academichic

Sources:

• Tank – Ann Taylor Loft
• Skirt – chopped from a J Crew Dress
• Leather Belt – from L.
• Stripped Belt – from another dress
• Sandals – H & M
• Pride Beads – Maui Street Fair
• Earrings – Gift from S.

Endnotes:

I warned you that due to my little yoga mat exercise I would be highlighting some pretty random parts during this round of DYB. Today I’m showing my hands some love.  I’ve always liked my hands, but would have never thought of them as something to celebrate on a style blog.  See, my hands are anything but ladylike.  They are large, tough, wrinkled, scarred, freckled.  I’ve had my nails manicured fewer times then I can count on my long, but less than slender, fingers.  I keep my nails super short and I often have dirt, compost, or paint under them. But, that’s just the way I like them!

I’ve never much cared for long nails and nail polish just doesn’t last on these busy hands.   I have a big scar on my left hand that I have had since I was 9 or 10 and every summer more freckles seem to appear all over the tops of my hands.  I have very deep creases in my palms, which sweat when I’m anxious.  See, these are not the hands of a lady, but I love them just the same.

When I told A2 I was going to highlight my hands, she smiled and told me she loved my hands, especially my short well kept nails that always reveal what I’ve been up to that day.  She said I needed to photograph my hands holding a coffee cup, because when she thinks of my hands, she thinks of them wrapped around a coffee mug.

Do any of your body parts carry stories, reveal your secrets, or specially mark you as you? Are you giving them a gold star this week?

By the way, I’m counting this as blue and white striped outfit #7 even though it’s a bit of a stetch.  I do have a striped belt and a striped bag, but it’s not the outfit I had in mind. It’s just been too hot to pull out all my striped items.  Don’t worry they will make it out eventually.

Sources:

T-shirt: Forever 21
Necklace: gift from husband
Skirt: test run from Megan Nielsen of an upcoming pattern for DIY Maternity!
Wedges: Naturalizer, via DSW

End Notes:

Today I’m celebrating a body part towards which I was quite ambivalent for many years: my butt, my tush, my rear, my okole. When I was a bony freshman in college, I realized that my jeans didn’t really fit the way that my hallmates’ did. Maybe it’s because I didn’t wear pants often enough as a teenager in Hawaii, but once I was on the mainland I suddenly became very self-conscious about my lack of a butt. I used to joke that I didn’t really have a butt per se, just an expanse of upper thigh.

Now, Internet, I’m letting you know that I have a butt.

Somewhere through the past ten years of gaining weight, getting older, running a little, starting to bike, and doing endless squats to pick up little e…I got a butt. I haven’t thought a whole lot about if it’s “cute” or “shapely” or “mom-ish” or any of those things. But I do know that I love the way it looks in a pencil skirt with a good pair of wedges.

Gaining an okole — and being okay with it — as I’ve grown older has been a good reminder of how our bodies are not static. There is not some ideal form that we pass through from ages 18-24 to which we should continually aspire. Do I like every change my body has undergone in the last ten years? Not really. But I’m learning to be more graceful in accepting these shifts, acknowledging how my embodied experiences leave corporeal traces and how those traces can themselves change what I value and why.

P.S. In less than two years, I’ll probably really regret tying my shirt like this. But all the cool kids are doing it now and it gave me the silhouette I wanted for this outfit. I’m such a sucker for a good silhouette.

Sources:

• Button-down – swapped
• Belt – gift from Mom (Anthropologie)
• Skirt – J Crew
• Tank – Banana Republic
• Flats – DSW
• Earrings – Gift from S.

Endnotes:

As I said, after my yoga mat body scan, I had a list of things I love about my body, both big and small.  An intimate, funny, hopeful, and reflective list that I will try to remember to keep mentally close to me.  A list I am here publicly vowing to recreate whenever I’m not feeling my best.  While I won’t be sharing the whole (very personal) list with you, I am planning on highlighting some of the parts from that list.  But, for my first DYB contribution, I want to celebrate my body shape as a whole.

As my proportions silhouette reveals, I have a small waist, wide hips, a big butt and thighs, and broad shoulders.  I am an hour glass.   While this is indeed a “classic” silhouette and does fit many Western ideals of beauty, it is not currently a very popular body-type.  By that, I mean you won’t find too many hourglasses in the pages of J Crew.  Most contemporary clothing is made for a straighter line.  So, more vintage or classic silhouettes often look great on me. Yet, there are all sorts of rules out there for my body type that don’t match up with these looks.  Because of my broad shoulders, I’m not supposed to wear puffed sleeves.  A larger bottom half should not be clothed in white.  Full hipped women aren’t supposed to wear fabrics that stick out from the body. I’m sure there are others!  Well nothing about me is straight (pun intended) and I’m not all that great with rules, so…

I’m wearing puffed sleeves and a skirt that is full, white, and made of crisp stiff cotton and I am loving the way my body looks – broad shoulders, wide hips, small waist and all!

