• Black Cardigan – BR Outlet
• Blue Jersey Dress – Old Navy
• Black Jersey Dress – BR Outlet
• Grey Layering Tee – Banana Republic
• Brown Belt- BR Outlet
• Brown Boots – Banana Republic, via ebay
• Purple Tights- BR Outlet

Happy Birthday E.!!!

In the four birthday’s I’ve known E. I don’t think I have ever gotten to celebrate over a drink with her.  One of us has always been out of town still for the holidays.  One of these days, I swear I’m going to buy you a birthday drink!

Like S., I think of E. in slightly cropped skinny pants and a swing coat slouchy, cardigan, or bloused tee.  I was also inspired by E. to buy a pair of skinny jeans, and eventually start wearing them paired with something other than chunky boots and a long tops.  But, I also think of E and the master of the dress (particularly the jersey dress).  I was taking style clues from E. long before this blog started and I think the most important look I have taken from E. is the day dress. I bought my first jersey dress (this black one) with E.’s help and that was only the beginning! (E. also hemmed this blue dress for me).

In my mind E’s signature look is the cardigan layered over the jersey dress.   She has worn this look over and over, while always keeping it fresh and interesting. In one of her first posts for Acadmichic she layered two jersey dresses over a wool skirt and then topped the whole thing off with a chunky cardigan.  I thought it was genius!  So this is a tribute to E’s love of the day dress.  I also adore E’s color blocking and the way she can elevate any ensemble with the addition of purple tights!

I hope you are having a wonderful time in Hawaii!  I can’t wait to see you when you get back!
Love, A.

• Grey Wrap Cardigan – NY & Co
• Black Henley – Gap
• Green Ruffle Top – Old Navy
• Skinny Jeans – Banana Republic
• Black Patent Belt – Forever 21
• Earrings – Hand-me-down from sister M.

Happy Holidays dear readers!  I have been traveling through the Midwest visiting my and A2’s families.

We spent Christmas Eve with my family and we were having too much fun to worry about capturing the perfect outfit-post picture, so these family snapshots will have to do.

I think all of my  sister’s looked adorable – unfortunately the pictures are limited (no picture of sister R.) and I’m not positive where all their fabulous pieces are from.  As you can see, the love of belting runs in the family!

I wore my favorite comfy wrap cardigan and dressed it up with big black earrings and my holiday-perfect ruffly green top.  I layered it all over my black henley for warmth and wore my skinnies so I could sit on the floor to open presents and play board games – a practical yet chic holiday ensemble.

I hope you are all enjoying your holidays!  A.

• Brown Vest – American Eagle
• Black Belt – Gap, from Sal
• Plaid Shirt – Urban Outfitters
• Cords- Gap Outlet
• Orange Flats – Old Navy
• Earrings – Gift

When I was younger I wore plaid all the time – almost as often as I wore overalls (yes, I did spend much of my childhood looking like a farmer and or train conductor).  Then in junior high, I wore flannel shirts and corduroy because my older sister was testing out grunge.   I also wore a plaid uniform for 12 years!  So, when I made it to college I gave up plaid for quite some time.  I’m always finding myself drawn back to plaid, as much as I try to pull away.

I now own a few plaid throws, scarves, and even a plaid belt, but only recently have I started trying on plaid shirts and even skirts!  In fact, there are a few plaid items on my Christmas list, including this plaid jacket, which looks suspiciously like the pattern from one of my grade school uniforms.

I’m still not sure how to style this new plaid shirt without falling back into either junior high grunge or childhood farmer, so I’m taking another cue from J Crew and belting my puffy vest and pairing it with flowers and a slightly dressier bottom half.

I know, I know, I’m belt crazy!  What can I say, it’s what I do! :)

A.

• Green Shirt Dress – H & M
• Black Jersey Dress – BR Outlet
• Black Henley – Gap
• Black Belt – from Sal
• Black Boots – J Crew
• Flowers – Blue Onion Marketplace
• Earrings – Gift

Last month E. and S. wore outfits inspired by my style to celebrate my birthday.  Now it’s S.’s turn!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY S!

I think both E.’s description of S.’s style as whimsical and S.’s own designation of her style as preppy romantic perfectly encapsulate S.’s creative and colorful approach to clothes, which I adore.

I am often inspired by S. to push myself in terms of both color and pattern, but today I am paying tribute to what has become one of S.’s signature looks – the layered dresses.  S. has worn her shirt dresses over simple jersey dresses to create a sophisticated and rich look.  And while green may not be S.’s  signature color, she wears it beautifully, especially paired with black.

