Once, I Wore Color

works cited: ruche dress; j. crew cardigan; secondhand j. crew coat; thrifted bag; target boots; we love colors tights; mittens a gift from my mom; scarf from etsy

Lots of bright, cheerful color for a busy day prepping, grading, reading, writing, and spending some time in the National Portrait Gallery. I have to puff up my chest a bit at how many colors I worked in here without feeling like the look is completely overboard (or who knows, maybe it is). Either way, it's galvanizing to change up my uniforms of grays and brown once in a while.

Post-Somnambulance

works cited: bdg cords; secondhand j. crew jacket and j crew sweater under the jacket; megan nielsen top; scarf from somewhere mysterious; steve madden brogues

Last week, after a rad birthday celebration for Christopher, we both got sick and spent the week in various phases of somnambulance. On Saturday, we emerged from our sick-den to see the sunlight again and go helmet-shopping at Bicycle Space (I got this polka-dotted number). DC winter has been super mild and this short coat was plenty to keep me warm, even with my ankles showing. I can't say I mind the warmer winter, but I don't know if I'll feel like I deserve spring when it comes. Without my usual midwest winter suffering, will spring feel so sweet?

The Blazer that Baffled

works cited: target blazer; thrifted blouse; necklace from end-of-summer camp lost and found; bdg jeans; urban outfitters flats; j. crew belt; breda watch

I've got to make this speedy, because my class starts in about 9 seconds. This outfit is one of the ones Lauren helped me put together when I traded her lunch for some new closet ideas. I asked her for help with this blazer, which hypothetically should be easy to style, but for some reason its length kind of baffles me and I always feel long in the torso when I wear it, no matter how many belts or waist-highlighting tricks I apply (not that I ever overdo it on the belt front...). Any tricks or tips up your sleeve? I'd love to hear them.

A Case of the Mondays

 
works cited: ll bean dress; somewhat baggy gap sweater; hue tights (always more than half off at tjmaxx or other discount stores); steve madden boots; coat and scarf from h&m; bicycle tote from etsy; anthro earrings also found at eastern market; knee socks from target

This weekend was blissful and relaxing, so I'm feeling unusually restored to face off with a pile of articles that's currently knee-deep and a forecast of freezing rain (I'll have you know, this is not the egg mcmuffin of weather). This outfit is actually recycled from my holiday travels, when I wore it just about every other day. Sweater tights, a thick cotton dress, and cable knits were perfect for long flights but turns out they do the trick for a day hunched over my books at Tryst, too.

One Last Resolution

 works cited: thrifted skirt; h&m blouse; hue tights; MIA wedges; breda watch

Before January is over, I have one last little blog resolution to share--I've decided I'm not going to accept new "courtesy of" items. In the past, some of the shops that advertise on this site have offered me samples of their clothes for free, which is awesome because who doesn't love free clothes? But part of the reason why I like reading blogs (and considered starting one) is that they offer an alternative to magazines. They represent what a non-magazine-model without access to a huge magazine closet might wear, and what she might be willing to hand over her hard-earned money for. Getting free stuff runs counter to why I preferred blogs in the first place. An unrelated but significant factor in this decision is that I have other projects that I'm invested in and I'd like this blog to feel a little more low-maintenance. Free stuff is a strange kind of obligation and I'd prefer to keep this space in the territory of hobby, where I can justify subordinating it to all the other stuff I'd like to do. So that's that: everything will remain pretty much the same, I'll just feel less like a shill :)
On another note: pattern mixing! Even Christopher liked it, which was the shock of the day. Hope you have a great weekend!

Simplicity

works cited: gap sweater and jeans; boots c/o blowfish; hand me down flannel; breda watch

January cold has left me feeling a bit schlumpy, so I went to pinterest for inspiration this morning and remembered this.  I was in the mood for something simple and cozy, and that image hit the spot.

