friendly Friday: summerish

The brilliant Katy Rose at Modly Chic links up fashion and beauty bloggers via the FBFF google group, asking weekly questions about blogging and life. Check it out here. This week, Katy asked for us all to give our top 5 summer trends.

I need to admit something: I’m not very trendy. Nor do I invest much in summer clothes, as summer in the Pacific Northwest last only about a hot minute before the rains start again. But here’s what’s on my radar for this summer:

And my final summer trend: big, glorious, no-heat curls:

No joke: I used absolutely no heat on this and you all know how straight my hair is naturally. In the summer, when it’s too hot to blow dry, I love to use this vintage technique for curls that I learned way back when (theatre camp, I believe). Here’s a great video that describes the process I use — it’s so simple and a great, no-fuss way to do your hair in the summer. Nothing makes me feel more summery than big, bouncy, messy curls!

Now back to the barbeque preparations! I’ll be back tomorrow with pictures from our fest.

friendly friday: get up and go

The brilliant Katy Rose at Modly Chic links up fashion and beauty bloggers via the FBFF google group, asking weekly questions about blogging and life. Check it out here. Here’s what Katy asked this week: “Now that summer is in full swing here… and vacations are coming up, let’s talk about what you’re packing to take on vacation.”

1.      When it comes to packing for vacation what’s your mantra? Try not to suck? Don’t forget underpants (funny story: did that once)? Remember that you’re packing for a weekend getaway and not the rest of your life? I’m going to be completely honest: I’m so bad at packing. Actually, I put that wrong. I am great at the part of packing that involves physically placing my stuff into a bag. But I am horrible at planning for the future in the way that packing requires. I will definitely be reading up on the tips from the rest of you folks because I am hopeless.
2.      What are your must packs? Underwear? I don’t know — I always forget at least one vital item, bring at least three things I don’t need, and include at least one or two things that I love but really could have done without. I stare into the closet every morning, imagining it as the entrance to some sort of labyrinth, and I hope every time that someone gives me a red thread to lead me through the maze. My relationship with my wardrobe is love-hate at best.
3.      What are you happy to leave behind? Underwear. Is this joke getting old yet? Honestly, I am always happy to leave behind the whole closet and the beguilingly endless choices it contains.
4.      Any packing secrets that help you get everything into one
suitcase? Jettison the underwear — that stuff takes up tons of space! Yep, the joke’s old now. The old “soft things rolled and stuffed into shoes” bit is really the only one I know.
5.      Beach reading… what are you taking with you to read in the sand? Oh boy, do I ever have reading plans for this summer. I have a long list of books I need to read to fill up some holes in my education before I begin the second year of my Ph.D. I also have a research project that I’m working on and there’s a lot of reading and working I’ve got in front of me. But I also have fun-read plans: The Passage by Justin Cronin, Things We Didn’t See Coming by Steven Amsterdam, America Pacifica by Anna North. I’m sure I’ll add more to that, but we’ll see what I get through by the time I have to start building my fall course syllabus.

   

Today, however, is the last day of the term. It’s the last day with my students, the last day of tutoring, and the last day of my first year as a Ph.D. student. And guess what?I also have a full day of one-on-one tutoring, a stack of 23 papers to grade by Monday, and a paper of my own to turn in. But here’s the thing: it’s supposed to be sunny and warm for the rest of the week. El Boyfriend the magnificent passed his oral exam yesterday. I’m wearing a pretty new dress. I’m actually really proud of the work I did this term and this year. So, all in all, I’m in a lovely mood!

dress — Coldwater Creek sweater — thrifted shoes — thrifted lace bangles — homemade

friendly friday: my head suit

The brilliant Katy Rose at Modly Chic links up fashion and beauty bloggers via the FBFF google group, asking weekly questions about blogging and life. Check it out here. This week’s questions are about hair care or, as Jack Donaghy would say, about your head suit:

1.      How often do you get your hair cut? Oh man, I am bad with this. The combination of my cheap-itude and my busy-ness means that I get my hair cut every, ooft, five to eight months. I’d much rather get it trimmed more often, but because it is so unbelievably straight, it’s really not too bad when I leave it that long. That’s not to say, however, that my hair isn’t getting a little shaggy and ridiculous and unkempt. Because boy howdy is it ever exiting the kempt state and entering the un.

see? definitely unkempt.

