Black tunic – thrifted
Gray ruffle sleeve tank – Filene’s basement
Scarf – H&M
Skinnies – thrifted
Flats – Palladium
Sunglasses – Shop in Romania
Bag – Old Etienne Aigner
Endnotes:
T. and I were fortunate enough to enjoy two glorious days in Prague on our way from Munich to Romania. Neither one of us had been there before and I’m confident in saying that this won’t have been our last trip to this amazing city. Sorry, Salzburg, I think I’ve found a new favorite.
I was feeling pretty inspired by how much fun we’d had on our ‘bike date’ in Munich, that I wanted to try the same in Prague. But given that we didn’t know the city, didn’t speak the language, and didn’t feel too comfortable navigating the town on bikes with maps in hand, we decided to do the next best thing to riding around on our own – book a guided city tour on bikes! I think all the social riding talk going on at Let’s Go Ride a Bike has had me looking for ways to ride with a group or with T. much more than usual. There is just something so enjoyable about grabbing bikes, a few friends, and spending the days outdoors. (You can read about my other LGRAB Summer Games participation postshere, while E.’s entry is to be found here.)
T. was more than enthusiastic about my suggestion and so we spent our first day in Prague exploring the city on two wheels with a knowledgeable guide. We booked our tour with City Bike. I would highly recommend them to others; our tour guide was well informed, patient (while we stopped and took many pictures), funny, and excited about sharing his city with us. The bikes were in good shape, the group size kept to no more than ten (we had seven in ours), and we were rewarded with a free local beer (or water) at the end of the ride.
We were also told that the average walking tour in Prague covers about a 2 km stretch throughout the old city, while the standard 2.5 hour bike tour covers 12 km of the city. We were able to see far more of the city this way, covering points of attraction further out and at further distances from each other than one would be able to do on foot. And as I already mentioned, our guide was more than gracious with allowing us plenty of photo stops along the route…
As for our outfits, I wore my stretchy skinnies because they’re great for bikes even without chain guards (they’re such a snug fit). I added a comfortable cotton tunic top and a loose scarf (more sun and tan-line protection around the neck line), my trusty flats, and sunglasses. My Etienne Aigner bag can easily be thrown over my back messenger-style, which was a wise choice seeing as how my bike didn’t have a basket. T. wore jeans, sunglasses, and this awesome ‘bike evolution’ shirt I found on Etsy a little while back.
After our two-plus hour bike tour, T. and I dismounted our bikes beaming from ear to ear. We had such a great time getting our bearings this way and were so glad that we had decided to splurge on a guided bike tour of the city.
Thanks, Trisha and Dottie, for really pushing me to think of creative ways to work social cycling into my day, I’m not sure that I would have considered this outing if it hadn’t been for my reading of the Summer Games on your site. And now I’m definitely on a roll…I’m thinking of working a bike tour of a Romanian city into our schedule here. Stay tuned and ride on! S.
If you haven’t already heard of the Let’s Go Ride a Bike Summer Games, then you should definitely head over to Dottie and Trisha’s site to check them out. They’re a perfect incentive for picking up that bike you’ve been keeping in storage this winter and dusting it off for some fun rides around the neighborhood. Added bonus – there are prizes involved for those participating.
For my second entry to the LGRAB Summer Games event called “Social Cycling”, I took Trisha’s and Dottie’s advice and scheduled a bike date with my husband. What a perfect way to explore Munich together on his visit here. And since Trisha and Dottie said to dress up, here is what we wore (not exactly
‘dressy’ clothes, but just the regular street clothes we would have worn walking around town.) No special gear required…
.
