academichic

29 October 2009, originally uploaded by academichic.

• Olive Sweater – H & M
• Brown Cord Skirt – Old Navy
• Scarf – Birthday gift from S.
• Belt – New York & Co
• Tights – Gap
• Shoes – Kenneth Cole Reaction, via DSW

Endnotes:

First of all, thank you for all of your jean support!  I will give jean shopping another go and report back soon.

S. sent me this beautiful scarf from Germany for my birthday and I am in love.  It’s my colors and my pattern!  As soon as I pulled it out, I started planning outfits around it.  I have been wanting to try the belted scarf look again and thought that might be a good way to really showcase this new addition.  The scarf is the perfect length and thickness for this look (that is, not too long and not too thick).  Because the colors of the rest of my outfit were pretty simple, almost monochromatic, I decided I could play with pattern and texture.  I chose this wide, tweed belt to hold the scarf in place and my tweed-esque tights.

belted scarf, originally uploaded by academichic.

Yesterday was another long rainy day here, but as much as I love my boots, I wanted to wear other shoes for once this week!   Peep-toes were probably not the best choice, but my feet did manage to stay dry all day.  I was slow to come around to the peep-toe, but have learned to love them.  And then, I was hesitant about the peep-toe with tights – not any more!  If it means I can keep wearing my favorite shoes, I’m in!

What about you?  Will you try the belted scarf or the peep-toes and tights?

A.

peep toes and tights, originally uploaded by academichic.

peep toes and tights, originally uploaded by academichic.

15 October 2009, originally uploaded by academichic.

Sources:

• Striped Cardigan – J Crew
• Garland Tee – J Crew
• Denim Skirt – BR Outlet
• Sweater Tights – Banana Republic
• Black Flats – Urban Outfitters
• Earrings – F21

Endnotes:

This year for my birthday, my parents and little sister came to visit and my mom took me shopping!

My mom has a  great sense of style and knows me and my style better than anyone.   She loves shopping for her five daughters and over the years her favorites places to shop for us have become J Crew and Anthropologie.  AS, she puts it, these are the places she can buy something unique or special for birthday and Christmas gifts.  She usually let’s me buy my own staples.

At J Crew, she picked a few things out for me to try on, including this top and cardigan combo.  I adored the cardigan right away but was a bit skeptical of the top.  The top looked great on all the catalogue models and the flowers were just as beautiful in the store,  but I wasn’t convinced I could pull it off.  When paired with the slouchy menswear inspired cardigan, as suggested by my mom, the look was perfect.

Would you trust your mom to pick out clothes for you?

Cardigan and Top, originally uploaded by academichic.

Tights and Flats, originally uploaded by academichic.

Earrings, originally uploaded by academichic.

20 August 2009, originally uploaded by academichic.

Sources:

All remixed

• Purple Floral Tee – Old Navy
• Grey Skirt – Old Navy
• Purple Belt - Gap
• Purple Cardigan – Gap
• Black Flats – Urban Outfitters
• Necklace – Gift from S.
• Earrings- Gift from E.

Endnotes:

Why I wore what I wore:

Being rather pleased with yesterday’s outcome, I decided to try another monochromatic non-neutral with a neutral base – purple, purple, purple!  The necklace is one of the earrings S. gave me for being her “best woman” worn as a pendant.  This is a remixed trick that lets me wear my favorite jewelry more often.

Purple Purple Purple, originally uploaded by academichic.

What I thought about as I wore it:

Last night I caught up with my childhood best friend, which was wonderful! She had heard through the family  grapevine that I had a blog and had checked it out.  While she was very complimentary, I have to admit my first instinct was to be embarrassed and that initial feeling has had me thinking all night and all day.  My family knows about the blog, increasingly more friends know about it, and because it’s on the world wide web, more people with random connections to my non-blog life are discovering us.  Yet, no one from my academic life (outside of S. and E. of course) know about the blog.  Why? Because fashion and style are considered frivolous.  We are suppose to be concerned with much more important things and I guess I assume professors and even colleagues would consider this a silly waste of time. Threadbared recently wrote a thoughtful and stimulating post on this very topic in which they also address the gendered and sexist aspects of academia’s fraught relationship with fashion.

I think as a feminist, my love of fashion might be further seen as contradictory.  We begin to address this in our State of the Field and it is a topic the three of us continue to discuss amongst ourselves, but I would love to open this issue up to our always insightful readers.

My active involvement in the LGBT political and academic communities adds an extra layer of tension to self-styling.  I find there are expectations for how I should physically present myself and often incorrect assumptions are made based on my appearance.