What body shape rules do you break?

[This is my fourth blue and white striped outfit -- three more coming!]

Sources:

• Skirt: cut from a dress
• Top: Forever 21
• Belt: thrifted
• Sandals: Jeffrey Campbell

End Notes:

It’s a delight to kick off our third annual Dress Your Best week(s) with something that I usually do not find so delightful: my asymmetrical face.

Most of my past choices for DYB weeks have been features that have generally aligned with western social codes of attractiveness (being tall, having a visible collarbone, etc.) or aspects that I’ve come to embrace over time (skin tone, freckles, etc.) but I wanted to start off this year’s DYB by highlighting something about my body that I STILL struggle to accept gracefully.

I have a crooked face. The whole right side of my face is a little bit bigger than the left. My eyes and eyebrows are different shapes, even my cheeks crinkle differently from each other when I smile. Ever wonder why I’m such a big fan of the swoopy bang? It helps add some bulk to my left side. Oh, crooked face, you have given me no end of grief when I’m applying eye make-up. Sometimes I’m ashamed of you and want to stand a certain way in photos to give the illusion of symmetry. Sometimes I tend to smirk when I smile so as to make you appear purposeful.

But today I’m pinning my bangs back and wearing a shirt with a neckline detail that draws attention to my face. It may be a little lopsided, but it’s mine and I need to own it.

Sources:

Take #3:

• Striped Tank – American Eagle
• Shorts – Gap Outlet
• Hat- Banana Republic
• Sandals – H & M
• Earrings – gift from S.

Take #4:

• Pink Skirt – Limited
• Striped Top – Banana Republic
• Belt – Thrifted
• Grey Shoes – BR
• Earrings – gift from S.

Endnotes:

Here are takes 3 and 4 of my self-imposed stripe challenge.   I think takes 1 and 2 were both much better, but I am happy to finally get my hat on the blog.  Several months back, before it was sun hat season, E. and S. convinced me to wear this hat.  I wore it a few times before chopping my hair and then was hesitant to pull it out again after the haircut.  I’m not convinced it is the most flattering look, but it sure is practical!  I wore this outfit at an outdoor festival over the weekend and it was nice to keep the sun off my head and face and it hid my increasingly  post-rain curly/frizzy hair.

Take #4 looked better in my imagination, but I do love the bright color pairing and that I got to use my newly thrifted belt again.   I wore this for my first day of teaching summer school yesterday and then took the pictures after finding out the class was canceled due to low enrollment.  I just couldn’t manage a picture in which I didn’t look at least slightly dejected. Looks like I wont have as have many teaching outfits to show you over this summer, so hope you don’t mind seeing some writing duds!

A.

Sources:

• Skirt – self chopped from a Gap Outlet dress
• Striped cardigan – thrifted a year ago
• Navy Belt – thrifted a month ago
• White Tank – Banana Republic
• Navy studded flats – Banana Republic

Endnotes:

This is the first outfit of my self-imposed blue and white stripes challenge.  I have to admit, while I had several outfits already in mind when I announced this challenge to the blog world, none of them seemed right this morning and I panicked.  Why had I told everyone I would do this!?  And, why did I have so many blue and white striped items that suddenly went with nothing else in my wardrobe!?  But, since I needed to get out the door eventually, I decided the best approach was to settle of the blue and white stripped piece and then work from there.  I love the bright blue color and the vintage style of this little thrifted cardigan.

I think I tried pairing this little cardigan with at least five things before choosing this equally bright (but not the same shade) blue skirt.  In the end this outfit was mostly decided by silhouette.  The cardigan is cropped and the wide white waist band emphasizes it’s crop-ness and a bit full (puff sleeves and a tighter waist band then body). I found that I really did not like the way it looked with a slimmer bottom so I pulled out my full skirts and ended up with this all blue and white ensemble.

Hopefully getting dressed tomorrow will go a bit quicker, but I think this might prove that I do not in fact work better under limitations!  A.

Sources:

• Mustard cardigan: Target
• Coral cardigan: Banana Republic
• Tank: Old Navy Maternity
• Skirt: Old Navy Maternity
• Cut-out sandals: Jeffrey Campbell, via Gilt
• Patterned wedges: Kenneth Cole, via DSW
• Fedora: Banana Republic

End Notes:

Even if I haven’t been photographing or posting my outfits everyday, I’ve been sticking to my capsule wardrobe and have been happy with how easy it’s been to get dressed in the morning. Of course, it means that I’ve already had some repeats and that I tend to fall back on simple variations on a theme, like the two outfits I’m sharing today. But hey, I’m getting dressed, little e. remains fed and clothed as well, and I’ve been a highly productive dissertation writer.

