An Engineer's Closet

Launch

2011-09-12T23:26:00.000-04:00

Materials
purple polka-dot skirt : the limited
black tank top : h&m
grey cardigan : old navy
black flats : rocket dog

Okay, the clearance rack at The Limited is my new favorite place to shop. They have youthful-looking professional clothes that I can actually afford and have fun looking through. I bought this skirt while I was out of town for a workshop in the middle of North Carolina where there really wasn't anything else to do in the evening except go to the mall. It's perfect because it's made out of nice material and has a wide waistband, which adds a nice structure and shape to the skirt. And of course, it's purple and has polka-dots, two style elements I've been completely obsessed with for the past few months.

I wore purple earrings to match. Also I picked this cardigan because it has a blue-grey flower that ties in nicely with the purple skirt.

I got dressed up today to have some decision-making meetings and attend a peer mentoring event, but ended up spending most of the day on the floor underneath my desk fixing my computer. That makes complete sense, doesn't it?

Fall Frost

2011-09-07T23:09:00.002-04:00

Materials
lavender tee, purple cardigan, jean skirt : gap
grey leggings : express
scarf : gift from sister
brown brogues : target

Another hodge-podge outfit. The first cold week is always a struggle, like I have to teach myself how to layer again. I get a little over-zealous sometimes.

I like that the pattern in this scarf matches the purple on the cardigan. It's girly with the pattern and the skirt and the ruffles from the scarf and all that purple, and the shoes add a bit of contrast. If I were to re-create this I would swap out the grey leggings for eggplant-colored opaque tights. Dark tights would highlight the skirt and shoes better, I think.

My Faves

2011-09-06T23:08:00.000-04:00

Materials
jeans, purple tee, black cardigan : gap
yellow scarf : tj maxx
brown brogues : target
petal earrings : montreal

I decided today that my ideal living conditions are under fall temperatures with summer daylight hours. I love light layering for fall, and I love that it stays light til 9pm in the summer. I do realize it would be an odd place to live in. But then again, I'm an odd person.

This hodge-podge outfit is basically composed of all my current favorite casual items, and surprisingly doesn't look terrible, even though I'm wearing five different colors. Yay. Plus, these earrings are awesome.

Vanilla Wild

2011-08-31T22:57:00.002-04:00

Materials
blouse : the limited
trousers : gap outlet
flats : rocket dog

I'm not usually one for abstract patterns or animal prints, which is part of the reason why -- apart from this blouse -- there is nothing exciting going on here today. This blouse is awesome because it has a sheer fabric that is perfect for summer's last heat waves, plus it has cute ruffles. Even though it's black and pink, the pattern and stitching adds an interesting dimension to my wardrobe. I'm looking forward to finding nicer ways to style it!

Back to School

2011-08-30T22:41:00.001-04:00

Materials

trouser jeans : gap outlet

orange blouse : gap outlet

accessories: headband, pearl earrings

grey shoes : target

Hi readers, long time no see. Here's a simple, fresh outfit I put together for the first week of classes. It was built around showing off my new haircut and declaring to myself and anyone who cared to listen that I'm ready for a great start to the school year and excited to start teaching.

I was super excited to debut these trouser jeans, which are very cool and were purchased on sale! I love how the orange blouse drapes over it.

The accessories are simple, and the grey shoes are subtle and pull out the brown/grey tones in the blouse pattern. Sadly these shoes were stress-tested during a long quick walk to school and did not pass. Why are style and comfort so hard to find in the same shoe?

This term I've got a few goals, which mostly revolve around being calm/present in times of intellectual stress. How about you? Do you set goals or resolutions at the start of the term?

Start-up

2011-08-28T14:43:00.000-04:00

Hello lovely readers,

Let's all pretend that I just took a really long summer vacation, okay? The past few months have been very busy and very hectic, and I apologize for my absence. Before school starts next week I'll be in the process of paring down my wardrobe, weeding out pieces that are old or rarely worn. Stay tuned for some new wardrobe pieces and some special event outfits! And as always, thanks for your continued interest in this blog.

