for yellow and green today instead. A yellow bracelet and yellow flats mixed with the green and yellow clutch add a little pizazz to an otherwise subdued color combination.

Are you experimenting with analogous pairings this week? If so, what are your favorite combinations? And are they tried and tested old favorites or are you pushing yourself to try new things? S.

10 August 2010

Posted on | August 10, 2010 | 10 Comments

10 August 2010, originally uploaded by academichic.

Sources:

Red-Violet Tee – H & M
Purple Belt – Gap
Grey Skirt – Old Navy
Red Flats – Target

Endnotes:

So this week, we are reviewing analogous color combinations and triads. I often find myself swathed in various shades of blue and green and blue-green, so an analogous combination is not much of a challenge for me. But, an analogous combination on the warm side of the color wheel is a whole different story! I rarely wear red, orange, or yellow, and the purples I wear tend to have more blue than red in them. I have enough warm colored accessories (my red flats, fuchsia pumps, orange floral flats, yellow bangles, etc) to complete a triad or complimentary combination, but mixing warm color with warm color is still a true challenge for me.

I’m not too sure about today’s color combo. I think the right shade of red-violet with red could be quite nice, but I only had one red-violet top to play with. I considered doing a neutral shoe and wearing a red belt instead of the purple one, but the belt had too much orange in it.

I picked up this purple belt on super sale at Gap last year. I love the shade of purple, it’s skinny width, and the pleated leather details, but this is certainly not custom-fit belt! With this outfit, even the last whole left the belt hanging too loose, so I just pulled it rough the buckle and knotted it on the other side. I actually like the effect and it managed to stay in place all day.

Tied Belt, originally uploaded by academichic.

So, what about you? Are you a warm colors person (reds, oranges, yellows) or do you head towards the opposite side of the color wheel (the blues, greens, and violets)?

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