Sources:

Tank – Target Maternity
Skirt – free from clothing swap
Bangles – thrifted at various times
Necklace & Earrings – gifts

Endnotes:

Happy 4th of July to our American readers!

This is what I wore to a ’4th of July party’ on the 2nd of July, the day that our founding fathers voted on the motion for independence. Our friends held a little backyard party and I pulled out my ‘hippie mama’ look for the occasion (not that hippie mama and independence day have any corelation).

I love the hippie mama look on pregnant women because it just looks so comfortable and relaxed and I love it on myself because it feels so comfortable and relaxed. E. has rocked this particular look while pregnant and it’s becoming my favorite way to dress up these days as my style choices are becoming increasingly limited.

E. worked the hippie mama look with the use of maxi dresses, weather on their own or layered underneath or over other garments. I don’t have any stretchy long dresses but I do have this fabulous printed skirt that I scored at a clothing swap last fall.

I paired it with a teal maternity tank to pull out the blues in the pattern and added a variety of orange, red, and teal bangles to compliment to overall color scheme.

Have you embraced the boho-hippie aesthetic? And why is it that it’s so much easier to create this kind of look in the summer than in the winter? Do you have any tips for pulling off a cold-weather version of this kind of style? Please share your tips in the comments!

Sources:

• Dress: French Connection
• Shirt (under): Splendid via Nordstrom Rack
• Sweater: Banana Republic
• Pants: Anne Taylor Loft
• Shoes: Ciao Bella via DSW

Endnotes:
I realize that this is extremely similar to the first way I styled this dress when I debuted it in London (it was a birthday gift from my fabulous sister). However, the addition of skinny black ponte pants underneath made the shorter hemline feel safer, and the shirt under and sweater over provided needed warmth.

The inspiration to tie the built-in belt from the dress on the outside of the cardigan is something that my co-bloggers have been perfecting for years. E. takes the ties on a solid color jersey dress to hold down a top layer consisting of an unbuttoned patterned shirt dress; S. takes a removable sash from a jersey dress to wrap around her outer layer; and A. uses the ties on a wrap dress to integrate her cardigan into her look. You can also use ties from blouses to hold down cardigans. If you want more ideas, check out A’s tutorial on how to use built in ties over cardigans.

Sources:

• Blouse – Thrifted
• Skirt – from L.
• Boots- Steve Madden Intyce
• Earrings – hand-me-down from sister M.
• Bracelet – gift from S.’s mom
• Denim Jacket – Gap
• Bag – Crystalyn Kae
• Aviators – Banana Republic

Endnotes:

While visiting L. last weekend (so we could watch a friend run the Boston Marathon) I scored several new-to-me items.  L. was in the process of cleaning out her closet to get ready for a clothing swap she is organizing, but she let me have first dibs!  I came home with a few great things including this beautiful black pencil skirt.  I was running out of light when I took these pictures so you can’t see its lovely texture or the great kick pleat in the back.  The skirt was too long on L. but is the perfect length on me.

This fun patterned blouse is also new-to-me.  I picked it up at a consignment shop in Boston (the one purchase I allowed myself to make, despite the many tempting shops L. and I wondered into).  It’s not at all my typical style: it has a bold (non-stripe) pattern, puffed sleeves, a tie at the neck, little bead buttons on the shoulder, and a bib front.  But, for some reason I was really drawn to it.  I like the funky modern pattern mixed with a more vintage cut.  Both L. and E. agree with me that this has quite an S. vibe

And, as I’m a rediscovering my collection of large earrings, I emphasized the drama of the graphic pattern with these big cut-out black earrings – a hand-me-down from my little sister.  This outfit gave me a much-needed boost of confidence for some not-so-pleasant meetings on campus.

I like that the blouse is a bit playful even with its more severe and formal cut.  I emphasized the playful/casual side by choosing boots instead of pumps and my denim jacket instead of a trench.
I have always loved hand-me-downs!  When I was little my mom used to come home with bags full of clothes from a friend at work who had two girls, each just a year older than my older sister and I.  We were always so excited to dig through the clothes and pick out what we wanted.  Their clothes were always much trendier than what my mom bought (which had to be timeless enough to pass through 5 girls).  I didn’t even mind hand-me-downs from my sister since she was older and cooler (plus, as I’m the second oldest, my hand-me-downs only came through one sister).  I still love getting my friends and sister’s unwanted items.
What about you?  Where you a hand-me-down kid?  Are you still?