The Engineer

Change of plans

2011-05-27T23:04:00.001-04:00

Life has been super crazy for me these past few weeks since I returned from my conference. I've been simultaneously reading, learning, teaching, talking, and writing and because my deadlines are so many and coming up so quickly I've been thinking about research non-stop from the moment I wake up til the moment I sleep. I even think about it when I dream, which is the worst because then I wake up and feel like I was never asleep in the first place. So, I may be switching to this new format where I take daily photos but may not get to post them until the end of the week... at least until I finish my article and pass my upcoming qualifying oral exam.

PS I just checked the stats on who reads this blog. A big wave "hello" to my international readers, and a I'd like to send a special shout-out to the one reader who uses Linux!

If Peggy Lived in San Francisco

2011-05-27T22:05:00.007-04:00

Materials
blue cardigan : gap
grey scarf : old navy
black tee : old navy
black pencil skirt : old navy
black leggings : express
sneakers : converse one star (target)
blue moon earrings : local summer arts fair

This outfit is similar to one that I wore in Montreal earlier this month.

It was cool and misty today, reminding me of San Francisco. San Francisco reminds me of beatniks and minimalism so I donned a monochromatic outfit with a pop of blue and a splash of gray. My hair unexpectedly made this awesome flip that reminded me very much of Peggy from Mad Men, so I also wore some 60's style winged eyeliner and a black headband. (Sorry, no detail photo today!)

Iced Lemonade

2011-05-26T22:02:00.002-04:00

Materials
white blouse : h&m
patterned tank : ???
pale yellow cardi, jeans : gap
sneakers : converse one star (target)

Lately the weather has been super warm even when I walk to school in the morning, but my lab has been really really cold. So I'm wearing jeans which can be rolled down in the lab, and a sweater which I can take off when I'm walking. The tank + white blouse are both so light, which really helps to cope with the temperature fluctuations.

Teacher Teacher

2011-05-25T23:52:00.003-04:00

Materials
green blouse, gray scarf : old navy
skinny trousers : style & co (macy's)
flats : rocket dog (via famous footwear)

Today I taught a biomedical imaging lesson to middle school girls who had just learned about the electromagnetic spectrum. It was so much fun to put together the lesson materials, and I really wanted to convey that energy when I taught the class.

In middle school trends are all the rage (almost every girl had a Ke$ha feather in her hair), and nothing contrasts more to fashion than decidedly unpopular science and math. I opted for something colorful with a hint of personal style (namely, the scarf) so that in addition to my teaching style I could also convey to the girls that having a sense of style and being good at science/engineering are not mutually exclusive.

The girls really seemed to enjoy the lesson and were very engaged, so overall this was a very positive experience for my first time teaching in a classroom!

Orange you glad?

2011-05-23T21:48:00.006-04:00

Materials
peach tee : old navy
orange button-down: eddie bauer
headband, jeans : gap
sneakers : converse one star (target)

A comfy monochromatic outfit for writing a paper and taking a practice qualifying exam. I really liked the orange on orange/peach, and the pairing of a bland button-down with a more delicate featherweight tee. In the fall I might transition this outfit with a deep red scarf (which I have yet to buy/make).

Assault by Shoe

2011-05-20T22:43:00.020-04:00

Materials
yellow blouse : gap
cream sweater : h&m
skirt : gap
"devil" flats : filene's basement
glass necklace

Voilà, le debut... of my pasty legs. Don't worry, a few more weekends of sun should fix this problem.

This outfit was inspired by what I didn't like about a similar older outfit.

I bought these cute flats for $5 at Filene's basement. Unfortunately midway through my 20-odd minute walk to school the heels started to dig and peel at my ankles. If I wasn't already running late I would have turned around and found a better pair of shoes. But instead I hobbled into my morning meeting with bleeding feet, sat through an awkward meeting with zero sympathy and soon after called a friend to drive me home so that I could change into flip-flops.

P.S. Two weeks later, these wounds are still healing...

Roll With It

2011-05-19T23:51:00.000-04:00

Materials

blue tee : old navy

white blouse : h&m

cardigan, jeans : gap

brogues : target

necklace : gift from sister

Be proud of me. I'm blogging despite tremendous anti-blogging inertia.