Up the Hill

works cited: bdg cords; ancient gap turtleneck; j.crew boots; breda watch; triumph bicycle :)

I've missed bicycling in the winter, so this morning I hauled out my mittens and an extra fleece and decided to go the five miles to the Library of Congress on my two wheels. It doesn't take any longer than the metro but it feels about five times as nice--time in the sunshine; beautiful views of the capitol; an invigorating climb up the hill made challenging by the Triumph's weight, a bag filled with books, and minimal gearing. It was so galvanizing, I don't know why I haven't done it sooner. This outfit was 100% functional--bright pants for visibility, turtleneck sweater for warmth in the frigid library, flat shoes for just-in-case-of-emergency on a new bike route, and a braid to fit snugly under my helmet (safety first, right?).

Weekender

works cited: bdg cords; thrifted christian dior sweater (whoop whoop); target boots; gifted scarf and mittens; h&m coat; hat from etsy (seams to be)

Inspired by last week's trip to a few Smithsonians, Christopher and I went to the Hirshorn and the sculpture gardens over the weekend (where we took these pictures and I felt self-conscious with so many people milling around and Christopher doing his Steven Meisel thing). This outfit is definitely colorful but I don't know if I got the proportions of colors to neutrals quite right; maybe this had a few too many shades of red and orange for one day :)

Museum Going

 
 

works cited: thrifted button-up; secondhand sweater (from mars in berkeley, when i was in high school); megan nielsen skirt; hue tights from filene's basement's going out of business sale; dansko clogs; h&m coat

I wasn't so sure about this outfit until Christopher told me the blocks of color reminded him of a Rothko painting. Then I was sold. And it seemed a fitting reference for today, when I'm meeting Amy at one of the Smithsonians, to remedy my dissertation/DC loneliness. Us workers-from-home have to stick together!
P.S. Thank you SO much to those of you who left comments yesterday with hair-suggestions. I devoured them and they were incredibly helpful! If you're looking for volume suggestions, the comments on yesterday's post are an encyclopedia of amazing suggestions.

Falling Flat

 
works cited: gap jeans; h&m top; j.crew cardigan; earrings made by irene wood; MIA wedges; freshly picked bag

Another one of my on-the-silly side resolutions is to try something new with my hair. I "do" my hair about as often as my taxes. The other 364 days of the year I let it air-dry or throw it in the same messy bun I've been wearing since I was 13 (Mom, you can vouch, right?). This year, I'd really love to learn how to give it some volume once in a while, but so far this resolution has been giving me trouble. First were a set of hot rollers that wouldn't stay in my (thick but very straight) hair, so they went back to the store in favor of a curling iron, which this morning burnt me twice but at least gave me loose waves which lasted about as long as it took me to walk the five blocks to my favorite coffee shop. Now my hair is about as straight as it was when I woke up this morning. What gives? I even hair-sprayed the living daylights out of it to make it stay. Hair geniuses, do you have any tips or tutorials? (I kind of tried to do this one but my hair didn't really behave like the model's.)

Eavesdropper

works cited: j. crew sweater, tee, belt and world's scratchiest wool tights; ruche skirt; flats c/o blowfish; coat from jeremy's in berkeley; freshly picked striped bag; fossil earrings

One of my blog-related new year's resolutions is to be a little more daring with color. I wear and love a lot of neutrals but it feels fun once in a while to mix brights, especially during the darker days of winter. Today I'm taking my brightly-dressed self to the coffee shop to prep my syllabus for classes next week (I'm teaching another online class, which I've talked a teeny bit about here) and to eavesdrop on various strangers' interesting conversations about the upcoming election at neighboring tables.

Happy Belated New Year!

works cited: skirt from jeremy's; thrifted blouse; much beloved j crew sweater; target tights; danskos; necklace from a friend

Whoops! Sorry I fell off the map there for a while, but happy much belated new year! Christopher and I were traveling for the past two weeks and spent the last ten days with limited internet access. It gave me lots of time and mental energy to hang out with my friends from college (miss you guys already), see my family, work on my dissertation, read some new books, see lots of movies, and enjoy quality time with Christopher while he finally took a break from work. It was blissful. It also gave me some time to think about blogging stuff--if I'll continue and how I'll approach it this year--and I think I'll bring a few changes to these parts in the next month. Hope you all are having a great start to the new year, I'm excited to catch up on the happenings on the internet this week!