Thursday, April 7, 2016

April Small Goals

I can't decide if I want to have a blog or not, what I want it to be about, or how much time or energy I want to devote to it. What I think I don't want to do is have a polished, professional, or profitable blog. This partly because I don't want to put in the time and partly because when I was trying to be more polished and professional, I started to feel like I was living my life with the end goal of photographing my life... which didn't feel good and didn't sit well with my personal ethics and politics. But I do love recording things -- while I was writing my dissertation I produced a "dissertation diary" that was longer than the actual diss -- and blogging lets me do that for my personal style. So I'm OK with dipping in and out, participating in link-ups intermittently, photographing some of my outfits, and sharing my newfound interest in making my own clothes.

One of the link-ups that I can totally get behind is Nicole's Small Goals: its totally affirmative, totally non-consumerist, totally supportive. I set five small goals in February, and even though I never reported out I felt like setting those goals was incredibly useful in helping me manage my life. March, on the other hand, was a bit of a disaster. Going on a weeklong vacation and getting sick didn't help, but not having goals written down somewhere was also part of the problem. So, for April:

  1. Run 15 miles a week. I did this in February and loved it, and then the wheels came off the wagon in March. I need that run to keep my body feeling good and my mind feeling clear.
  2. Go to yoga once week (or more!). This is another thing that really helps me feel good in so many ways, so I need to go!
  3. Get ready for Me Made May. I started learning how to sew at the end of February and become totally enamored by making my own clothes. I want to participate in Me Made May, a challenge hosted by Zoe from the sewing and refashioning blog "So, Zo... What do you know?" I'm not sure exactly what goal I want to set for myself or how many garments I can actually make before May rolls around, but I'm going to make with May in mind!
  4. Apply for some jobs. Now that I have a Ph.D., I need to figure out what I want to do when I grow up. I've been doing all kinds of good stuff like researching, informational interviewing, and reflecting... and now I need to make some stuff happen.
  5. Plan a trip to visit my best friend in Providence. We haven't seen each other since Christmas, and that was a pretty short trip. We need an nice long leisurely weekend together! We were aiming for April but that doesn't look like it's going to happen, so I need to at least get something scheduled by the end of the month!
So, them's my plans. Let's see how it goes -- I'm confident that just having some goals will make April better.

Sunday, March 6, 2016

What I Wore To Work: Sparkle & Shine

I liked my outfits from last week quite a lot, though more in spite of the self-imposed mandate to incorporate sparkle and shine than because of it. I mad a bit of an effort on the sparkle front at the beginning of the week, wearing a tweedy skirt with metallic threads and a particularly sparkly pair of earrings. By the end of the week, beaten down by perpetual snowfall I decided that the shine of my rain boots was going got have to suffice.

Monday
 sweater: Halogen via Nortsrom | skirt: unknown via Marshalls | tights: also unknown | boots: Ecco | necklace: J.Crew

I quite liked this outfit... I don't wear this skirt a ton outside of the holiday season because I think of it as "festive," but it actually works quite well for a weekday when paired with neutrals. Note to self: wear skirt more.

Tuesday
 blouse: LOFT | necklace: Ten Thousand Villages

I didn't actually get a picture on Tuesday, but here's a pic from January featuring the top half of my Tuesday outfit. Shiny beads!

Wednesday

 dress: Target | turtleneck: Patagonia | tights: LOFT | boots: Franco Sarto via DSW | earrings: Sears

The earrings provide the sparkle to this outfit, and I also used a trick from my first week of this February challenge and incorporated some texture in the tights. I think including texture in an all-black outfit can keep it from being too severe, though I think I would have liked this outfit better with a patterned turtleneck to keep things a bit lighter. (Also, the Patagonia turtleneck I was wearing is actually a skiing baselayer, so I felt a little awkward wearing it in a real outfit.)

Thursday
 sweater: Ann Taylor Factory | pants: Ann Taylor via consignment | boots: Ralph Lauren

This is when I said screw it. I reverted to an all-black outfit and put on some "shiny" boots and called it a day.

Friday
 sweater: Target | t-shirt: J.Crew Factory | jeans: Land's End | belt: American Eagle | boots: Ralph Lauren | socks: Smartwool | watch: Timex | scarf: self-made!!!