The skinny jeans + loose top + cardigan look has been my uniform this week. I didn't post it but yesterday I wore this outfit only I switched out brogues for boots and a cream cardigan for the pink one I'm wearing today. It's been cold and rainy this whole week so I've stayed away from flared jeans, nice trousers and skirts.

But today the weather finally cleared up and I enjoyed a gorgeous spring day! It's too bad I spent most of it inside writing a paper. Tomorrow is supposed to have beautiful weather, too, so maybe I'll break out some cute shoes!

Sugar and Spice

2011-05-17T22:12:00.001-04:00

Materials

sweater : h&m

lace tank : old navy

pink blouse : forever 21

jeans : gap

boots : miz mooz (nordstrom)

Another outfit for another research day. Oh my, I am really enjoying having 100% of my time in the lab. My brain is on physics/engineering overload and that feels so, so good!

There is something very sweet and nice and girly about this lace + pink + beige combo. To add a little spunk I wore my tree necklace and these cool new earrings that I bought in Montreal. They are actually flower petals embedded in acrylic! I love unique jewelry.

Yawn

2011-05-16T20:26:00.000-04:00

Materials

vest : american eagle

purple tee, jeans : gap

scarf : old navy

earrings : gift from friend

brogues : target

Whenever I return from a long blogging break I seem to have to re-adjust to my wardrobe. I appologize that this outfit is so bland. I spent all day digesting a week's worth of conference material so today's outfit was very, very low-key. The weather in Montreal was gorgeous - sunny and in the 60s - during the entire week when I was spending 12+ hours inside the conference center, and it was cold and rainy during the one day I had to sight-see. Returning to the midwest, the cold rainy weather seems to just be fallowing me a round because it wasn't even 50 degrees today and it half-sprinkled all day. Gross!

The methodical conference packing was a super idea. I fit all of those clothes into a roll-away suitcase, and I was very comfortable and presentable during the whole meeting without losing my personal style and feminine touch. I received compliments from both women and men on my dress. It was more professional than what most grad students wore and less professional than a company rep or professor (okay, I was more dressed up than some professors... this is engineering, after all!) All in all, just right, totally comfortable, modest - all the makings of no-fuss clothing that helped me stay focused during this long, long week.

Well, my brain is just about to explode. Time to grab some late dinner and head to my friend's place to help her make wedding invitations!

Conference Packing: Montréal Edition

2011-05-06T05:37:00.000-04:00

It's that time of year again! This weekend I'm off to our annual engineering/clinical conference. The schedule should be mostly the same as last year, minus a banquet, plus a bachelorette party and two days of sight-seeing. Also lesson learned from last year: NO CORDS. They are *so* noisy and really not good for rushing into or out of a session of talks. Quite disruptive. Ankle boots, however, were a very good call.

Conference centers are cold so sweaters and/or long sleeves are a must. There may be room for dark jeans, especially on the weekends, provided I am wearing a nicer top. I'm also going to pack a few simple, professional accessories to switch around and dress up my outfits. So, here is my professional capsule wardrobe:

4 pants

grey slacks (old navy), black pencil skirt (old navy)

Jeans (gap), khakis (gap)

6 tops

floral blouse (old navy), striped tee (h&m), blue mock neck tee (express)

black tee (old navy), red blouse (gap), black button-down (old navy)

not shown: elephant tee (gift from sister), purple tee (old navy)

sweaters & scarves

blue sweater (gap), grey embellished cardigan (old navy)

pink sweater (gap), blazer (casual corner annex)

white scarf (h&m), purple scarf (h&m), misc. accessories

accessories

black & red skinny belts (aldo accessories), pearl earrings (gift from dad)

blue bobble earrings (gift from friend), indian necklace (gift from dad)

I will also be wearing my green eddie bauer blouse on the plane, and I'm bringing 3 pairs of shoes: my black ankle boots (clarks), black flats (hush puppies), and converse sneakers (target).

Traveling outfit: jeans + green blouse + jacket + ankle boots
Wearing all my bulkiest items on the plane means I can pack my carry-on densely and don't have to lug around a larger bag.

