academichic

Sources:

Dress – thrifted
Yellow bag – vintage Sears, $1 garage sale find
Yellow flats – Target last summer
Heart pendant – gift from husband
Bike (below) – 1969 Raleigh Sports

Endnotes:

After a weekend spent mostly in shorts and a tank, it was glorious to see the sun come out, to don a summer dress, and to bike to the library yesterday. Over the weekend, my in-laws were in town to help celebrate my husband’s birthday and to help us paint and get the baby room ready. It was so much fun and I’m getting increasingly excited for the arrival of our daughter (I’m now 31 weeks), and am just trying to squeeze as much out for my dissertation as possible before July.

As I noted the last time I wrote, for me being productive and getting a lot of writing and nesting done means not having to get dressed if I don’t feel like it. It means being able to spend half the day in sweats or days in a row wearing iterations of the same tank + shorts combo. But on the occasion that I do want to look a little more presentable, my favorite way to do so quickly is by throwing on a sundress and some flats and leaving it at that. Not only are sundresses super comfortable while still looking nice, they’re also very welcoming of a bourgeoning baby belly. I already had a good collection of empire waist sundresses before I got pregnant and I’ve added a couple more as I’ve come across them at the thrift store these past few months, this blue floral number being one of them.

I’ve always had hippie-ish tendencies when getting dressed but not having to teach and being pregnant has really brought those out in me: just give me a loose floral dress, some Birkenstocks, and let me braid my hair, and I’m a happy camper.

Meanwhile, I so admire how put together and polished E. continues to look throughout her pregnancy. It just goes to show how different all of our styles are here on the site. The same can be said about our approach to getting dressed; while E. thrives under the structure of wardrobe challenges, such as her current 15-for-15, I thrive most when I’m given free reign and can make decisions on the go. Having a wardrobe challenge in addition to being busy sounds really stressful to me, but to E, it represents a fruitful downsizing of options that allows her to thrive under pressure.

What’s your personal stress/style preference? Do you like self-imposed wardrobe challenges or do they feel overwhelming to you? When tackling a multitude of projects, do you prefer to let your fashion choices fall by the wayside or is that when it seems althemore important to look polished in order to feel organized and on top of things? Do share your take on this!

S.

Sources:

Cardigan – Banana Republic
Dress worn as tunic – Target ages ago
Leggings – JC Penny
Plaid flats – Target
Necklace – lone earring turned pendant (see here for more jewelry repurposing ideas)
Bike Tote – J.Crew, gift from A.
Bike – Peugeot Mixte

Endnotes:

This week has been my first week at home after the semester ended and it’s been wonderful. Although I’m still working out final grades and finishing up loose ends from home, it’s been so great to sleep in a little later, take breaks to walk my dog, meet friends for coffee, or ride my bike to the nearby park and simply sit and read for pleasure.

I gave myself a free pass to take it easy this week and not worry about dissertation stuff or deadlines and just enjoy a break from work. Starting next week, I plan on implementing a daily writing schedule that I aim to keep until the baby’s born (when things will change again) that will hopefully force me to make significant and regular progress.

And since this week has been all about taking it easy and not having to go to campus, my outfits have reflected that and I’ve been living in my favorite preggers uniform: dress turned tunic over leggings with flats. I picked up a couple of inexpensive leggings at JCPenny and I’m really happy with the quality and feel of them. They’re not maternity, just a size up from my usual, and worn rolled down beneath my belly. I’ve come to realize that I hate the feeling of a waist band on top of my belly so even my pregnancy items with a full panel I roll down and wear ‘below the bump’. Having the belly free of constraint and able to ‘breathe’ has been the most comfortable to me.

And you may have noticed that I am wearing the same gray jersey dress that I wore in my last post, but this time as a tunic under a cardigan. This simple gray dress is a perfect layering piece. It doesn’t look that great on its own but works wonders as a layering item (see here for more examples), all the more since it’s in such a versatile neutral color. What items in your wardrobe play that role of ‘jack of all trades’?

Oh, and I have to say a word about the accessories here… since I haven’t been carrying my laptop, lunch, books, etc around with me this week, I’ve left my sturdier bag behind and have taken to carrying my awesome new tote that A. sent me recently. She found this at J.Crew and thought of me as it contains all of my favorite things on it… a book, a bike, and running shoes. I love this bag and treasure it even more so since it comes from A., my long time running partner, with whom I often trade book tips, and who has recently purchased her own yellow mixte to start commuting to campus. Thus, these things not only represent hobbies of mine but also the many ways that A. and I have connected as friends over the years. Thanks, A! I love my new tote and the fact that you thought of me!

As for the necklace, it’s an earring who’s partner I lost and that has been repurposed as a pendant. I simply pushed the little ear loop ‘closed’ and ran the silver chain through it, and voila… (see more ways to creatively repurpose your jewelry here!).

Sources:

Red cardi – free from swap
Dress turned tunic – Old Navy
Jeggings – TJMaxx
Flats – Joseph Seibel
Necklace – Earring turned pendant
Bike (below) – 1969 Raleigh Sports

Endnotes:

I’ve been wearing a lot of Jeggings on weekends and on non-teaching days. I never thought an item composed of the words ‘leggings’ and ‘jeans’ would enter as frequently into my vocabulary as it has, but given the comfortable fit and forgiving waistline, it’s become a staple in my casual preggers wardrobe.

These pictures were taken last Friday, which is my one non-teaching day of the week. I spent the day first cycling to my midwife appointment, then wasting a bit more time enjoying the warm weather and biking around our downtown, until finally settling into a coffee shop for some dissertation chapter revisions. Jeggings were a perfect fit (literally and metaphorically) for the kind of day I had. I paired them with a summer dress turned pregnancy tunic and comfortable flats and was good to go.

Have you embraced leggings or jeggings as part of your wardrobe? I think it’s great that these items are making a comeback because I loved them as a kid in the 80s/90s and I love them yet again as an adult. But I do have to add that I would never wear them as an alternative to pants while teaching or doing anything that would require me to look professional and I also only wear them paired with tops long enough to cover my bum.

What’s your take on the leggings/jeggings trend? – S.

Before I say something about the outfit, I just wanted to note that I’ve loved the discussion on the background of Banana Republic’s name and the cultural nostalgia imbued in the company’s campaign. Thanks to my co-blogger E, I’ve learned a few new things myself this week. And thanks to those of you who chimed in with comments and further suggested readings on the topic!

In addition to questions regarding our collaboration with a large retailer this week, we’ve received several comments and emails expressing surprise at our decision to take on sponsorship. As sponsorship seems to function in different ways on different blogs, it might help if we clarify what it is that we’re looking to do so that those concerned about the future of academichic may find their questions answered. Readers who have expressed apprehension at the possibility of us changing our styles to reflect a company or sponsoring retailer may rest assured that this is not what we are looking to do. We’re simply looking for sponsorship in the form of a small ad (as seen with the sample on our sidebar) that would allow us to incure a bit of monthly income to offset some of the costs of this blog…our Pro Flickr account, the shipping on the almost weekly giveaways we host, and some of our camera equipment and accessories.

» Read the rest of this entry «