Sources:

• Shirt: Banana Republic Factory
• Skirt: ???? via London Fashion Weekend
• Belt: Old Navy
• Shoes: Bandolino via DSW
• Necklace: gift

Endnotes:
Speaking of pattern mixing, does this count for abstract and stripes? I bought this shirt over the winter but haven’t had a chance to wear it yet, so I was excited that this outfit came together. I was about to start this post by saying that I was ‘sorry’ this outfit is so matchy-matchy, but then I stopped myself because I’m not sorry. I grew up with the mandate that clothes had to match pretty perfectly, and I distinctly remember that most of my middle school wardrobe consisted of easily interchangeable black, white and grey skirts and tops primarily from The Limited and Express. I suppose I learned these basic mixing skills from my mother, and I (a pretty type A organized person) agonized over shades being the same and had strict rules for myself about what colors went with other colors. These guidelines carried through high school and college and for the last six years for the most part, and honestly it wasn’t until I started blogging that I began to mess with these “inviolable” rules.

I wasn’t kidding when I said that wearing that orange shirt had rocked my world or that pairing navy blue and black revolutionized my sartorial universe, and while I appreciate that this venue has made me push my own boundaries, I still love when things match or when one color is picked up in my accessories or carried through multiple elements of the same ensemble.

I am uncomfortable when sea foam green finds itself next to moss green, bubble gum pink and fuchsia bother me when they abut. For me the exciting part of this outfit was both that the hot pink of the shirt happened to be nearly spot on with the hot pink of the skirt AND that I was mixing a pretty busy pattern on top with a minimalist stripe in the skirt. It’s funny to think about how many dressing rules we hold on to from a very early age and how those now outdated rules still affect our sartorial choices. What guidelines to do you still cling to?

L.

Sources:

• Sweater: Banana Republic
• Tunic: French Connection
• Belt: BR
• Skinnies: BR
• Shoes: Frye

Endnotes:
Can you tell how pleased I am with this outfit? For our first day back in classes I decided that despite the dusting of snow we got last night it is most definitely spring and therefore I will break out the florals! Of course, while this shirt has a pretty tropical motif, in reality it is still in the 30s and the sweater was a necessity rather than a choice.

{Utagawa Kuniyoshi, Hitentaisei Rikon (Li Gun: Chinese name) from the Shuihu zhuan, 1827-30}

This tunic is another birthday purchase from my sister (thank you C.!) and I fell in love with the bright florals, which seemed vaguely reminiscent of Japanese prints. (Thanks to reader Alison for the correction! This is a Japanese print of a Chinese story, not a Chinese print as I had earlier written. Alison says that “this is a classic example of the Japanese ukiyo-e style.”)

I didn’t even realize it at the time, but my new flower belt from BR is a perfect match! I really wanted more of this shirt to show, so I pulled my sweater to the sides. This also created a more pronounced hourglass shape with the belt pulling it all in at the waist. How do you fool the eye to accentuate different body parts?

L.

Sources:

Blazer – MaxMara, hand me down
Striped sweater – Gap, thrifted
Jeans – ON Maternity
Boots – Banana Republic
Necklace – thrifted
Bike – 70s Peugeot Mixte via Craigslist

Endnotes:

E. is not the only one embracing stripes during her pregnancy. It seems like stripes are everywhere this season and after seeing the lovely Miss James rock them all the way to the end of her pregnancy, I became convinved that they were not to be eschewed just because of that extra belly roundness. In fact, how cute is this…

{image courtesy of Bleubird Vintage}

I’ve also been restocking my patterns because I’m really liking the rich effect of pattern mixing as of late. Although I wear a lot of pattern and don’t shy away from loud or bold prints (E. and A. have joked that I have a bit of a 70s couch aesthetic when it comes to pattern choosing), I don’t often brave the mixing of those. I’ve been clipping lots of pattern mixing images to my desktop inspiration folder and am looking forward to getting more adventurous with pattern this year. A sneak peak into my inspiration file…

{Clockwise from top: Dear Baby, Rockstar Diaries, Lucky Magazine}

It seems that stripes work particularly well with florals, as these clippings demonstrate. Since I own a fair share of florals, this should be a cinch. Do you mix patterns? How do you go about making sure the final result is interesting and rich without seeming overwhelming and dizzying?

On a more serious note, I’d just like to express my great sympathy for all those affected by the Tsunami that hit Japan this morning and then made its way to Hawaii and is continuing towards the coast of California. My heart goes out to everyone in those areas and I’m saddened by the loss of so many lives already. May you and your loved ones stay safe! ~ 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…

Ready to up the nerd factor?