2.      Do you go to the same stylist each time, try someone new, go to the
cheap hair cutting chains or live it up in a salon? With my budget, I try to balance my wallet-ary needs with my, shall we say, overwhelming vanity. Fortunately, the college town I live in is rife with coupons and student discounts and the like, so I’ve tended to still luck into some pretty nice cuts. I would be inclined to just go to one of the cheap places, but I have chemical allergies, so I have to be careful with the salons I go to. I try to go to Aveda salons whenever possible because I like their business ethic and their products don’t bother my allergies. There are few companies that I am absolutely loyal to, but I have never been to a bad Aveda salon and have never had a bad cut there.
3.      Do you color your hair? How often? What’s your natural color? Yep. I color. Pulling back the curtain on that one, huh? The sad truth is, I am going gray. At 23. Genetics! But though I curse the genes that are taking it away from me, I love them for having given me this fiery red hair. So I cover my gray with the same red I was born with… okay, maybe I knock it up just one notch or two from copper to red hot. But still. Again, when possible I like to have my hair colored at Aveda — they use natural chemicals and do this amazing balayage highlights thing that I love — but when between appointments, I use Clairol’s Perfect 10.

4.      The one thing you always do to keep your hair looking great is: deep conditioning. And every once in a while, my OCD neuroses kick in and I put on a good movie, make some drinks, and trim all the split ends I can find.
5.      What hair trend do you love and wish you could rock? Braids! I love the milkmaid braids, the fishtail braid, the side braid, lalalala. My hair is pretty long but not very thick, so the braids I love don’t always work on me, but I’m trying to figure out the best way to wear this look.

dress — LOFT, thrifted scarf — thrifted (from yesterday’s haul) boots — Civico 10

friendly friday: peeves and pets

The brilliant Katy Rose at Modly Chic links up fashion and beauty bloggers via the FBFF google group, asking weekly questions about blogging and life. Check it out here

This week, the questions are about out the blogging pet peeves we have:

1. I really dislike disorder, both in the layout of the blog, the layout of the post, and the consistency of the narrative voice. I’m all for people working through their own blogging styles (if you’ve been reading me since I started, you’ll know that I’ve made a lot of small changes in order to better express myself through this platform), but I want to be able to see things clearly and get a real sense of who it is I’m reading about, which is made very difficult when things are messy.

2. You know why I read your blog? And not just read it, mind you, but become a real participant? It’s not because your wardrobe is so exemplary that I can’t look away. It’s not because you do a thousand giveaways a week. It’s because I like you — the personality that shines through your photos, your text, your responses to my comments, your engagement with me as another real human being — and I’m interested in seeing how you contextualize your physical appearance and how you let yourself really come through to your readers.

3. Photo dumps. I love to see photos, but I prefer them to have been culled a little. Pick just the best ones and give some context for what we’re seeing and I’ll be much more engaged.

Okay. There’s all the grump I’m willing to allow on this gorgeous, sunny, warm day! I can’t let the grump infiltrate, because I’m about to go lead a very uncomfortable class session about Huck Finn and that one word we’d all like to pretend we didn’t have to deal with…

skirt — American Apparel, ancient shirt — FXXI, thrifted jacket — FXXI, ancient

friendly Friday: take it outside

The lovely Katy Rose at Modly Chic links up fashion and beauty bloggers via the FBFF google group, asking weekly questions about blogging and life. Check it out here. This week’s question is about our biggest influences outside of the fashion blogging community.