I also love how S. brings a touch of whimsical charm to her outfits, particularly through the flower brooch, which I am always a little hesitant to wear.  She does it so well and even managed to layer two rather large flowers without letting them overwhelm the ensemble, so I’m giving it a shot with these two flower brooches from Blue Onion Marketplace.

I’m also wearing my hair curly for S.’s birthday because I love her curly hair and all the creative ways she styles it.

I miss you S., especially today!  I wish I could be with you to celebrate your special day!  I’m thinking of you! Love, A.

• Teal Cardigan – BR Outlet
• Short-Sleeved Argyle Sweater – J Crew
• Brown Skinny Belt – Ann Taylor
• Denim Pencil Skirt – BR Outlet
• Corduroy Blazer – Marshals
• Earrings – Banana Republic
• Wedges – Gap Outlet

Today’s outfit was totally inspired by my desire to wear argyle – a preppy pattern I love but don’t actually wear that much anymore (except my ridiculous collection of argyle socks).  The argyle print was one of the many reasons the birthday gift scarf from S. was so perfectly me!  The lovely turquoise and olive diamond pattern reminded me of this old J Crew short-sleeved sweater.

When I first got this sweater years ago, I wore it all the time.  However, as my style has shifted some, I’ve struggled with how to wear it in a way that still feels like me.  So, I amped up the color palette and went a little layering crazy and ended up with this cozy analogous spectrum of greens and blues, accented by what better than caramel corduroy!

What pattern do you love but struggle to work into your daily wardrobe?

A.

• Sweater Vest – BR Outlet
• Green Sweater – BR Outlet
• Skinny Jeans – Banana Republic
• Boots – Banana Republic, via DSW
• Necklace – Gift from Sister, M
• Bakelite Earrings- Banana Republic
• Bag – Urban Outfitters

Now, I don’t want you to think that I am complaining about the sun for even one second, but . . . it has made taking outfit pictures a little challenging.  I love you just the same, Sunshine!

I wear these brown plastic earrings often but have never really pointed them out.  As a historian of modern and contemporary art, I need to just point out their fabulous material – Bakelite!

My mom bought me this sweater vest over a month ago for birthday.   Little sisters M. and L. (she rocks the vest often) and E. (I’m pretty sure she doesn’t own a single vest) have all been encouraging me to try the vest for years now…

I love the way sweater vests look on other people and do think it generally fits with my style, but I hadn’t been able find the one that worked for me.  They were to short, too long, too tight, too loose, had too much hardware,etc. and then I found this one!  It’s the perfect length, has the perfect v-neck, tiny buttons, and the great braided weave detail.

I still couldn’t figure out how to wear it – hence the month delay on its premier.  I like it with the skinnies and dark sweater underneath and also imagine it becoming a great layering piece as the weather gets colder.

What are your thoughts on the sweater vest?  Are you a fan or is it too preppy for your style?  Any suggestions for what to pair it with?

A.

As I got dressed this morning, I thought of E.’s earlier post on the “surface spectacle,” in which she describes a process of tucking and securing that is eventually hidden by a seemingly seamless surface layer.  I am all about layering!  I consider my self a bit of an expert at it, actually.  I love the look of visible layers like the tuxedo pleats under my sweater, but am also a seasoned user of the invisible layers.

I have layered this sleeveless tuxedo shirt under many a things, but it certainly works better under some items than others.  Because it is a square cut (all wrong for my proportions) and not all that long, under a shape-hugging sweater like this, it needs to be held in place.   So, I wore a white tee-shirt over the sleeveless shirt and then tucked both into my secret weapon…

Now, as you well know, I love pencil skirts and have found them to be rather flattering for me.  This black pocketed beauty is the one I was pining over last month when I praised the pencil skirt.  While the cut of the pencil skirt works well for me, anything that fits my lower body closely poses a problem.  I have hips and thighs and they are NOT all muscle!  My secret solution – SPANX!  That’s right, I wear spanx and I love them.  The way I see it, I am not trying to change my body with this little garment (they are extremely comfy, by the way), rather, the smooth surface spanks create, allow me to embrace my hourglass/pear figure and flaunt those hips!

So what’s your secret?

A.