On our post on male academic style reader H. left a thought provoking comment about the gendered concerns of wearing an engagement ring in academia.   What does our clothing and jewelry say to our colleagues and superiors about our commitment to our work, our politics, etc.  While I don’t have an engagement ring, I would like to say that in regards to all of the above, I have tried to make it my policy that I will wear what makes me feel most comfortable and confidant, yet I have to admit I do often find myself wondering what my clothing says about me and hoping that the message I set out with is the one conveyed.

Do you feel pressure to look a certain way because of your job, your political leanings, your commitments to family or a particular community?

Do you find that colleagues or strangers make unfair or incorrect assumptions about you based on your style?

20 August 2009, originally uploaded by academichic.

20 August 2009, originally uploaded by academichic.

Sources:

All remixed except for brooch used as button:

• Brown shrug – Target
• Brooch as button – souvenir from San Francisco
• White tuxedo front top - J.Crew
• Brown skirt – ON
• Gray wedges – Report, via Solestruck.com
• Brown beads – thrifted

19 August 2009 – Monochromatic Teal, originally uploaded by academichic.

Endnotes:

While I am no stranger to monochromatic neutrals, I find putting a monochromatic non-neutral-color outfit together rather challenging.  Part of this is that I just don’t have the clothes in my closet for a head to toe of any non-neutral color because I don’t have much in the way of colorful bottoms  (I used my one brightly colored skirt to create a monochromatic blue ensemble in the winter).  The other issue is that one of my new favorite tricks is to add color with my shoes but I hate matching my shoes to my outfit (unless they are a neutral).

However, even when I gave into a neutral bottom half and focused on the top, I still found this a difficult look to put together.  I decided to pick one of my favorite colors because it gave me numerous pieces to choose from.  Once I had decided on teal I just stared pulling everything teal out and found that this tank was pretty close to just being a lighter shade than the tee.

The real stretch for me came with the accessories.  My instinct was to either add a pop of another color or to break the teal up with a neutral.  I never would have thought of putting these turquoise beads with this top but I am actually really pleased with the result.

Teal on Teal, originally uploaded by academichic.

Jewelry Detail, originally uploaded by academichic.

19 August 2009, originally uploaded by academichic.

Sources:

• Eyelet top – TJMaxx, remixed all the time
• Long cardigan – Free People, remixed
• Skinnies – thrifted, remixed all year round
• Flip-flops – Target, remixed
• Earrings – gift from husband, remixed
• Book – Perrot: Fashioning the Bourgeoisie

Endnotes:

Today’s outfit is a monochrome one for this week’s color review. After looking once more at all the beautiful color combinations we received from our readers for our Color Symposium, it felt pretty bland to go for a mostly-white outfit today. But once I saw it all come together, I was struck yet again with how lovely monochrome outfits comprised of neutrals are.  Something about a mostly white ensemble appears especially simple yet elegant. So I’m becoming more and more a believer in neutrals and monochromatic outfits made of neutrals – something to add to my back-to-school shopping list. I’m longing for rich fall browns, sophisticated grays, and pretty ivories and off-whites. So while A. is testing out my usual take on color, I’m finding myself increasingly drawn to her signature looks of neutrals. S.

17 August 2009 – Monochrome, originally uploaded by academichic.

Endnotes:

I’m easing into our week of Monochrome and Split Complementaries with a simple gray and black outfit. I don’t wear monochromatic neutrals a whole lot, but when I do, I’m always struck with how elegant and sophisticated this kind of color simplicity looks. Monikulus, one of my favorite wardrobe_remixers, is the queen of grays and blacks and gorgeous monochromatic ensembles – just check out her Flickr set here if you’re ever in need of inspiration.

For my one pop of color, you may have noticed Nerp’s new bright pink basket. My other basket broke last week, so I was due for an upgrade. I’ve been inspired by the wonderful Julie Mack, another wardrobe_remix favorite, to go for a colorful milk crate after seeing how cute her bright red one is. As if Nerp wasn’t metrosexual enough, now he’s also sporting a pretty pink basket … but he likes it. He’s now the brightest and prettiest of all the bikes amid the bike rack crowd on campus. S.

When we first explored the color wheel and experimented with various color combinations, we found it to be extremely helpful in lending us new eyes with which to see our wardrobes. This was so useful the first time around, that we decided to revisit the color modules and to challenge ourselves to a review session using our summer wardrobes. We have recently reexamined Neutrals and Neutrals with a Pop, Complementary Colors and the Two-Thirds Rule, Triads and Analogous Colors, and are now left to go over Monochrome and Split Complementary Color Combinations.

To read more about this color mix lesson, click here…

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