1. What magazines do you subscribe to? That would be a whopping none. I dream of the day when I have the free time to not only read but subscribe to fashion magazines. I do, however, keep getting free advertisement copies of Shape magazine to try to get me to sign up — do you think that the mail is implying something?
2. Do you watch any fashion TV shows? I’m just going to repeat myself here: I dream of the day when I have the free time to watch ANTM or Project Runway. Seriously.
3. Beyond blogs, what websites do you frequent for fashion inspiration? I really like Jezebel’s Dress Code series… Mostly my online inspiration for fashion comes from online fantasy shopping at Shopbop, Gilt Groupe, LOFT, J.Crew, ModCloth, Anthropologie, Piperlime, Boden, etc. I pack a whole bunch of stuff I’d love to wear into my shopping cart, sigh briefly, and go back to work.
4. Advertisements play a huge role in forming public opinion about a product or brand… what ads do you like and why? Because I don’t have TV, or read magazines, or even drive by billboards, or really even venture out to the mall much, I think I consume a lot less advertisements than the average American. But I do like catalogs, especially the really gorgeously produced ones (like the Anthro catalogs, etc). So I often grab looks from those to put on my inspiration boards.
5. Do you own any fashion books? Nope again! But since I moonlight at a large bookstore, I do spend a lot of time leafing through that section.

jeans — Old Navy, thrifted shirt — Banana Republic, gifted shoes — Deena and Ozzie, thrifted scarf — from a fair trade store in Berkeley (it’s actually a table runner, but don’t tell!) cuff — free box!

Okay, darlings, you tell me: what’s your outside influence? Tell me, and then go outside for a lovely, sunny (I hope) Friday!

friendly friday: whoasies toesies, whoosies shoesies

The brilliant Katy Rose at Modly Chic links up fashion and beauty bloggers via the FBFF google group, asking weekly questions about blogging and life. Check it out here.

1. What is your go-to pair of shoes? In the winter, I wear my favorite brown boots pretty much constantly. Actually, since I live in the rainy Pacific Northwest, I wear those brown boots most of the year, with thick tights or with bare legs depending on the temperature of the rain that month. But in the summer / dry months, I’m a big fan of simple ballet flats, which I own in a variety of colors, textures, and styles. I’m wearing some right now, in fact! But if I want to get all dolled up and feel like a million bucks, I wear one of these:

Yep, I display these shoes in my closet because I love them so. On the right are my prized pair of Cole Haan 5-inch velvet pumps. They’re from his Nike Air collaboration, so even though they’re sky high, they’re pretty darn comfortable. Plus, I got them at a resale store, never worn, for $50! On the left are a pair of Ann Taylor LOFT red satin pumps, which I wore when I was the “Best Man” in a very non-traditional wedding. Also seriously comfortable.

These are by Deena and Ozzie. I got them, also resale, for only $15. They’re my go-to teaching shoes when it’s dry enough to step out of boots. I’m trying to figure out how I can take off the laces, though, which I think compete with the long line they give my leg. Any ideas of super-secret tips?

Oh, my plaid darlings. I got these when I was traveling through Croatia (random, I know) and I absolutely love them. They’re not quite as comfortable or well made as the others, so I did once sort of drunkenly fall down the stairs in them, but I love the Burberry look of them so much that I wear them out anyway.

2. What goes into your shoe buying decisions? Comfort and practicality for everyday shoes, pizazz and sassiness for going-out shoes. Since I do a lot of different things day to day, I really need shoes that don’t make the end of my day more exhausted and worn out. Especially on the days when I work retail (weekends, at the moment, but over the summer and all of last year I worked full time retail), I need shoes that I can stand in, with only minimal breaks, for 6-8 hours. Ooft. And when I’m teaching, I need my shoes to be comfortable enough that I can stand in front of a class for an hour without looking shifty and awkward. This summer, I’ll spend a month teaching for 6 hours a day, so I’m sure that will bring about a whole new adventure!
3. The majority of shoes in your closet are what color? Sadly, shades of brown dominate my wardrobe. It’s not that I don’t love a shoes of extraordinary color, but because I am, you know, super poor and cheap, I have to buy shoes that will have the most wide applicability.
4. When it comes to designer shoes what are your favorite brands and why? Hmm. I love Michael Kors and Cole Haan, both for their designs and for the quality of their product. But I’m not too well versed in brand loyalty because of my predilection for thrifting and my small budget.
5.  If price wasn’t an issue, you’d own which shoe? Hmm. Well. To be honest, I’ve loved every pair of Chi Mihara, Frye, and shoes I’ve ever seen. In fact, I want all of these pleasethankyou:

fittingly friendly friday

The brilliant Katy Rose at Modly Chic links up fashion and beauty bloggers via the FBFF google group, asking weekly questions about blogging and life. Check it out here.

1. Do you keep some kind of fitness routine? Why? I have a genetic defect in my knees and a long-term injury in my back, so I have to be pretty delicate with certain aerobic activities (running, for example, pretty much wrecks me); the upside is that I’ve learned to love yoga and try to go at least three times a week. However despite my physical restrictions, I love moving, sweating, and working it out, as long as there’s a good beat or song playing to keep me engaged. I’m a firm believer in living-room dance parties, mostly when I’m alone and need an energy boost, but I’m also fully invested in getting my Beyoncé on and dancing for a workout. This term I joined the YMCA (because it’s quite literally across the street from my apartment complex) and I’ve been really enjoying taking step aerobics and zumba; again, it’s about the music and the dance-type movement and, let’s face it, an instructor to keep my ass moving! Basically, what I’m saying is that I really like to move and work out, but if there’s not some bad-ass music (or a secondary motivator), I lose my focus pretty fast. So does anybody have a winning workout music playlist that they want to recommend to me? The second part of this question is the why and, well, I work out so that I can feel good in my skin, so that I can bike to work and school and the grocery store without getting winded, so that I can be healthy and face my future with compassion for and commitment to myself. And so that I can eat whatever I want (which usually doesn’t include six donuts in a row or anything) without guilt.
2. Has working out, maybe training for a marathon or something of that
nature, helped with your own perception of body image? Absolutely. For me, it’s not about my weight or the relative size of my hips, thighs, etc. Certainly when I’m smaller in size I fit into the beauty ideal a little more and get accolades for that, which I’ll never deny liking. But the truth is, no matter my weight or size, I feel better in my skin when I know how far and hard I can push it, when I know that I’m in command of my physical self. The self esteem benefit is, I think, as potent and powerful as the benefit to my heart, lungs, muscles, and brain.
3. When you are hitting the gym or just going out for a long walk what
do you wear? Is it about functionality or fashion? I’m all about functionality. Particularly because I have, to be delicate, a lot of lady lumps (are the kids still referencing that song or am I hopelessly out of date?) to corral and need a good deal of sports-bra action.
4. Do you feel there is a cultural perception of what you ‘should’ be
doing for your own physical fitness? Yes. The female body is a contested space, one that is constantly being interpreted and appropriate by society (and congress), and I don’t believe that women can exist outside of ideologies and assumptions about our physical personhood. Bummer. And things are pretty complicated for American women right now. Not only are we supposed to be thin, we’re supposed to be fit, and treat it like it’s effortless and fun, and have rah-rah girl power high self esteem, be healthy eaters instead of finicky dieters (but still be skinny), and be totally blasé about the fact that these are not organic, autonomous choices. So yeah, when I admit that I work my ass off at the gym so that I can eat cheese and cookies (usually not in the same meal, except for special occasions), I feel like I’m breaking the rules. When I admit that I have a complicated relationship with my body, I feel like I’m breaking the rules. When I admit that I do not always find going to the gym fun, rewarding, or entertaining, I feel like I’m breaking the rules. But I still go, I still try to keep fit, because the truth is that even though all of these rules and assumptions exist, keeping fit is still the best decision I can make for myself.
5.  Dream big… what would be your ultimate fitness goal. I honestly don’t have any fitness goals other that I can articulate, because I mostly just want to get to a phase where I feel like I’m committing myself to myself as much as I need, and that’s a nebulous, mobile emotional space. As a grad student, I don’t get to spend much time just giving kindly to myself, so I treat my fitness routine as an opportunity to show my body and my life some respect and love. And I want to be able to do that as much as I want! Although I’d really like to be able to do that Beyoncé dance all the way through…