 Probably one of my favorite casual outfits in a long time, partly because it includes one of my early sewing successes (more on that later!), partly because I like the navy-red-camel colors and the floral-stripes pattern mixing, and partly because it was a very comfortable outfit that still felt put-together enough for casual Friday.

What I learned...
In my sparkle and shine week, I didn't learn much. I was kind of sick of the arbitrary challenges I thought up at the beginning of the month and especially of this category, which didn't feel like it helped me too much in my quest to develop my own personal style. For the whole month, though, there were some good lessons. I enjoyed the first week (texture) and the third week (pattern) the most. I want to try to keep those to concepts in mind as I get dressed -- which is what happened on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday of this week. Finding ways to work pattern and texture into my outfits keeps them interesting and fun without detracting from the shapes, colors, and styles at the core of my personal style. 

Thursday, March 3, 2016

What I Wore to Work: Pattern

(I'm a bit behind posting on this challenge, but this blog is primarily for my own amusement and self-reflection, so I'm just going to post anyway.) For the third week of my February challenge, I focused on incorporating pattern into my work outfits. On the whole, I really like how these outfits turned out. Forcing myself to wear at least one pattered item every day helped me to see that while I sometimes felt out of sorts with lots of pattern (c.f. Monday) incorporating some subtle patterns could make my outfits interesting without sacrificing my own sense of style.

Monday
 skirt: Target | blouse: J.Crew Factory | cardigan: Target | tights: ?? | boots: Ralph Lauren via DSW | necklace: gift | earrings: Dina Varano

During the whole day I felt terribly out of sorts in this outfit. I knew I was going for pattern, so I went for it. Looking at this photo, though, it wasn't that bad. I did follow the cardinal rule of pattern mixing -- keep it all in one palette -- so it's not too outlandish, though on that somewhat uncomfortable I decided that I'd keep my patterns on subtle side the rest of the week.

Tuesday
 turtleneck: Land's End | scarf: LOFT | trousers: Ann Taylor via consignment | boots: Ralph Lauren

Ah, that's more like it! This is a pretty standard outfit for me, but the stripes are a nice touch and even though you can't really tell there's a big pattern on the scarf (two poppy-colored circles on a blush background with a black border). 

Wednesday
 blouse: Ann Taylor Factory | sweater: Ann Taylor Factory | trousers: Michael Kors via Marshalls | shoes: Nine West

Another subtle incorporation of prints for a bit of visual interest in what could be a pretty one-note outfit. I like mixing black and navy; the layering this outfit makes that combination seem more "I planned this" and less "I got dressed in the dark."

Thursday
 dress: Banana Republic Factory | tights: J.Crew | shoes: Franco Sarto via DSW | earrings: gift

So this pattern isn't exactly subtle, but this dress never lets me down. The cut is flattering, the fabric is comfortable, and the print is big and bold without being de trop. In the spirit of "pattern week," I wore it with my leopard print shoes for the first time and quite liked the result.

Friday
 blouse: J.Crew Factory | sweater: Target | trousers: JCP via consignment | shoes: Banana Republic

Same top as on Monday, but it doesn't have to compete with other patterns in this look. This outfit feels very much in line with where my style is headed with its black/white/camel/red color palette, simple shapes, and a bit of visual interest from the color and pattern without going overboard.

What I learned...
I like pattern. I like basics (turtleneck, button-up) with simple patterns (stripes, dots) to mix with my solids and I like big fancy patterns on statement pieces. I like subtle pattern mixing, but combinations that are too bold make me a little nervous. I especially like the way that patterns prevent outfits from looking stark or severe, something I worry about given my proclivity to dark colors and solids. I'm going to continue to add patterned pieces to my wardrobe and to mix them into my outfits. 

Saturday, February 20, 2016

What I Wore to Work: Color

This is the second week of the little February challenge I set for myself to incorporate texture, color, pattern, sparkle and shine to my wardrobe (one at a time, not all at once, let's not go crazy!). For my "color" week, I banned black clothing. This was tough for a few reasons. The first was the obvious one: my wardrobe is full of black, so avoiding it was tough. The second was meteorological: it snowed every damned day last week. This seriously limited my shoe choices and even forced me to turn to my black rubber chelsea boots a few times. They looked pretty dreadful, but I was trying not to ruin all my shoes... plus I made up this challenge myself, so who cares, really.

