academichic

Sources:

• Dress: Olian Maternity, via consignment shop
• Camisole: Old Navy
• Gray belt: Old Navy
• Red wedges: Naturalizer, via DSW

End Notes:

It’s been a wild few days in our household, and this morning I just needed something easy to wear to campus. And this dress was easy…until it came time to choose my shoes for the day and I vacillated between brown wedges, cognac sandals, orange pumps, or red wedges. But, that got me thinking of all the ways that a seemingly “non-basic” dress can be subtly transformed through the most minimal of accessory changes. I didn’t do anything fancy with layering, I just swapped out shoes, belts, and jewelry (okay, and one hat) to create a range of looks that run the gamut from weekend casual to day-wedding ready. Do you have a favorite?

Farmer’s Market Visit:

• Hat: Banana Republic Factory
• Cut-out sandals: Jeffrey Campbell, via Gilt
• Cork bracelet: thrifted

Teaching Day, Take Two:

• Coral necklace: consignment shop
• Orange pumps: Dolce Vita

Date Night:

• Architectural wedges: Crown Royale Vintage, via DSW
• Earrings: Wet Seal
• Bracelet: gift from A.

For a Day Wedding:

• Feather necklace: Tilly Bloom
• Obi belt: from another dress
• Taupe wedges: Ralph Lauren, via Macy’s

The changes aren’t wildly dramatic, to be sure, but they’re enough to move between occasions and registers of formality. Weirdly, I am sometimes overwhelmed by the utter blank canvas-ness of a little black dress. But a “statement dress,” like this one, offers an unexpected prompt towards creativity. Oh, the things you can do with a bunch of good shoes!

25 March 2011 – Dear Winter, I’m Ignoring You, originally uploaded by academichic.

Sources:

• Tunic: Tucker for Target
• Belt: Gap Outlet
• Skirt: Anthropologie
• Leggings: Gap
• Wellies: Banana Republic

End Notes:

This wasn’t quite how I envisioned this outfit going. I was thinking bare legs and cognac boots, maybe tights and sandals if things went just right. But, alas, I woke up to snow this morning and so it was thick leggings and two-tone wellies in deference to winter’s lingering hold.

And this is how I feel about that:

For whatever reason, in the mirror I wasn’t getting so much of an angled, shirt tail hem with the tunic, and I’m not sure if I like it that much over the full but stiff-ish skirt below. But, I of course love the color pairing, and I can definitely imagine revising this outfit with the skirt over the tunic. That will have to wait, however, until I have a little less going on in front.

(Contrary to what yesterday’s photos suggest, the belly is still here.)

There’s something about patterned garments that make me feel emboldened to take more style risks over all, whether in proportions or color pairings or pattern mixing. So while I might not be in love with this remix overall, I have to admit that I’m proud of myself for wearing this tunic in three significantly different ways this week. And, to reader Sara, I believe that you’ll see this with my floaty white skirt in the near future…

P.S. Did you see Tania and Kelsey offer up even more remixes a couple of days ago?

Soft with Structure, originally uploaded by academichic.

Sources:

• Cardigan: Target
• Dress: Target, tweaked by me
• Belt: Gap Outlet
• Sandals: Crown Royal Vintage, via DSW

End Notes:

We enjoyed an absolutely beautiful day in Academichic Central yesterday, the kind of day that makes me rashly decide things like, “I should challenge myself to wear florals — or some variation thereof — for five days this week.” We’ll see how that goes, shall we?

The day after I returned from four days of research in New York City, my wee little forsythia bushes, rescued from the clearance section of a nursery last fall, burst into bloom. I love these first harbingers of spring, not only because they’re a beautiful yellow, but because I adore the play of soft blooms against strong woody stems.

Forsythia, originally uploaded by academichic.

I think this green dress — with its abstracted floral-inspired graphic print — is a reasonable interpretation of that early spring feeling, particularly when paired with these very architectural platform wedge sandals.