On A.:

• Skinny Jeans – Banana Republic, remixed
• Black V-Neck Sweater – Banana Republic, remixed
• Grey Jacket – Old Navy
• Grey Tank – H & M, remixed
• Blue Scarf – Old Navy
• Tan Wedges – Gap Outlet, remixed

On L:

• Prince Tee – Urban Outfitters
• Black Cami – American Eagle
• Scarf – Gift
• Skinny Jeans – Old Navy
• Grey Converse – Gift

On Dad (below):

• Flat Front Jeans – Banana Republic
• Olive Polo – Ralph Lauren
• Grey Fleece – Columbia, via department store
• Loafers – Johnston & Murphy

This past weekend my parents and my youngest sister where in town to celebrate my birthday early.  On Thursday night, I took them to an LGBT graduate student happy hour I helped organize.

I wore my new skinny jeans that I love and  this fabulous 3/4 sleeve jacket, which my mom bought for me over the summer, and which I have been dying to wear but waiting for the weather to cooperate.  I layered the  jacket over a black v-neck sweater and that over a grey tank and finally finished it off with the bright pop of blue in the scarf.   I also premiered my new haircut!

Little sister, L. wore a somewhat similar ensemble of skinny jeans, grey tee, and colorful scarf.  As I’ve bragged before, L. has a great sense of style!  With a significant age difference and being in rather different places in our lives, we have pretty different styles, but among other things we do share a great love of scarves and an even greater love of  layers!

L.’s simple outfit of jeans and a T-shirt is made special in the details – the sippers at the bottoms of her jeans, the grey (rather than black) Chucks, the beautiful scarf, and the fact that said T-shirt is a tribute to Prince!

Both my sister and my parents were quite the hit at happy hour!  They were even invited to and attended a late night drag show where the whole family had a blast!  A.

• Purple Tee – H & M
• Brown Cami – Old Navy
• Skirt – Old Navy
• Belt – BR Outlet
• Sandals – Forever 21

Saturday’s weather didn’t last long and it was back to almost 80 degrees here yesterday.  I didn’t mind wearing sandals but I just couldn’t wear a tank top or summer skirt again.  This lightweight cotton skirt in Fall colors seemed like a good compromise.   I have always worn this skirt with either a shade of teal (to pick up the flowers), brown, or white.   But, inspired by the more daring color play of both E. and S. with their floral skirts, I chose this bright purple and love the result.  It think, combined with the thick leather belt, the color combination gives this extremely casual and inexpensive skirt a more sophisticated look and makes it all a little more autumnal.

My weather widget promises a cool, sunny week ahead so watch for corduroy and scarves coming soon!

All remixed

• Teal Tee - F21
• White Sleeveless Shirt – Gap
• Grey Denim Pencil Skirt – Old Navy
• Red-Orange Flats – Old Navy
• Flower Necklace – Gift from A2
• Earrings – gift from sister L.

Today I am mostly catching up on emails and running errands with a few brief meetings in between.  After long weekends, Mondays are always spent playing catch up before I can get down to any real work for the week.  I’m staying casual in denim and a tee but tried to spruce it up a bit with a fun color combination and by adding the white tuxedo shirt pleats under my tee.

As S. departs for her year far far away from academichic central, I am feeling a bit nostalgic.  I also spent yesterday evening holding baby e., which had me thinking about how much we have changed since we all first met.

We have received many reader questions about how we met and how we decided to start our blog.  Well…

I feel like I have been friends with these two, and have had an intimate knowledge of their closet, forever.  I met E. my first day on campus four years ago and we quickly took to each other both socially and intellectually.   Our first day of seminar she complimented my outfit and I knew there was more then contemporary art talk in our future.  I met S a year and half later, after many shopping trips with E had transpired.  S and I would often compliment each other’s ensembles in class.  By the end of the semester, we were walking together after every class chatting about running or fashion or bonding over our hair struggles.  I introduced E and S a short while later and it only took a few shopping trips and a few more afternoons at the coffee shop to know that fashion, while just one of our many mutual interests, was what made our trio tick.

We all liked reading style blogs and thought that our status as feminist Ph.D. students who, against all stereotypes, actually care about style gave us a relatively unique viewpoint that would be fun to share and add to that style blogging community. We were always consulting each other on what to wear for the first day of teaching, a meeting with our advisor, a class presentation, or a conference, and one day, we just started throwing around the idea of a style blog that would answerer these questions for other academics.  I think it was on one of our marathon shopping trips that we solidified the idea.

These two incredible women are now two of my closet friends and my regular confidants about way more than fashion!

Safe travels S.!

A.