dress — GAP (circa 2008) sweater — Target

Well, darlings, it is absolutely pouring, hailing, storming outside, but I’m not going to let that stop me from donning my most wedding-appropriate dress (albeit, an utterly casual one) in anticipation of tonight’s Royal Wedding Watching Party. The lovely friend hosting this event is a wine buyer, so we even have the official champagne of the royal wedding! I’ll be wearing my best imitation of a tux and promise photos tomorrow. Did any of you stay up late / get up early to watch the royal wedding? Are any of you planning viewing parties? So enjoy your Fridays, stormy or not (and for any readers from the Southern States, my heart goes out to you and I hope you and your loved ones escaped harm).

friendly friday: inspirational

It’s a Friday, so let’s answer the FBFF questions:

1. Which celebrity (celebrities) do you look to for fashion inspiration? For me, this question is a little tough, as I don’t have a particularly well-honed sense of what’s current in pop culture. Old book? Oh my yes. But who the latest guest star on Glee is? Unfortunately, no… However, here are the people I think about a lot when I daydream about fashion:

I know that these are not exactly horrible contemporary styles, but I find myself very drawn to the look of the 30′s and 70′s and these strong women are absolutely iconic for me (though these characters are all, let us admit, deeply flawed humans).
2. When it comes to your own personal style, what inspires you? My personal inspiration comes from, let’s not lie, a lot of you folks! Reading fashion blogs absolutely changed my understanding of how I could use fashion in a way that is not determined by advertising, fashion week, or glossy magazine spreads. The fashion and beauty blogging community is absolutely democratizing and diversifying the images of beauty, fashion, appearance, and (yes, because we are dominantly women) the female body. I am so invigorated by the exceptionally vast array of sizes, shapes, backgrounds, beliefs, budgets, desires, styles, and personalities that I see when I log into my reader or respond to your comments. I really think that there is a power and a politics behind what we’re collectively doing and it invigorates me to no end. Plus, you know, my Mom is pretty much the most beautiful and fashionable woman in the universe, so let’s just say I want to be like her roughly, oh, all of the time. update click here for venn diagram validation.
3. How do you hope to inspire your readers? I guess that I humbly hope to be as inspirational to my readers and to this community as it has been to me, which means I hope only to add one more vision of how to be to this collage and hope that my readers will find their engagement with us all to be inspirational.
4. Outside the realm of fashion who/what inspires you? I am very inspired by the work that I do with the people I work with. Academia is a complicated and fraught space, one that has in it the possibilities of action, resistance, and change but that is still beset by inequalities, unjust politics, and stifling rigidity. But seeing the women and men I work with and for — my peers, my professors, my students, my campus community — and the ways that they are finding to express and create themselves every day is truly exciting. Outside of my campus realm, I have an equally inspirational group of girlfriends who make me want to be a better, more authentic person every day.
5. Which songs inspire you? This song makes me both cry and dance:

This song just makes me cry, but in that really good way:

And this song just makes my heart bigger:

Hope your hearts are all open, big, and inspired today — I know mine is!

skirt — thrifted shirt — target belt — FXXI boots — Civico 10 knee socks — gift

daily dose: friendly Friday’s fads for spring

Alright, what are the FBFF questions?

