academichic

Sources:

• Coral tank: Target
• Maxi dress: Forever 21 (my “reserve” dress for my mini capsule wardrobe)
• Sandals: Jeffrey Campbell, via Gilt
• Necklace: Fig and Ginger

End Notes:

You may be a bit baffled by this post’s title: how is wearing a purple maxi dress and bright coral tank top particularly amenable to “fitting in” in a crowd? Or, at least, a crowd in the Midwest. It’s not, really. I was the only pregnant, maxi dress-wearing, color-blocking lady I saw all day. But you see, there was another element to this outfit: my now-ubiquitous summer hat.

And, apparently, if you want to commune with other hat-wearers, then the place to do that is on a weekday morning walk through the local botanical gardens. There were a LOT of straw hats to be seen there, from wide-brimmed floppy hats to fedora-style hats to tie-beneath-the-chin hats. I felt like a “real” garden-walker in my hat, rather than — as is sometimes the case when I wear my hat around the neighborhood — that odd pregnant hat lady. (Not that the latter has stopped me…it’s just nice to occasionally feel sartorially relevant.)

It’s also a great place to go if you’re almost-two and want to feed really large koi.

P.S. For those counting, this is outfit number ten of my 15 for 15.

Sources:

• Tunic: Forever 21, via consignment store
• Dress: Forever 21
• Belt: thrifted
• Sandals: Old Navy

End Notes:

I’m being told that the seventies are back, so I guess I’m being trendy though, quite frankly, comfort was foremost on my mind when assembling an outfit for a day spent driving. Yesterday little e. and I headed down south for husband N.’s sister’s graduation (got all that?), and I knew that seven plus hours in the car meant that anything with a waist band was out of the question. Enter the maxi dress worn as a skirt, layered undered a dolman tunic.

I’m loving this subtle analogous combination of smokey navy with rich purple (and yellow sandals thrown in for occasional peeks of fun). But since everything is jersey, it’s like wearing really sophisticated pajamas. I can get behind that.

(P.S. I’ve been traveling a lot this semester, both alone and with my family, and I’ll have a few tips on family packing over the weekend. Stay tuned…)

6 July 2009 – Conversions, originally uploaded by academichic.

Sources:

All remixed but bracelet:

• Purple cardi - H&M
• Turquoise maxi skirt worn as dress – AE
• White belt – Banana Republic
• Yellow vintage bag – Garage Sale
• Red wedges – Etienne Aigner, thrifted
• Earrings – gift from mom
• Bracelet – old, don’t remember source

Endnotes:

I’ve been noticing this trend on the internets lately and decided to try it out for myself today; wearing a longer skirt as a dress. You might remember this turquoise number as my maxi skirt, which I don’t wear very often. But having discovered this trick, I think this item will get a lot more use from now on.

I first saw the lovely Clodo from wardrobe_remix doing this with a bright floral skirt and then I was going through the archives of the Uniform Project and noticed that Sheena did a similar thing with a plaid maxi skirt underneath her black “uniform” dress. So what do you think about this skirt to dress conversion? Have I tempted you to run to your closet and try it yourself? If so, feel free to snap a picture of your creative self in your skirt-to-dress look and send it our way, I’d love to see how you make this trend work for you! S.

  

28 May 2009 – Maxi Skirt, originally uploaded by academichic.

Sources:

• Black top – thrifted, remixed 
• White tank – J.Crew 
• Turquoise maxi skirt – American Eagle 
• Above: Black sandals – Target, remixed a ton
• Below: Flats – Old Navy, remixed a ton
• Necklace – World Market, remixed 
• Bracelets – gifts

Endnotes:

Yesterday’s discussion on the Maxi Skirt prompted me to pull out the one maxi skirt in my closet. Like many of you, I have my doubts about the figure flattering capabilities of a long flowey skirt, but this jersey one won me over with its softness and lovely color. Additionally, this maxi skirt works for me because it has a straight cut and creates a nice long lean line:

   

28 May 2009 – Maxi Skirt, originally uploaded by academichic.

Similarly to what many of you said in your comments, I always wear this maxi skirt with form-fitting tops, to counteract the loose and hippie-ish look of the skirt. I noticed that I also tend to wear it with black tops, which I think is another subconscious effort to mitigate the hippie-ness of the maxi look with a more somber color, resulting in what I hope to be more of a boho chic look. 

  

Necklace detail, originally uploaded by academichic.

So I do have room for the maxi skirt in my closet, although I think I reached my quota with one maxi skirt. And I love how soft and comfortable it is and could see wearing this to the lab as an alternative to jeans. But here’s where I see a problem -you would have to wear closed-toe shoes with it in a lab setting. I love the boho look of this skirt with sandals, but once you add closed-toe flats to a ankle length skirt, all I can think of is Little House on the Prairie. 

Of all my closed-toe flats, these are the only pair I could (with much hesitation!) see myself wearing with this skirt, although I really don’t think I’d ever willingly make this combination:

   

28 May 2009 – Reluctant shoe change, originally uploaded by academichic.

So what do you all think? Would this look still work with a closed-toe shoe? If so, what kind of closed-toe shoe would you pair it with? Or should the Maxi Skirt be reserved for sandals and open toed footwear only? S. 

This morning I am beginning the several-day-long process of vacuuming out my basement. Just imagine a very pregnant woman in shorts, a maternity top, sneakers, and a head scarf and you have my outfit for the day.

But since this week we have been trying to help our colleagues in the sciences find creative, stylish ways to dress that still meet their lab dress-code, I present to you a brief rumination on an item of clothing that I am still uncertain about: the maxi skirt. Now, I know that some labs ban skirts altogether, but a few dress codes that I’ve read also say that skirts are a-okay as long as they reach the ankle. Now, I am only a fairly recent convert to the maxi dress and while I love their cool, flowy nature I definitely feel like I need to find my inner hippie every time I don one. I don’t think that I would ever wear one when teaching or attending an important meeting.

And I’m not sure about maxi skirts, either. For me, floor length skirts in general conjure up competing images of hippies, Little House on the Prairie specials, a really bad broomstick skirt I owned in 8th grade, and bridesmaid separates. Quite a mix, huh? But this past year Lucky Magazine included a floor length skirt as one of their items in their always-impressive “A Month of Outfits” feature and, I have to admit, I’m being forced to do some reconsidering.  Behold:

These looks are obviously more on the bohemian and very casual side, but I do love the pattern mixing in the look on the left and the chunky belt on the right. For more polished looks, Lucky offered up these:

And this one:

They all look lovely on the model, but I’m just not completely sold on the idea. So what do you all think? Can maxi skirts be polished enough for a day at an office (albeit a casual one)? Do you, like me, have strange misgivings and associations with floor length skirts that make this look difficult to embrace?

- E.