Here it goes: Corseting is as much a topic of contention and debate in modern scholarship as it was at the time that it was being practiced. Writings and arguments about the corset – then and today – fall into either of two categories; the corset as tool for the oppression and subjugation of the female body or the corset as symbol of freely expressed sexuality and empowerment. Nineteenth-century medical opinions, popular writings, and fashion advertisements competed as voices of authority on what the corset meant in terms of function and its signification. Today, scholars are equally at odds in how to read this symbol. Most writings fall into either of the two above mentioned camps; first, those that denounce the corset as yet another example of how the female body was molded and coerced into an artificial and man-made object of desire and, second, those that argue for the corset as a symbol of autonomy, self-determination, and sexual empowerment.

Are you starting to see where I’m going with this in terms of belting? It seems that both in the comments we have received in the past and in discussions on other blogs, the belt has fallen victim to a similar debate. Is belting a way to draw attention to an idealized ‘hourglass’ female body? (One that of course is not representative of many body shapes). Or is it a way to enhance and showcase a particular aspect of one’s appearance in an act that is empowering and self aware? And what happens when I use my belt to showcase my ‘baby bump’ in an obvious flaunting of something that is commonly thought of as a symbol of maternity and domesticity? But what happens when I am doing that while owning the title ‘feminist’ on this blog and publicly discussing my involvement in academia and the workplace? (And to further complicate that – while biking to work and posing next to my bike for these pictures?).

To briefly return to the corset – did you know that the corset also played volatile role in conjunction with the pregnant body? While there were corsets meant for pregnant women, there are documented cases of women wearing non-maternity corsets to attempt abortion through tight-lacing. It’s easy to see then why the corset was (and still is) largely demonized as an object of immorality and sexual deviance. This, however, does not take into account the other ways that corseting can be read in relation to motherhood and pregnancy. Becoming a mother (or parent) is not for everyone. That seems to be a more accepted way of thinking today but certainly wasn’t for many centuries when women were reduced to their reproductive capabilities and often only seen as extensions thereof. According to art historian and cultural critic David Kunzle, the practice of corseting in the face of charges of immorality and anti-motherhood (in general and not only when matters of abortion came into play), can be read as a powerful message from women refusing to be visually marked as ‘maternal’, ‘domestic’, and ‘naturally feminine’. Their adoption of the corset challenged the notion that these former categories were fixed and essential and the only way that a women ‘should’ be.

Well, if you’re still with me on this, then here is my conclusion: I agree with critics such as Kunzle who argue that there is no one way of interpreting the corset and its pluralistic function in our society, past and present. Neither do I believe in vilifying the belt for enforcing a certain type of body aesthetic since it can have many functions based on context and situation. In this case, I’m using a belt to bring definition to an otherwise shapeless dress in order to communicate that I am proud of my bourgeoning baby bump and my position as a working woman who has also chosen motherhood for herself.

And let’s be honest, this thrifted dress really needed a belt and a good five inches chopped off the bottom, right?

I would love to hear from you if you have given ‘belting’ any kind of theoretical consideration and whether you’ve found yourself objecting to belting or embracing it despite/because of certain associations or ideas? ~S.

>

And what kind of academic would I be if I didn’t leave you with a few resources for further reading should you be intrigued by the topic of corseting and fashion thory…

Steele, Valerie. The Corset. A Cultural History. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001.

Kunzle, David. Fashion and Fetishism. A Social History of the Corset, Tight-Lacing and Other Forms of Body-Sculpture in the West. Totowa: Rowman and Littlefield, 1982.

Perrot, Philippe. Fashioning the Bourgeoisie. A History of Clothing in the Nineteenth Century. Trans. Richard Bienvenu. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1994.

Summers, Leigh. Bound to Please: A History of the Victorian Corset. New York: Berg, 2001.

Sources:

Cardi – Tulle, thrifted
Paisley top – dollar clearance at consignment shop
Jeans – ON Maternity
Boots – Dillards
Bangles – thrifted
Necklace – thrifted (“edited down” by me)
Tote – Nomi Network

Endnotes:

When the Nomi Network contacted us and asked us to review a few of their items and learn more about their campaign, we were all intrigued by this interesting logo: “Buy Her Bag, Not Her Body”. So what is the Nomi Network and that provocative statement all about? Well, in their own words…

Sex trafficking thrives where there are large populations of unskilled workers and few employment opportunities. Nomi addresses these issues by equipping at-risk women with valuable skills and creating a market for their products. This demand for their products provides steady employment and a stable income. Empowered with financial independence, these women are no longer available or attractive to sex traffickers who target poor and vulnerable women. In order to effect lasting change, Nomi coordinates the efforts of women vulnerable to sex-trafficking, manufacturers, retailers and consumers to give women an alternative to sex trafficking.