On her:
Sunglasses – loan from friend
Yellow top – Sam & Max
Skinnies – S. Oliver
Flats – Palladium
Scarf – souvenir from Duluth, MN
Bag – old Etienne Aigner, hand me down
On him:
Graphic tee – J.Crew
Backpack – Jansport
Jeans – Nautica
Shoes – Aldo
Sunglasses – souvenir from Costa Rica
T. and I are both enthusiastic cyclists although our styles are very different. While T. loves to go fast, I like to ride slow. For T., it’s all about getting from point A to B as quickly as possible, while I like to take my time and look around. T. loves to feel the rush of flying downhill on his bike, I tend to keep the brakes on and meander downhill at a much more hesitant pace. T.’s machine of choice is a fast and sleek road bike, I prefer a big lumbering cruiser. But despite our superficial differences in biking, we both agree on one thing: riding our bikes is fun.
When it comes to engaging in this activity together, we both make compromises and find that the result is awesome; I feel the thrill of going a little faster, T. slows down and enjoys the ride-as-process, and we both take pleasure in spending the day together doing something we both love.
Back in June of last year, we featured The Uniform Project in one of our Spotlight Series posts. Meanwhile, word of this endeaver spread like wildfire over the internets and the wonderful Sheena Matheiken has raised over $70,000 dollars for the Akanksha Foundation, an organization funding schools for underprivileged children in India. If you missed this project, here’s your chance to get caught up with her wonderful outfit creations over the past year using one Little Black Dress and a variety of donated goods:
Now Sheena is at the Ten Day Countdown, bringing this project to a close. If you’d like to support Sheena by donating to the Akanksha Foundation and contributing to the educational needs of underprivileged children, then make sure to visit here. Great job, Sheena! We look forward to seeing the last outfits unveiled.
It’s no secret that one of the wittiest and most addictive style blogs on the internet is Winona Ediger’s Daddy Likey. With reoccurring features such as Don’t Show-cha Your Chocha and Five Men’s Fashion First Impressions, she’s sure to make you a regular reader if you’re not already one. But Winona doesn’t just parody the more ridiculous and obscure; she also has a great eye for upcoming trends, unique online finds, and sure-to-please style solutions. So we were thrilled to have her provide us with her take on the upcoming 2010 Spring Trends. So without further ado, here is Winona’s guest lecture on said topic. . .
There are a lot of things I don’t miss about high school: crusty gym uniforms, calculus, slow dancing to R. Kelly, having to get permission to go to the bathroom, etc.
But there is one thing about high school that will stay with me forever, that still makes me smile, that I will brag about incessantly until the day I die: I was voted “Best Laugh” in the superlatives section of the 2003 Banks High School yearbook.
Mark Twain said he could live for two months on a good compliment. Well let me tell you, I’ve been cruising on that one for seven years.
With that in mind, I’ve created a list of superlatives for the 2010 class of Spring Fashion Trends. Hopefully these trendy colors and styles can enjoy the same ego boost I experienced as a young high school senior with an impossibly amazing laugh (didn’t I warn you about the bragging?).
COLORS & PATTERNS
Most likely to get busted at a rave: Neon Brights
Most likely to organize an outdoor folk music festival: Tie Dye
Most likely to organize a civilized tea party: Pastels
Most likely to make you feel small and insignificant: NASA-Style Space Prints
Baby e. and I are in New York for a few days, visiting my sister-in-law P. Mom-in-law and the two other sisters-in-law are here too, and we’re having a grand old time shopping, seeing the Whitney Biennial, catching a show on Broadway, eating excellent food, and just wandering about town. I had warned my sisters ahead of time that this week would be tights week at Academichic, and I knew that they would all have some great tights-based looks to share.
And I was right. Click through the jump for individual shots, details, and a gratuitous shot of baby e.
We were recently asked to contribute to a discussion over on Sally McGraw’s wonderful site Already Pretty. Sally regularly receives questions regarding style and appearance in academia and she sent some of those reader enquiries our way. We were honored to be asked to add our two cents, and in true academic form, we met for a virtual ’roundtable’ to mull over the topics in question. If you’d like to engage in the discussion, please see our interview here, and please add you comments and thoughts on the matter. We welcome this continued discussion on identity, performance, gender, and academia.