We’ll see how long my floral binge lasts, but at the very least it will be a good excuse to get some immediate remixing out of a new dress I’ll show you later this week…

Sources:

Dress – Sam & Max, via TJMaxx
Teal tank – maternity tank from Target
Boots – Dillards

Endnotes:

Happy Birthday, L.! I hope you’re having an amazing birthday celebration with your sister and brother in law in London! What a great place to get to visit during one’s birthday, I’m definitely jealous :)

While L. is off in Europe surely having a blast, we’re doing our usual to pay tribute to a great friend and co-blogger on her birthday by wearing something inspired by her style. I knew that I had to pull out something floral in tribute to L., because of all my co-bloggers, she’s the one who most shares (perhaps even rivals) my love for this pattern. Some of the floral items I wish I could steal from her closet…

I absolutely love those floral gladiator sandals! L., what shoe size are you again?

As a birthday nod to L., I donned my bright floral empire waist dress (still fits) and added a pair of sturdy boots to tone down the ‘whimsy’ a bit. As A. already noted, L.’s style is nothing if not classic and elegant with a twist of unexpected fun. She knows how to mix simple and more subtle pieces with that unexpected burst of color, pattern, or texture, and I tried to recreate that here. And the added bonus? The bright pink hemline which definitely says L.

Happy Birthday, L., I hope you have an amazing rest of your trip and I can’t wait to hear all about it and hopefully see some gorgeous photos as well! ~ S.

Belt and Re-Belt – Wrapped, originally uploaded by academichic.

Sources:

• Blazer: C&C
• Dress: Olian, via consignment store
• Obi belt: from another dress
• Gold belt: thrifted
• Scarf belt: Target
• Tights: Target
• Boots: Steven Madden Iriss, via eBay

End Notes:

When S. was visiting Academichic Central a couple of weekends ago, we made time to go to a local consignment shop that specializes in children’s clothing, toys, and maternity wear. S. walked away with a bundle of great finds that you’ll certainly see soon, and I happily paid a little extra for this Olian Maternity flower print dress. I love pretty much everything about this dress…the abstracted chrysanthemum motif, the color scheme, the surplice neckline, the slightly tulip rather than a-line skirt, its body versatility… In fact, the only thing I’m not crazy about is the attached sash.

I have a love-hate relationship with dresses with attached sashes. On the one hand, it’s nice to know it’s not going anywhere and to have built-in fit-enhancing capabilities. On the other hand, the attached sashes don’t always attach where I want them to, and they don’t always lend themselves well to layering. What to do?

I’m tempted to go ahead and cut this belt off and transform it into a wider (multi-strip) belt that’s tacked directly to the dress without any “tails” to get in the way. But, while I work up the courage, I tried to figure out how to best work with the situation and still use some of my own belts to add a little color.

I tried a skinny gold belt, sitting it right below the sash (tied in front). I think it’s too skinny, though, and to me it got a little lost amidst the print.

Next, I thought I’d try my hand at pattern-mixing, and brought out this orange leaf-print scarf for some complementary color action. I wrapped the sashes around front, back, and front again, tied a knot, and tucked the ends in. Then, I wrapped the folded patterned scarf over the whole business, tied that in the back and tucked the ends in. It looked pretty gnarly in the back, but with a little blazer thrown over it you couldn’t really tell. While I liked this in theory, it didn’t quite do it for me this morning.

Finally, as you see in the top look, I pulled back out the obi belt that I wore earlier this week. I know. It’s so soon. But look how nicely the softer salmon color plays with the blues of the dress and how the draped ties of the obi make the longer blue ties of the built-in sash seem more purposeful. I was sold.

Do you have a preferred version? How do you handle dresses with attached sashes?

At long last, I present a tutorial for the tank dress I made a few weeks ago before the end of the semester blindsided me. I’ve been seeing these tank+patterned skirt all over the place lately, but frequently they were too short or too short-waisted for my particular proportions. After some googling, and studying the really excellent skirt tutorial and t-shirt dress tutorial at Ruffles and Stuff and the skirt with pockets tutorial at Freshly Picked, I decided that even my fairly rudimentary sewing skills could handle this project.

And since I celebrated my height yesterday for Dress Your Best week, it seems appropriate to post a sewing project prompted by my need for a longer-than-in-stores dress.