Monday
 shirt and cardigan: both Target | skirt: J.Crew (altered) | tights: Gap | boots: Ecco
I played it safe on Monday with an outfit I've worn many time before that happens not to have any black in it. I like the color combo -- I like most iterations of red and green combos -- and think it worked well.

Tuesday
 shirt: LOFT | trousers: J.Crew (altered) | necklace: Dina Varano (her website) | earrings: gift | watch: Timex | belt: Banana Republic | rubber chelsea boots: Ralph Lauren via DSW

 My boldest outfit -- monochromatic bright red. I was emboldened by some of Jessica's looks from What I Wore (I initially wanted to wear my leopard-print heels but snow). I'm glad I tried it, but it's probably not something I'll wear again.

Wednesday
 cardigan: Target | shirt: Banana Republic | trousers: LOFT | necklace: Anthropologie | watch: Timex (same one as above but with a blue band) belt: Old Navy | wedge booties: Nine West Outlet
Not a super-colorful outfit, but (1) it fit my rules because even though its mostly neutrals, there's no black and (2) I tried my best to incorporate color in the pink necklace, yellow belt, and blue booties. Had I not been doing this little challenge, I probably would have worn a silver necklace and a tan belt, but this is a little more fun without looking clownish (unlike the outfit above). 

Thursday
 sweater: Halogen via Nordstrom | trousers: JCP (yes, I have two pairs of tomato-red pants) | earrings: gift | brooch: thrifted | watch: Timex (third band!) | boots: Ecco

Probably my favorite outfit. I love the red with the tan, but I also loved throwing in a bit of pale pink in the earrings and brooch in a nod to color. Rose quartz/blush/light pink is trending right now, and I think it makes a nice accent to poppy red.


Friday
 blouse: Target | blazer: Banana Republic (thrifted) | jeans: Land's End | belt: American Eagle | boots: Ralph Lauren via DSW

Another red and tan combo that I felt pretty good about. I think that's going to be a go-to combo more and more for me.

This week I learned...
that I really like black. I've been shaping my core wardrobe out of black, white, camel, and red... removing the black from the mix was tough, especially in winter since many of my heavier, warmer, and more snow-ready items are black. This was an illuminating experiment, but I think it's OK that I rely heavily on black as long as I don't let my outfits become dreary or drab.

On the other hand, this challenge reminded me that I don't need to be a slave to my a core color palate of black, white, camel, and red. There's absolutely no reason why I can't wear a yellow belt instead of a tan one or a pink brooch instead of a gold one. While black, white, camel, and red might be my four core colors, a bit of pink or green or yellow can make my outfits fun and keep me from looking too severe. My plan going forward is to stick to my core palate for wardrobe staples -- trousers, sweaters, blazers -- but to keep my eye on accessories that can enliven my basics and keep them from being severe, boring, or dreary.

Up next... pattern!

Saturday, February 6, 2016

What I Wore to Work: A Lace Shell


Many of the outfits I wore last month were... underwhelming. While I like most of the individual items I wore, the outfits were kind of one-note. As I looked through them, I realized I was missing the elements of a mantra that I picked up during my days of watching What Not to Wear: "texture, color, pattern, sparkle & shine." These, apparently, are the things that make outfits interesting. My goal for the month of February is to focus on each of these elements in turn, spending a week on each one. First up, texture.

Right around the time I started thinking about introducing more texture into my outfits, I was watching True Detective with my husband and was struck by one of Michelle Monaghan's looks in which she is wearing a monochrome outfit that uses texture really well: wool slacks, a lace shell, and a nubby open cardigan all in light grey. (I would share an image, but it's impossible to google images of Monaghan from True Detective because she's in a few sex scenes that the internet is all about.) I don't own much grey, but I figured I could create a similar outfit in black if I could find a black lace shell. The Target Gods were smiling down on me and over the weekend I found this on sale for $16.08.