This week is Tribute Week here at academichic and we’re excitedly looking to some of our initial sources of inspiration. Enter the fabulous and creative Clare of Between Laundry Days. Clare’s blog is one of the first that all three of us tuned in to and became regular readers of. Since we’re all getting a little bored with winter weather, we turned to this self-described ‘survivor of three Chicago winters’ for some inspiration on how to beat the wardrobe winter blues. Thanks for some great tips, Clare!
Clare’s guide to keeping warm and staying cool
Okay, team, the gals here at academichic asked me to write a little post about staying stylish during these harsh winter months. I’m pretty psyched about this “assignment”, seeing as academichic is one of my favorite blogs. I also have not inconsiderable experience in the area of surviving winter weather, so I’m more than happy to share. This is my third winter in Chicago, and I spent the earlier years of my life surviving cold winters out west, so I think I’ve picked up a few tricks along the way. Listen and learn…
1.Layer, layer, layer
I’m sure this isn’t exactly news to anyone, but the absolute key to staying warm in the winter is to layer. However, I think that people steer clear from the layering thing because all the added bulk gets pretty stiff and uncomfortable. And I jive with that, I do. I hate feeling like I can’t even bend my arm properly because I have so many layers of wool coating my arm. They key, I think, is light, thin layers. Invest in a pair of silk long underwear; that stuff is just a glorified, softer, second skin. It can be layered under anything. I also keep a pretty decent stash of high-quality but thin sweaters that provide warmth while easily layering over long underwear and under a blazer or other jacket. Also, never be afraid to layer to pairs of tights or legging. Sometimes, on the coldest days, I even layer my silk long underwear bottoms under my tights or leggings. I think the most important part is to be willing to invest in quality fabrics that don’t rely on bulk to keep you warm.
2. Keep it interesting!
Now, all those sweaters and jackets and pairs of long underwear can feel pretty bland, pretty boring. I’m a big fan of stocking up on colorful layers, but sometimes even that just feels stodgy. Because it’s winter, and you’re cold, and you’re not wearing that leopard-print sweater because it has leopard-print, you’re wearing it because it’s warm. So I always try to add an accessory or two to each outfit that has nothing to do with winter. A necklace, a headband, flouncy earrings, a cute belt, a silk scarf.None of these items has any inherent use in the winter, but it does make you feel fabulously stylish in the dead of the cold, dreary winter.
3. My secret weapon
I’ve mentioned this on my blog before, but I walk to work each morning. In January, this means icy sidewalks and frequent snow flurries. This also means that my typical walking shoes just don’t cut it. So I wear snow boots for my walk (no, that’s not my secret weapon), and heavy wool socks over whatever socks or tights I have on that day.
However, when I get to work I want to take off those snow boots and feel cute again. So I always bring a pair of work shoes that I change into when I get to my office. But no matter how warm my office is, my feet are always freezing in the winter, so wearing my work shoes with bare feet is highly unpleasant. To combat this, I wear nude socks (secret weapon alert!) on the days that I want to wear shoes that might show more of my foot. These secret weapon socks are slightly thicker, and therefore noticeably warmer, than tights or pantyhose, and they are far more stylish than a pair of white athletic socks. Now, I know it’s not groundbreaking news, nor will it solve the problems of the world, but my nude socks are a pretty important element of my arsenal of winter wardrobe essentials.
4. The Marshmallow coat
Obviously, the key to surviving winter is a decent outer layer. I had a plethora of heavy winter jackets growing up, but they somehow all got left behind when I moved to Chicago a few years ago. So I made it through my first two winters with a plaid wool peacoat. Now, I adore my plaid wool peacoat, but there is no way in hell that those things were designed to get you through a brutal Chicago winter.. For those of you who haven’t been to Chicago, it is damn cold. The city is filled with people in “marshmallow” coats. Those are the calf-length puffy down jackets that make their wearer look like a glorified version of the Michelin man. So I resisted the marshmallow coat for two winters, and then this year I finally buckled. I was cold and I buckled. And now I’m warm, and happy, and well padded. And the fur-lined hood is an added bonus (see tip #2!).