» Read the rest of this entry «

4 July 2009 , originally uploaded by academichic.

Sources:

• Dress – Sandra Darren, via TJMaxx
• Red cardi – thrifted, remixed
• Lace cami – Old Navy
• Black sandals – Target, remixed a lot
• Red Umbrella – London Fog, remixed

Endnotes:

Today we are celebrating the 4th of July and Indie’s 1st Birthday! (She was born on Independence Day last year, thus the name Indie). I love the 4th of July because it’s one of the few holidays (like Thanksgiving) where there is no gift-giving pressure and all that is expected of you is to consume lots of food, spend time with friends and family, and – Bonus!- take in a fireworks show at the end of the night. I have a weakness for fireworks because I don’t recall ever seeing fireworks while growing up in Romania so they were introduced to me relatively late in life. I love curling up on a folding chair with a blanket, sipping a delicious drink, and watching the sky come alive with lights and sparkle.

Before we end our night that way, we’re first meeting friends with their dog at a nearby park for a BBQ. We’re also treating Indie to more swimming fun for her birthday at the park’s lake. It’s raining right now but the forecast shows it moving past us soon and I’m looking forward to shedding the cardi and my umbrella as our BBQ approaches. I wanted to dress somewhat festively today since the occasion called for it, and I find a summer dress with flat sandals to be the perfect combination of chic and comfort for a day spent walking on grass and playing with the dog while also meeting other adults and wanting to look presentable. I’m also becoming increasingly drawn to a red and black color mix. It’s not the expected red-white-and-blue more usually donned for the 4th, but then again, I’ve never been one for matching my outfits to the holiday colors. How about you? Do you find yourself dressing patriotically on the 4th or holiday-festive in general? If so, how to manage to look festive without crossing the line into cheesy?

Whatever your plans for the day, I hope you have a fun and safe holiday weekend! S.

13 June 2009 – Garage Sale-ing, originally uploaded by academichic.

Endnotes:

One of the things I love about summer weekends is the chance to go treasure hunting at the local garage sales. T. and I both love a good bargain, so we print out a list with all the sales, grab our coffees and go exploring. Today I took my handy little basket tote along to stash my finds. I got this basket tote in an unabashed attempt to copy A., who uses a cute red basket for her trips to the farmer’s market. This blue and white checkered number will be my hold-all for market trips and garage sale adventures this summer (and was a steal for $2.50 at the Target Dollar Spot).

      

26 April 2009, originally uploaded by academichic.

Sources:

• Dress – Sam and Max, via TJMaxx
• Sandals – Target, remixed
• Turquoise earrings – Ann Taylor, remixed

Endnotes:

We’re having some gorgeous weather here in the Midwest and it’s a bag of mixed blessings. One the one hand, it will be wonderful to enjoy the sunshine at our annual end of the semester department picnic in the park this afternoon. On the other hand, laying in the sun for half the day, seeing everything in bloom, and having the outdoors beckon to me makes it pretty darn difficult to focus on work precisely at the time of the semester when it’s most crucial. 

So today I’m accepting that I’ve lost the battle and instead of fighting the weather, I’m joining it;  I’ve put on my most flowery and summery dress to match the outdoors and the park that is so wonderfully in bloom. S. 

26 April 2009, originally uploaded by academichic.

   

Print close-up, originally uploaded by academichic.

     

13 March 2009, originally uploaded by academichic.

Sources:

• Grey top – Victorinox 
• Silk wrap dress – thrifted yesterday! 
• Black woven belt – thrifted yesterday! 
• Boots – Dillards, remixed 
• Earrings – Dillards, remixed 
• Dog – Indie, remixed

Endnotes:

While I was out and about yesterday, I stopped in the second of the two thrift stores I’m aware of in T.’s town. I was feeling a bit down after a round of rather unpleasant work-related emails, so I indulged in a bit of retail therapy. I figured that thrift retail therapy is a little more permissible than the non-thrift kind. 

And my mood was pleasantly lifted by this silk wrap dress I found, as well as the woven belt I scored and am wearing with it today. I have a brown woven belt that I wear all the time so I know that this black version will get lots of play too. I also found a great pair of wedge sandals that I can’t wait to wear as soon as it gets warmer. This dress, too, is more of a summer item but I just wanted to wear it already so I layered it over the things I happened to have brought with me to T.’s house.

Here’s the thing about silk dresses though: silk dress + dog = tricky business. Every time Indie gets near me, a new wet nose spot appears on my dress. At least silk is as quick-drying as it is to wet-spot accumulating. S.

Detail of dress and pattern on it:

   

Silk dress detail, originally uploaded by academichic.

I got these earrings a week and a half ago and have been wearing them daily since. I thought I’d show a close-up of them:

   

Earrings detail, originally uploaded by academichic.