Saturday - Classes

khakis + striped tee + pink cardigan + flats

Sunday - Classes

khakis + blue shirt + blue sweater + flats

Recreated from this outfit, but with black shoes

Monday - Talks & Evening Networking

grey slacks + floral blouse + blazer + flats

Recreated from this outfit

* Monday is the Everybody Everywear Floral Challenge. Thanks to J. for the reminder!

Tuesday - Talks & Evening Networking

black skirt + red blouse + grey sweater + boots

Wednesday - Talks & Networking

khakis + black button-down + grey sweater + flats

Similar to this outfit, but with a different sweater

Thursday - Talks & Networking, Bachelorette party at night

(day) grey slacks + striped tee + blazer + flats or boots

(night) jeans + graphic tee + flats or sneakers

Friday - Talks

black skirt + black tee + blue sweater + boots

Sort of like this outfit

Saturday - Sightseeing

jeans + graphic tee + sweater

I've packed just a few extra garment to lend some flexibility. All of the clothes here are blue, black or red. What I'm going to miss the most is my accessories! I plan to use my scarf, bobble earrings and red belt for that extra "pop of color" to some of these really simple black-and-white outfits.

I'll be back in ~10 days with some more photos. Have a great week!

Sloppy Regression

2011-05-03T19:09:00.000-04:00

Materials

plum trousers, green sweater : old navy

yellow blouse : h&m

sneakers : converse one star (target)

This is something I would wear on the weekend. After pulling a full working weekend and dressing up for my sales pitch yesterday I was ready for a break, both work-wise and style-wise. Today's outfit = this old outfit + that old outfit. The green and yellow combination reminds me of the daffodils that are blooming around town. If only it would stop precipitating, I'd be taking photos outside!

I'm heading out of town next week for a conference, so stay tuned for some packing-related posts!

Give Me Money

2011-05-02T19:03:00.001-04:00

Materials

blouse : ann taylor
slacks : old navy
jacket : casual corner annex
shoes : naturalizer

Alternative titles for this post: "Suit Up!" and "Business Time"

Today I had to give a mock pitch to a mock angel investor to fund a real technology that I have been mock commercializing all semester. The presentation went really well (like, surprisingly really well) and I'm glad because I have poured my blood, sweat and tears into this term project. Whew!

Since this was a mock pitch I didn't pull out all the stops for my suit. When trying to pick out something to wear yesterday, I noticed that my nice thicker woven slacks are too big! And my nice thicker woven suit jacket is also too big! And it has shoulder pads, which I am convinced only look good on a woman who has hips (which I sadly do not). And it has too many buttons. Seriously, four of them. Who wears a four button suit anymore?

So I decided it would be better to wear a suit that fits that one that didn't, so I wore this more casual cotton ensemble. I do love how this jacket flares at the bottom. Unfortunately as I came home today I realized that I have owned these black slacks for far too long and they are starting to look blue. So next year when I have a talk at a conference or something where I'll have a real reason to wear a real suit, I definitely will need to invest in a nice one.

I had high hopes for these super boring heeled loafers that I've had kicking around in my closet for a year or so. Unfortunately they are really stiff. I think I may just have to break them in? Or maybe just learn to walk properly in heels... ha!

Emboldened

2011-04-30T02:11:00.000-04:00

Materials

black cardigan, grey scarf : old navy

plaid blouse : h&m

jeans : gap

shoes : converse one star (target)

This is a super casual outfit for a day spent wrestling with PowerPoint and making mock business plans for a term project. Today I am wearing a severely underutilized blouse. I bought it on clearance because I loved (correction: still love) the amazingly bright plaid pattern. Unfortunately I generally don't have the confidence to wear it because it doesn't really fit into my modest style limits unless it's layered or substantially covered up. Also I think I'm done with this black sweater. It's probably going to get donated when I clean out my closet this summer.

Yesterday while catching up on my blogs I came across the latest installment in Monkeyface's "Self-caught!" series where she interviews bloggers on their self-photography techniques. It's an excellent series and I highly recommend checking it out. In the latest interview, Kimmie from Blue Paper Lanterns described some simple tricks for self-photography with a point-and-shoot. Her photos are gorgeous and her interview totally inspired me to suck up my fear of embarrassment, grab my recently acquired bendable tripod and venture outside for a few photographs. I live in a really urban area and I can't make the time to scout out a good location right now, so I tried to find a spot on my daily commute. Here's what I was able to accomplish on this first try:

Ok the framing needs a little work. Natural daylight and scenery is way way better than my indoor lighting and cramped quarters. But what I forgot to account for as I eagerly rushed out the door this morning is that I live in a land of perpetual precipitation....