What 5 Spring Trends will I be rocking this year? I’m not horribly trendy. Or horribly hip. But I do like a lot of what I’ve been seeing trending around the interwebs and the catalogs lately. Will I actually be sporting any of these looks? Who knows. Are any of these looks appro for work? Not sure, though I appreciated that Jezebel recently did a post about teacher dress codes, which was super useful for me. Anyhow, what are my faves? Let’s see:

1. I’ve been adoring the looks from Ruche’s spring styles lately:

I think it’s the soft femininity of the looks that resists looking saccharine or overly girly that gets me.

2. Also on my radar right now is pretty much everything in the new Boden catalog that I just got in the mail.

Everything in the catalog has that great relaxed, summery feel. The collection is full of comfy skirts in great shapes and fabulous prints. And I want them.

3. Is any of this trendy? Yeah, like I said, I’m not horribly trendy. But I think we can all acknowledge that Anthro has amazing styling for spring. I love the 70′s inspired looks, like this one:

4. I’m hooked on the colors from J.Crew this spring — melon and navy and cerulean and wheat!

5. I love hats. And there are a lot in fashion right now. So I’m pretty excited:

But what am I working with today? A little of a seventies feel, if I do say so myself:

Jeans — GAP, thrifted
Blouse — Ella Moss, gifted a bajillion years ago
Necklace and Earrings — gift from Africa, gift from Brazil
Booties — Restricted, thrifted

Alright, kiddos, enjoy your Friday — here’s hoping for sun, relaxation, and delicious things to eat!

Daily Dose: friendly Friday and feminism

Alright, what are the FBFF questions?

1. Do you think there is an incompatibility between feminism and a
love for fashion? Yes and no. I’ve posted about this before, but I stand by my assertion that there are no neutral choices and so, at some point, we have to decide to live our lives regardless of how coded our behavior and appearance is. So yes, I think my feminist ideologies and my love for the self-expression and the fun of fashion are incompatible in that all of my life choices are incompatible with the kind of equality I strive for. But no, they are also not incompatible, in that they both function to allow me agency over my self and my personhood, even if all that agency can do is to prove to me just how very much we are all subjects of the dominant ideologies we live within.
2. There is more to each of us than a love for fashion, how do you
incorporate every aspect of yourself into your blog? Hmm. I struggle with this, but I think that because this experiment isn’t just about highlighting and displaying my fashion choices but is also about exploring the why, when, wherefore, and what of those choices, I am able to incorporate much more of myself into my blog. I mean, I talk about books and school and occasionally share photos of myself as a child, so I feel like you folks get the chance to see more than just my daily outfits. Plus, I will attest that what someone wears shows a whole lot about who they are and what they identify with, if only we’re able to look with a critical and analytical eye.
3. With the fashion industry still being a male-dominated profession,
how do you think it would differ if women played a larger role? This is one of those unanswerable questions that I spend a lot of time thinking about. The fashion industry is predicated on hundreds of thousands of years of social norms, all of which adapt to fit their particular historical context. These norms work to perpetuate the status quo and support the systems of power that are already in place. But what if, right? I spend a lot of time on the what if. So my answer here is that I can’t answer, that there’s too much at work for me to give any one answer.
4. How is your self-image and the way you carry yourself informed by
your beliefs? I think I carry myself with a lot more self-confidence and, simultaneously, a lot more self-doubt because of my feminist ideologies and my feminist education. Simply put, I am often horribly aware of what and how people are judging and perceiving me and there are times when that knowledge really shuts me down. But there are also times when it gives me the strength and the language to fight back or stand up, and those are moments to not just be proud of but the cherish. Like when I refuse to let it slide that some teenage boy make a lewd gesture to me on a crowded bus, or when I speak up in defense of my beliefs, or in the ways I teach my students. Those are nourishing moments.
5. Do you think clothing/makeup/hair helps communicate the truth about
yourself or are those things superfluous add-ons? My appearance communicates tons about myself. Whether or not what it communicates is what I want communicated, what I believe accurately represents my own sense of self, or what I intended it to communicate is a whole other question entirely.

In addition, here’s a picture of my feminist (and fashion) hero, my Mom Lynne, taken when Mama was just about the same age I am now: