academichic

Sources:

Bike tee – J.Crew
Cardi – free from swap
Skinnies – ON Maternity
Loafers – Michael Kors, thrifted
Bike – 1969 Raleigh Sports
Helmet – Nutcase

Endnotes:

It’s no secret that I’m somewhat bike obsessed. Ok, maybe a little more than somewhat. So you won’t be surprised to see that one of my favorite tees is one with a graphic print of a bike on it. I got this shirt on clearance at J.Crew at the end of last summer, only to open one of my gifts on Christmas morning and find that my mom had gotten the same tee for me at J.Crew as well. I guess she knows me pretty well. Having two of this one very loved t-shirt makes me willing to stetch one out and turn it into a maternity top.

And speaking of J.Crew, have any of you seen this recent article regarding a picture in the J.Crew catalog that’s apparently causing quite a stir? The image in question is one of J. Crew creative director Jenna Lyons and her young son engaging in a supposedly questionable activity… painting her son’s toenails pink. According to the news article, social conservatives are calling the piece “transgendered child propaganda.”  (The implications here being also that transgendered people should be shamed and not embraced). The claims range from suggestions that the young boy will need psychotherapy to recover later in life to accusations that J.Crew is exploiting the youngster to promote their “liberal, transgendered identity politics“. A bit much, right?

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We’ve talked in the past about how fashion is a powerful tool in perfoming gender and identity, be it in terms of race, sexuality, class, or ethnicity. We’ve also talked about how these accoutrements of fashion are used by adults to enforce gender performance in young children. This article is a perfect example of our culture’s obsession with visibly marking children as either male or female, feminine or masculine. The binary that shall not be disturbed.

As my husband, the feminist, pointed out – what if it had been black nailpolish on the little boy? Would that have caused as big of a stir? What is it about pink that is especially prickly when it comes to men adopting it? And what if the image had shown a little girl dressed in a baseball outfit? Would that kind of crossing of traditional gender boundaries have caused such an aggressive response? Even within culturally imposed gender norms, some boundaries are clearly more flexible than others.

To credit my husband with one more astute observation – that little boy is growing up with his mother greatly involved in the fashion industry. He likely observes her work with fashion much of the day. Nailpolish, an accessory, is just an extension of her daily work accoutrements. He most likely just wants to be a part of his mother’s life and involved with the things she’s passionate about. His wanting his nails painted should more likely be viewed as an extension of his love for his mother and his desire to share in her interests and activities. It’s sad that such a sweet demonstration of mother-child enjoyment is being demonized like this. Jon Stewart agrees with me, he also had a few things to say on the topic.

Perhaps you don’t agree and are oppsed to little boys wearing pink nailpolish. If that’s the case, I’d love to hear why that is. I welcome discussion from all perspectives on it and I hope that my making it clear where I stand on this debate doesn’t discourage others who disagree to chime in with their response. What is your take on the J.Crew image and the consequent media response to it? – S.

Sources:

Paisley top – dollar clearance at consignment store
Red-orange cardi – Zara many years ago
Skinnies – ON Maternity
Loafers – Michael Kors, thrifted
Earrings – made by me
Bike – 1970s Peugeot Mixte

Endnotes:

It feels like Spring is finally coming to my corner of the Midwest and it’s been great in terms of wearing lighter layers and – finally – shoes that aren’t boots! It’s so nice to just pull on a pair of jeans, a top, and a cardi and hop on my bike to ride to campus. The last time I wore this paisley top, I pulled off some bold pattern mixing with a striped cardigan. This time, I worked off the specs of red in the design and added a bright red-orange cardigan.

It’s funny to look at these pictures and think that I do not look very pregnant at all. While in other pictures, my belly looks huge. I’m now 24 weeks pregnant, over half way there. The last time I brought up the discussion of pregnancy in academia, a very lively discussion ensued, which you can find here. In that last post, I mostly talked about the reactions of colleagues and ‘superiors’, while today, I’d like to just briefly talk about my students’ reaction to my growing belly.

I noted last time that I thought my students were wonderful. They’ve asked lots of questions and showed much interest in talks before class. But once class starts, I haven’t noticed any difference in the level of concentration and ability to stay on topic. I’ve heard academics talk about how the pregnant body can be a source of distraction in the classroom, but I’m not sure how this would play out. I’ve really enjoyed my students’ thoughtful questions and comments and I’ve been happy to share little details about the baby with them. But once class begins, we’re business as usual. And I’m definitely very visibly pregnant ‘in real life’ now, no matter how deceiving these photos look.