The formula is simple: gray tank + denim pencil skirt. Add a brightly colored cardigan, a few accessories, fun shoes, and call it a day. I like how the choice of shoes (heels versus flat sandals) and accessories (hat, necklace, or belt) can change the overall feel of the outfit from playful to sophisticated.

Also, sometimes having boring outfits means that I’m more likely to pull out a hat. Is anyone else in love with straw hats for summer?

Sources:

• Tank: Target
• Skirt: thrifted as a dress, chopped into a skirt
• Belt: swapped with A.
• Necklace: consignment shop
• Shoes: Banana Republic

End Notes:

Very Well-Known Bloggers like Kendi, Jessica, and Christine have all been wearing coral frequently this year, and I apparently have drunk the pinky-yet-orange Kool-aid, too.

In fact, I have yet to find a color combination involving coral — whether pale or saturated — that I don’t like.

And given this dusty purple + coral pairing it doesn’t seem to be stopping any time soon. Are you on the coral bandwagon? What combinations are you loving right now?

P.S. In case you’re counting, this is outfit number 7 from my capsule wardrobe of 15 pieces.

The weather swings in academichic central lately have been crazy, swinging up from the fifties to the nineties in a matter of a few days. Which means my wardrobe choices have been something like this:

Sources:

Cold:

• Cardigan: Target
• Tank: Old Navy Maternity
• Skirt: Old Navy Maternity
• Wedges: Naturalizers, via DSW

Hot:

• Hat: Banana Republic
• Scarf: gift from S.
• Top: thrifted (and worn backwards)
• Shorts: consignment shop
• Shoes: Target, thrifted new
• Clutch: c/o Crystalyn Kae (don’t forget to check out Crystalyn and other independent boutiques through our boutique consortium!)

End Notes:

S.’s post on sharing — or not sharing — maternity clothes also brought to mind a recent reader question about what to bring to a clothing swap, that is, how do you decide what clothes to give away or exchange?

I love it when I go to a swap and people have brought clothing that is still a) in great condition, b) not obviously dated, and c) is accompanied with the giver’s desire to find someone who really looks GREAT in that article of clothing. When I’ve culled through my closet, either for swaps, for donations, or to simply pass along to a friend, I am pretty ruthless about putting anything that I haven’t worn within the past year into a “consideration” pile. If something is still essentially new — I bought it on clearance and wore it once but then never again — I might first consider putting that up on eBay to make a few bucks. But, most of the time it’s something that either doesn’t fit my body quite right or a different silhouette that I attempted to integrate into my wardrobe but just didn’t work out. In that sense, I guess I tend to think of clothes-swapping as an opportunity to right my past shopping wrongs, rather than simply a means of cleaning out my closet.

I was delighted to see S. wearing that turquoise top in her pictures! That top got the cut from my wardrobe because it was just wishful thinking and a lot of tugging that kept that empire waistline tucked below my bust. Since I knew that my torso length was unlikely to shorten during future pregnancies, it was time to let that top go. Now we both win! The deal is, clothes-swapping can actually be a humbling experience — to go back through your closet and acknowledge that you did not make the wisest choices. But it can also be incredibly fulfilling when you can be happy to see someone else looking like a million bucks in a garment that didn’t really do much for you.

Ultimately, I think a lot of these questions relate back to the notion of building a versatile, workable wardrobe that does what you want and says what you want it to say. Although these hot and cold outfits are fairly different from each other, I do think that they give some insight into how my style has changed a little since my last pregnancy. I’m a bit more daring with trends — shorter shorts with a draped top, for example — and I’m finally on board with stripes. I’m a hat lady now, too. On the other hand, the brightly colored shoes are still a big part of my repertoire, and I don’t see myself swapping those out any time soon!

How do you decide what ends up in a swapping pile?

Sources:

• Sweater: Theory via Neiman Marcus Outlet
• Patterned Tank: Banana Republic
• White Tank (under): BR
• Skirt: Gap (swapped with A.)
• Belt: J. Crew
• Shoes: Giuseppe Zanotti via Filene’s Basement

Endnotes:
All of the individual parts of this outfit are certainly springy, but the whole thing together reminds me of a late fall concoction of ripe pumpkins, rich browns, and golden leaves – in short, A. and J.’s favorite drink: a Pumpkin Spice Latte. I wanted to add a spring-y-er element, and I needed something to cover my shoulders, so I followed in A.’s footsteps and opted for my turquoise cardigan.

A. has done some fantastic pairing with her orange pencil skirt (of which I am insanely jealous!) and while my brown skirt and orange patterned top isn’t making the same splash, it is still a nice pop of complementary colors.

What summer items or combinations have you been sporting that you associate with other seasons?

L.