Thanks to S., A., and E. over at academichic for asking me to do this feature post! I hope I was able to shed some light (and maybe warmth) on the topic of dressing for winter weather for you all. Feel free to send me an email (clarebld@yahoo.com) if you have any questions (just FYI, I got my secret weapon socks at Target). And I hope you’ll swing over to my blog, Between Laundry Days, and check me out over there.
Renee Sturme’s blog (formerly known as Fashion Fillers) was one of the very first style blogs I ever read. I was instantly intrigued by this beautiful Dutch girl (who’s picture I stumbled across in the wardrobe_remix pool on Flickr) with gorgous long curls and a compelling style composed of vintage and modern pieces. I loved her thrifted and somewhat mismatched aesthetic and how she interspersed it with cutting edge and über-modern elements. But mostl vividly, I rememer one of the first posts I read on her blog in which she talked about living in a small town in the Netherlands, where she definitely stood out for her eclectic wardrobe and where she was seen as somewhat of an oddity for the way she dressed. (She’s meanwhile based in Amsterdam). I was so impressed by this then (I think) sixteen year old who had such conviction in her sense of identity and style that she wasn’t afraid to stand out and be an individual challenging the status quo. Thus, Fashion Fillers appealed to me for various reasons: it represented a wardrobe made of mostly thrifted items that still managed to look stunning and up-to-date; it pushed me to become more creative in my own mixing of seemingly incongruous elements; and it encouraged me to define my own sense of style without apologizing for it.
I still check in on Renee’s blog regularly and I still find all those above mentioned components to be present in her posts. Her blog has undergone some changes but the ambitious and creative individual behind each text and outfit is still unchanged. I look forward to following her for a long time still.
So for my tribute outfit, I pulled out some Renee inspired items like the structured blazer and the cutoff jean shorts. Just like Renee loves to mix fabrics and registers in her outfits, I juxtaposed the formal blazer with the cutoff denim and the structured lines of the jeans and jacket with the looser fit of the delicate eyelet top. Layered necklaces (also a Renee classic) finish the look.
This outfit is definitely out of my usual comfort zone but there is something about it that really appeals to me and I’m finding it really exciting to push my boundaries and try something on that is outside of my usual style. Being away from campus on this research sojourn abroad has definitely allowed me to experiment with my look and wardrobe more and I think I should be taking full advantage of this situation.
Stay tuned for a DIY on making your own pair of 90s throw back cutoffs tomorrow. S.
We’re thrilled to have Sally McGraw, the style guru of Already Pretty, write our first guest post on Academichic. Sally has been a source of inspiration for all three of us at Academichic since we first began our blog. Not only does she dispense thoughtful, practical style advice, she also offers insightful and inspiring commentary on body image and style identity. Plus, anyone who can craft a compelling style post using drag queens as a launching point is a genius in our book. Thanks, Sally, for being a guest lecturer for us today!
Although I’m sure many a maven would strongly disagree with me, I believe that fashion is, to some extent, about fitting in. Yes, we choose our clothes, are drawn to items that reflect our personal taste or that flatter our bodies, and express our personalities through what we wear. But although we flex our creativity through our choices, we still dress within the bounds of social acceptability. We don’t wear tiaras to the grocery store, we don’t wear pajamas to the office, we don’t wear bathing suits to school. We may choose clothing that attracts attention and generates interest, but we want that attention and interest to be positive. We want acceptance. We dress – whether we’ll admit it or not – to fit in.
This can be taken to extremes in certain social, geographical, and career circles. E wrote recently about struggling with her style identity during her visit back home to Hawaii, where the local style is far more laid-back than the one she has cultivated during her years on the mainland. Super Kawaii Mama has written about the astonishing pressure to be a “yummy mummy” within certain social circles in Australia. My readers told me in no uncertain terms that the “sexy secretary” look is NOT appropriate in most of their workplaces and that far more conservative garb is required.