Just like last time, I invite you to share your observations, experiences, and comments on this topic. Have you been the inhabitant of a pregnant body in the classroom? What were your experiences with this? S.

Sources:

Coat – Merona, via consignment store
Maternity dress – Motherhood, via consignment store
Belt – thrifted
Red-orange necklace – thrifted
Red bracelet – H&M years ago
Red tights – TJMaxx
Loafers – Michael Kors, thrifted
Red earrings – Welt Laden in Salzburg, Austria

Bike – 1969 Raleigh Sports

Endnotes:

I’m becoming increasingly drawn to navy as a favorite neutral. I particularly like how it works with reds and browns. This navy shirtdress was one of my finds during a shopping spree with E. over my last visit to academichic central. E. took me to her favorite maternity consignment store and we had a blast perusing their maternity outfits while swapping pregnancy stories. At the time, I had just started to feel my baby move and I remember how delighted I felt to have E. (a second-time mom) confirm that those pops really were the baby.

That day, we came away with a few good maternity finds. Among which was this stretchy navy shirt dress that came with those built-in belt straps that are sometimes more nuisance than help. E. also found a gorgeous dress that day, which also came with built-in straps, and she recorded how she made those work here. I decided to take the plunge and remove them altogether.

You can see how the dress looks with the navy built-in straps in comparison to it being worn with a different, contrasting belt. I think I much prefer the latter, which breaks up the vast amount of solid fabric and gives the eye a focal point. So I knew I wouldn’t miss the navy straps, since I was likely to never wear it ‘as is’…

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Sometimes built-in belts works wonderfully and A. even did a demonstration of how you can use them to tie in a cardigan or outside layer. But I think that for the built-in straps to work well, they have to be of a more substantial width. The thin ‘shoestring’ kind just don’t seem to do it for me. What do you do with the built-in belts, do you keep them or cut them?

S.

Sources:

Scarf – Banana Republic, same one as styled by A. here
Trench coat – my grandmother’s from the 70s
Top – Anthropologie, hand me down
Skinnies – Old Navy Maternity
Loafers – Michael Kors, thrifted
Earrings – gift from A.

Bike – 1969 Raleigh Sports

Endnotes:

It’s Spring Break! And the weather is actually playing nice and making me believe that Spring is coming. Most of our snow has melted and I was actually able to get away with loafers and no socks! While my mornings so far have been happily spent in sweats and pj’s while I sit at home writing my dissertation, I have been getting dressed for brief sojourns out of the house in the afternoons. And this has been my go-to look for break: comfortable jeans, some kind of top, a lightweight Spring scarf, loafers or flats, and my favorite spring jacket – my grandmother’s trench coat.

As a nod to Braid Wednesday, I’m also wearing my hair in two braids wrapped around my head. I usually cross the braids over at the nape of my neck and then bring the ends upwards, pinning them with bobby pins on top of my head…

And if Spring isn’t ready to arrive in ‘real life’, it’s certainly arrived in my wardrobe and in my house. I’m finding myself drawn to floral prints and Spring-inspired accessories (like these tiny bird earrings I’m wearing) even more than usual. T. and I are getting our garden ready and our little seedlings are growing like crazy by the windowsill indoors. We can’t wait to transplant them outside and start our first garden and I can’t wait for bare legs and bike rides without a coat and for summer dresses that will be especially indulgent to my growing midsection.

What are you looking forward to this Spring? S.

Sources:

Striped top – Banana Republic, hand me down
Dress – thrifted and chopped by me
Belt – thrifted
Tights – TJMaxx
Pendant – Anthropologie (the original chain broke and I thrifted a ‘new’ chain for it)
Loafers – Michael Kors, thrifted
Bike – 1970s Peugeot Mixte

Endnotes:

In thinking about how belting has been discussed on our site and on other blogs, I can’t help but draw parallels between the debate on ‘belting’ and the discourse around ‘corseting’ today and in the past. Perhaps you haven’t given this particular comparison much thought but since I am devoting a chapter of my dissertation to the practice of corseting, I don’t even know how to contain the thoughts I have on this to one little post. So I will try…

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