And sadly I do not enjoy cold, rainy weather one bit.

A for effort? Have a great weekend!

Au Natural

2011-04-28T20:51:00.001-04:00

Materials

plum trousers : old navy

salmon blouse, white tank : gap

cropped military trench : gap

brogues : target

belt : handwoven

necklace : gift from dad

earrings : made by mom

There is a bush near my apartment that has white blossoms bursting from bright orange young branches which grow out of deep brown old stalks. This unusual spring growth inspired today's outfit. I wore my hair as it dried naturally - frizzy and lumpy - no product, no curlers, and no straightening iron. The salmon pink blouse has a rough natural cotton texture, and the belt is woven from rough wool. I really loved the red and gold color combination with the pink shirt. I also wore metal jewelry, to bring an elemental component to the outfit.

While putting today's look together I became more aware of the origin of my garments: plants, animal fibers, metal, all molded or stitched or assembled (at least in part) by human hands on many continents.

Flat Blocks

2011-04-27T22:26:00.000-04:00

Materials

blouse, trousers : gap

cardigan : h&m

necklace : gift from dad

brogues : target

I usually wear yellow as a light-shade accent color but since it was supposed to be "hot" today (high in the upper 70s) I tried to dress with blocks of light neutrals and use yellow as the "pop." I look a little like a hard-boiled egg. Maybe I should have worn trousers with more of a khaki tinge, that might have matched the shade of the cardigan a little better.

This outfit is kind of boring, but it was really comfortable and looked decent since I had to give a presentation today. (I had to give one yesterday, too, and I have to give a sales pitch on Monday so that will call for a nice outfit.) These trousers are way looser on me compared to the last time I wore them.

Sorry I'm dressing so boring this week! I totally misinterpreted the forecast and thought tomorrow was going to be a hot day and planned to wear a cute skirt. Unfortunately it's going to be cooler so I will have to come up with something on the fly.

Blue Ruin

2011-04-26T19:06:00.001-04:00

Materials

white lace tank : old navy

blue ruffled blouse : express

cardigan : gap

skinny trousers : style & co. (macy's)

shoes : rocket dog

This is the best I-just-pulled-an-all-nighter-and-still-look-chic outfit ever. I was coaxed into buying this blouse by a flamboyant former lab-mate several years ago. It's a little low-cut, so the lace tank provides just enough extra coverage to keep the outfit decent.

Sock Hop

2011-04-25T16:49:00.000-04:00

Materials

pink sweater, blue skirt : gap

pink button-down : eddie bauer

belt : gift from friend

grey shoes : target

Today's outfit is something I should have worn back in grade school when girls had sock hops for birthday parties. There is something very sweet and slightly retro about it. It also reminds me of librarian or school teacher clothes. I think it's because the pink button-down is a little frumpy.

I always get complements when I wear this skirt! It's funny because I've had it for years but until I started blogging I hardly ever wore it because I was convinced I could only wear white or black or grey with it. I'm glad to say that this couldn't be farther from the truth. It has an asymmetric flare that looks really cool when I walk around, and I think that's why it gets so much attention. Because I'm so short it is very high-waisted on me but I keep trying to find ways to make it work.

By the way, I think this is the first time I've worn these shoes on this blog. Aren't they cute?

Spring has finally reached my corner of the midwest. It seems that leaves and blossoms all decided to sprout overnight, and I am grateful. Now only if it would stop raining!

Pretty Things from the Sartorialist

2011-04-22T19:34:00.001-04:00

So that I remember. Because I don't have pinterest (yet!)

Gah I want this haircut!!! Simply beautiful.

Shades of grey. So many shapes and textures. Love love love.

Edgy street chic. I'm a fan.

Awesome shoes in London.

Full white skirt with a navy jacket. Could I try it with this and this?