This lace shell is the centerpiece of my texture challenge: I decided to wear it every day for a week. Here are the results:

Monday

(I am a poor photographer wielding a mediocre camera so the texture is often invisible, so you'll have to use your imagination for some of these pictures)
 
sweater: Eva (probably a South African designer?) | trousers: Michael Kors via Marshall's (and altered) | shoes: Nine West | earrings: Dina Varano | watch: Timex

This is my re-creation of Monaghan's look in True Detective. Monochromatic, but not boring. Not bad for day one.

Tuesday

trousers: J.Crew (altered) | shoes: Banana Republic | blazer: J.Crew

I realized that unlined bottom of the shell would be more visible against colored trousers, so I chose these red ankle pants from J.Crew and wore them with a black blazer and black flats (see the collage above). I really liked replacing a plain tee, which I would normally choose for a blazer and trousers combo, with lace. Texture for the win!

Wednesday

 sweater: Target | skirt: J.Crew (thrifted & altered) | tights: LOFT | boots: Ecco | necklace: J.Crew Factory

This is another outfit where I'd favor a plain tee, but the lace adds a little something without being too "out there." This is also my first double-texture outfit: in the spirit of my self-created texture challenge, I chose a pair of textured tights instead of the opaque ones I would normally choose. This outfit helped me realize that mixing textures is nothing to fear, especially when the two textures are the same color.  

[One downside: these LOFT tights stink. They ripped the first time I put them on and even though I tried to convince myself the hole wasn't very visible, it is and these tights have to go.]

Thursday

jacket: Anthropologie | ponte pants: Ann Taylor (thrifted & altered) | boots: Ecco

Another two-texture look in the form of the lace shell worn under a quilted jacket. You can't really see the shell at all in this picture (though it is poking out from under the cropped jacket) but I thought it worked well. This jacket is one of my favorite pieces of all time -- it's been in my closet for almost nine years and it always gets compliments. However, with the colors and patterns it can be tough to match so I usually wind up wearing it with a black tee underneath. Switching out the plain tee for lace was an easy but nice change of pace. 

Friday

sweater: Anthropologie | jeans: Land's End | shoes: Nine West | bag: J.Crew factory | brooch: Ten Thousand Villages (it's a peace dove made out of a bomb casing!!!)

My final look of the week! This sweater was purchased on the same trip to Anthropologie as the quilted jacket above -- one of the benefits of this self-imposed challenge was that it sent me back to some of my old faves. I thought the nubby texture and wooden buttons complimented the heavy cotton lace of the shell. At five o'clock, I swapped out my work bag for a small teal purse and ditched my glasses for drinks with friends followed by P&P and Zombies.



So in conclusion... 

I was a bit nervous about this shell since I haven't bought anything made of lace in probably ten years, but I did two smart things when I decided to seek out a new item slightly outside my comfort zone: (1) I bought a low-cost version, so I could give it a try without making a big investment and (2) I forced myself to find many ways to wear it, so it became "naturalized" into my wardrobe. I now think the shell was a great buy and I'd definitely recommend it (even at the non-sale price of $22.99; it also comes in cream, navy, and cranberry). It held up beautifully -- spilled lentil stew/soap spatters/deodorant came off easily with a damp cloth. It's heavy cotton, fully lined, and decent construction for the price.

I also learned a lesson that goes beyond this purchase: I can and should embrace texture. I often worry that outfits will be "too busy," but this challenge showed me that adding texture to an item with a simple shape and basic color creates interest, not chaos. I'm going to try to swap this shell in for a simple black tee more often going forward, and I can think of a number of other great ways to wear this shell. I'm also going to try my best to find some other ways to incorporate texture into my looks.

Next week...

I'm going to continue my challenge, taking on the next term in my What Not to Wear-inspired mantra: color. My goal for next week is avoid wearing black. Given that a full twelve of the fifteen work outfits I wore in January incorporated black, this is not going to be easy. But I'll give it a try and see how it goes, and probably learn something in the process!

Wednesday, February 3, 2016

What I Wore to Work: January in Review

Looking at these pictures from January is a depressing experience. Most of these outfit are pretty dreary (the drab wall, linoleum floor, and crappy camera work don't help much either). Some of the looks are OK, but overall this months' looks are pretty pathetic.