And many have said – both here at Academichic and on my blog – that the world of academia generally frowns upon stylish dressing and respects frumpy comfort. There’s the innocuous undercurrent of societal expectation that prevents us from dressing like clowns and fairy princesses every day, and then there’s the slightly more oppressive social pressure to look like your peers for the sake of THEIR emotional comfort. So how do we keep from getting pigeonholed? How can we walk the fine line between reliance on our clothing to create a cushion of acceptance between ourselves and the observing public, and wearing ONLY what our social, geographical, and career circles deem acceptable?
• Amass pieces and tools that contribute to your preferred look, but deploy them in small enough amounts that it feels like your little secret. Wear one or two signature pieces at a time instead of going whole-hog. That way, you’ll feel connected to your personal style without calling loads of attention to yourself.
• Learn to deflect biting comments by laughing with the commenter. ”Hahaha, I know! Isn’t this WILD?” Turn that initial discomfort into camaraderie. Yes, you may feel like you’re painting yourself as the Lunatic Fashion Maven for a while, but eventually people will warm up to your style and see it as a natural extension of your personality.
• Talk to a select few people about why dressing this way is important, so that you have some supporters amongst the dissenters. Strength in numbers, you know.
• Dress down Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and dress up Tuesday and Thursday. Gradually get your environment used to what appears to be an experiment until the time is ripe for full transition.
• Try not to care as much what other think. I know, easier said than done. But can you stomach the occasional sidelong glance or barely-concealed snicker if it means you get to dress exactly how you want every single day? Is it more important to be comfortable and accepted, or express yourself through dress? Neither option is better, my friends, and your tolerance for scorn may vary from day to day. But bear in mind that no one in this wide world can tell you what to wear. And barring indecent exposure, dress code violation, or extreme discomfort, you CAN wear whatever you want whenever you want. For an ongoing source of dress-for-yourself inspiration, visit Audi over at Fashion for Nerds.
Many view behaviors done to “fit in” as horrible cop-outs, travesties of existential proportions that mar one’s very identity. At least, that’s what my college friends used to preach. But the older I get, the more I realize there’s nothing dirty or shameful about wanting to fit in. Humans are social creatures, and we need one another. We need reassurance and validation and acceptance, and that goes for everything from life philosophies to grooming habits.
But there are times when the need to fit in eclipses one’s ability to express personality and taste. That can get downright depressing and build vast reservoirs of resentment. Acceptance only goes so far when you have to go against your personal grain to secure it. So if you feel like you’ve been browbeaten into dressing a certain way, or are being prevented from dressing as you truly wish to, see if a gradual changeover could ease you into a happy medium. Take baby steps toward presenting the version of yourself that’s trapped inside and clamoring to get out, and see if you can’t bust out of that confining little pigeonhole.
It’s been unseasonably cold in Houston, so when we went to visit the Rothko Chapel and St. Basil today I asked my mother-in-law if I could borrow a jacket. She kindly obliged and let me take this dramatic, ruffled Testimony coat.
It’s a little big on me, and with all my layering underneath I may have edged into the realm of “bum chic” ala the Olsen twins. But still, how can you resist a garment that’s so fun?
One of the reasons I could be so cavalier about packing light for my holiday travels was the knowledge that, at least in Houston, I’d have a couple of other reliably fabulous closets to pillage in case of a style emergency. So, thanks, Mom for letting me play dress up.
Do you have someone whose closet you like to raid?
30 May 2010 – Prague, originally uploaded by academichic.
Prague Bike Tour, originally uploaded by academichic.
Prague Bike Tour, originally uploaded by academichic.
Prague Bike Tour, originally uploaded by academichic.
Prague Bike Tour, originally uploaded by academichic.
30 May 2010 – Prague, originally uploaded by academichic.