The Nomi Network site estimates the market of ‘illicit human trafficking’ to be around $32 billion. Nomi’s signature bags are made by survivors or at-risk women who are given a chance to earn an income through the manufacturing of these fair trade items. The proceeds go towards job training, skill teaching, and education for these at-risk individuals.

We are excited to be working with Nomi by reviewing their products and spreading the message about such a valuable organization. And it’s an easy product to get behind – not only do we appreciate the work that purchasing such a tote would fund, be we also love the bags themselves. I am using the Slogan Zip Tote here, which can be zipped down into a neat little pouch…

… and then unzipped to a full sized bag that can hold as much as my laptop, wallet, students’ papers, cell phone, and Kindle as shown here…

It’s made of recycled rice bag material and comes in this burnt orange color scheme or in dark blues. When used in its tote form, the zipped pouch becomes a pocket on the outside of the bag (on the back, non-logo side). I love how spacious it is, how sturdy the straps feel, the beautiful color scheme, and the logo and information readily available on it, making it a great conversation starter. And it comes with a very affordable price tag of $30. I love my tote and can see getting a lot of use out of it – be it to cart things to campus now or to carry my towel, books, and sunscreen to the lake come summer.

In fact, if you’re looking for a Valentine’s Day gift for the feminist in your life, we think these would make the perfect present! Not only is it a stylish bag, it also would warm the wearer’s heart knowing that the purchase of their gift helped fund such a worthy cause.  Take a look at this and the other fair trade items in Nomi’s shop as you’re stocking up on your Valentine’s Day presents! ~S.

Sources:

• Cardigan – Anthropologie, gift
• Green tank – BR Outlet
• Tiered blouse – BR, hand-me-down
• Grey skinnies – ON Maternity
• Boots – Banana Republic
• Necklaces – thrifted

Endnotes:

The fun thing about fashion is that it’s dynamic. It’s always changing. I think that personal style should be the same way – free to change, develop, contradict itself, and surprise. Sometimes change comes on its own, unprompted and unmediated. Other times, it happens in a deliberate and self-imposed manner. Lately, I’ve decided to self-impose some style challenges that appeal to me right now – work more pattern mixing into my outfits and make more frequent use of bold, bright jewelry to ‘spice’ up my looks.

{images: Anthropologie}

Whenever I need a visual aid in either of those matters, I turn to the Anthropologie catalogues, which execute both pattern mixing and bold statement pieces beautifully. I wish I could afford more of their pieces, especially their beautiful jewelry, but since they’re a bit out of my price range, I try to find similar items at my local thrift stores. These two necklaces were recent thrift store finds in my attempt to bring more bold statement pieces (in terms of jewelry) into my wardrobe.

At first I thought I’d wear either one or the other necklace with this top and cardigan. I held up one to my neck and then the other and compared the results. Then I realized that I could layer both and truly embrace my new style resolution. What do you think?

Happy weekend, everyone! And stay tuned for the first Weekend Workshop later today! ~ S.

Sources:

• Sweater Dress: Banana Republic Factory
• Belt: Anthropologie
• Tights: Italy
• Shoes: BR
• Blazer: Anne Taylor Loft
• Scarf: thrifted
• Bracelet: Accessorize

Endnotes:
I’ve been on the hunt lately for dresses because life is so much easier when I can just match tights, belt, shoes and dress rather than several layers of separates. Basically, it’s the end of January and I’m feeling lazy! I scored this sweater dress (very similar to E.’s great burgundy dress) at the BR factory outlet recently and was trilled that it was on sale. I was a little worried that it was a tad short for teaching, but like E. said with her new yellow skirt, I decided that with tights it was fine. Even as a petite woman I’ve been finding it really hard lately to find dresses or skirts (that aren’t pencil skirts) that come to an inch or two above my knee rather than three or four inches above my knee. Is anyone else having that problem? I thought I’d treat maroon as a neutral and pair it with navy blue and brown (a combination with which E. has also dabbled). I added the blazer because it’s still freezing out.

This scarf is something that I thrifted when I was 5. Yes, you read that correctly. I remember going to the church fair with my grandmother and picking this one out specifically because of the gold details and the brilliant blue and orange. I guess it was only a matter of time before a few of my friends asked me to join their style blog (wink wink). The combination of the diamond patterned tights and the more scrolling floral motif of the scarf also counts towards my new quest to mix patterns!

It has languished in my dress-up box since I was about 10, but I recently was digging through the attic at home and salvaged a few items (including this costume jewelry pin) from my treasure trove. What items do you still have in your wardrobe from when you were a kid?

~L.