The main reason I started taking outfit photos again was because I wanted to have a visual record of what I wore so that I can get a better handle on what I'm wearing and how it actually looks. So what can I learn?
  • I wear a lot of black. That's kind of on purpose. About a year ago, I decided to put together a comprehensive set of basics in my primary neutral, black. This has made getting shopping simpler (because can focus on seeking out stuff will look good with black, like patterns with a black base) and getting dressed easier (most of the thing in my closet match).
  • Proportions matter. The worst outfit by far is the second outfit in the first row. Oof. The oversized sweater makes me look top-heavy, and I've exacerbated this issue by rolling up the sleeves to the widest part of my torso. On the other hand, the third outfit on the second row is almost the same -- same black ponte pants, same white button up -- but a slimmer sweater looks so much better. I also like pretty much all the looks with my new wide-leg black pants, which balance out my top half well.
  • Hair matters, too. This isn't actually related to my clothes, nor should it be a major revelation.  Even thought it's not what I actually wore, it changes how I feel about what I wore. I've been working on stretching out my blowouts using some tips from Merrick and on putting my hair up for real rather than the nonsense updos I was trying to get away with in the first row up there. 
 In February, I'm going to try to focus on improving my outfits by paying attention to the things I've noticed this month. On the black front, I probably won't stop wearing black, but I'm going to try to incorporate some color and make sure I'm not using black as a crutch. For proportions, one thing I'm going to change is sticking to work clothes on work days and not trying to sneak my super casual clothes (my black tunic sweater and flannel check skirt, for example) into work outfits. And for my hair... I'm going to pay attention to my hair. Simple as that.

Monday, February 1, 2016

February Small Goals


Today I'm delighted to be linking up with Nicole from writes like a girl to share my small goals for the month. I'm starting to blog again after a bit of a false start this summer, but I'm trying to do so in a way that makes me feel good (rather than making me nuts by trying to keep up with the Joneses). Not only does Nicole's blog have the best name in all the blogosphere (I myself am a professional writing tutor... and a girl), she is incredibly thoughtful, supportive, and generous. This is precisely the kind of blogging I want to be doing and I'm grateful for this link-up which is getting me on the right track.
  1. write & mail valentines | We missed the boat on cards this holiday season, so we decided to do valentines instead. Luckily, tinyprints had a template designed just for slackers like us (see above)! Now we have a stack of seventy valentines. That's a lot of writing, addressing, and mailing... I better get busy. But I'm hoping that writing messages of love to friends and family will bring a little light to this February.
  2. run sixty miles | It sounds like a lot when I write it down, but this is totally doable. It's three miles a day, five times a week, for the whole month of February. I've been doing something like this since the semester started in mid-January, so I'm pretty sure I can keep it up. Plus it puts me right at the recommended 150 minutes of aerobic activity a week, and isn't February all about heart health? (and also black history... hmm, should I have a black history goal???).
  3. call my friends. and my mom. | Life can be rough here in dreary winterland, especially since I'm currently job hunting. I tend to want to put off calls until I have "good news," but that means I wind up isolating myself at the moment when I most need support from loved ones. This month I'm going to remind myself to reach out to my friends and family... they love me, and while they would love to hear good news, they're there for me for bad news and no news too. My goal is to call at least one friend a week and to talk to my parents once a week, too.
  4. ski | My husband has planned  an awesome Utah ski trip for us and a bunch of friends that will take place in March, so I need to get my butt (actually, my thighs) in skiing shape. Skiing in the midwest isn't anywhere near as fun as skiing in New England or out west, but it's the best way to get in skiing shape (and it certainly beats a kick in the pants). I hope we make it out at least once, maybe more, this February.
  5. read some contemporary fiction | Yeah, I know. I have my Ph.D. in English with a focus on contemporary fiction, but often a year will go by and I'll realize that I have read nothing that came out that year. I recently checked out an e-book of David Mitchell's Slade House, so that's at the top of my list. It came out in October -- less than a year ago -- so it's contemporary in my book. I'd like to read Mitchell's book and one more contemporary novel by the end of the month. Maybe I'll pick one by an African American writer, thus making it possible that I have a heart health and a black history goal for the month of February!
This is my first time setting a months' worth of goals... it was kind of hard to think of things I wanted to achieve this month, but I'm glad I did. I'm also glad that I blabbed about my goals in a pubic forum because I think it will keep me honest. I'm looking forward to reading others' goals and seeing how we all do!