Luck of the Blogger

2011-04-22T19:07:00.000-04:00

Materials

pencil skirt : old navy

striped tee : h&m

scarf : handwoven

earrings : charlotte rouse?

tights : target

booties : clarks

Today's outfit is inspired by two of my favorite bloggers, Ana from Better in Sepia and E of Academichic. Earlier this week Ana wore this darling outfit with punchy red tights and a polka-dot blouse with ruched sleeves. I saw that and thought, "I have bright tights. And I have a blouse with ruched sleeves!" But my blouse has stripes. And then I remembered that E. had worn a striped tee over a pencil skirt, too, once with bright tights and once with a bright scarf.

And so my outfit today is a summation of these three looks by some of my favorite bloggers: pencil skirt, booties, ruched sleeves, bright tights, and a bright scarf. (Nevermind that it looks just like a mash-up of this outfit and that outfit.) Thanks for the inspiration, ladies!

Have a great weekend, readers!

Settling or Growing

2011-04-21T23:12:00.000-04:00

Materials

jeans, purple sweater : gap

green blouse : h&m

sneakers : converse one star (target)

It's the end of term and I'm toiling away on projects and reports and presentations and cramming for exams. So yes, these are the same jeans I've been wearing all week. Ugh. Today was a rare day free of class and meetings and necessitated productivity and an outfit that stood no chance of distracting me from my work. I'm new enough at this style blogging thing that my clothes are still sometimes a big distraction.

While we're on the topic of meta-blogging, this is the closest I've come to keeping any sort of journal on my graduate school experience. Looking back, I am a little surprised at how many of posts are not just about my clothes but also about what's going on at school and in my personal and professional development.

Before I digress too much, some notes on today's outfit. This purple and green color combination is straight out of my elementary school sketchbook, which was completely filled with doodles made strictly in purple or green. It's a comforting color combination. It's a reminder that spring is here, and that green shoots are emerging from the soil more vigorously with each passing day.

This semester is going down in history as one where I tried a lot of new things and failed at more. Over dinner today I expressed to a friend that I'm getting a little better at viewing my failures not as shortcomings but instead as growing experiences. Sometimes it feels like I'm settling for mediocrity (academically and sartorially) but I'm trying to be a little less self-critical since there is already enough stress in my life. I guess it's all about choosing which battles to fight, and the one where I get overly stressed out is not one that's worth fighting. In this vein of introspection and growing experiences, I leave you with a little Sufjan. A demain!

Pink and Grey's

2011-04-20T20:49:00.000-04:00

Materials

blazer : casual corner annex

pink cable-knit sweater : gap

scarf : old navy

jeans : gap

sneakers : converse one star (target)

I'm about to make a pretty embarrassing confession. Okay here it goes. I watch Grey's Anatomy. It's my TV guilty pleasure. I started watching in the 3rd season and I still watch it even though it's so much worse now than it was in season 3. A few months ago a friend told me seasons 1 and 2 were actually good so I went back and started watching those on Netflix... That's my dirty secret. And now it's out on the internet for you all to read.

In seasons 1 and 2 I think Christina was the only character that had an interesting sense of style. (Scrubs, or as I like to call them, "professional pajamas," don't count.) In one of the episodes I watched recently she wore this long red leather trench coat over a tunic-tee with a low-slung wide belt over jeans. Interesting look, but not something I could recreate.

Meredith on the other hand has a much more preppy wardrobe. Her costumes are simple and pared down. The most interesting thing I've seen her wear in seasons 1 and 2 was a fine cable-knit heather brown sweater worn beneath a fitted brown and green tweed jacket. I actually really liked that pairing because the shades on sweater and jacket were similar but the textures really set the two pieces apart.

I don't have a heather sweater or a tweed jacket, but I do have a fine cable-knit sweater and a black jacket, so of course the resulting outfit would look exactly like what Meredith would wear. Nope. The result is very consistent with the multitude of black-grey-pink outfits that I've worn on this blog.

Considering the sheer number of garments that I own that are either black or pink, this shouldn't be surprising. Actually it's surprising that I haven't worn black and pink more frequently. I guess that means I'm doing a decent job of creating the illusion that my wardrobe is well-balanced in the color sense.

What's your TV guilty pleasure? Which character on TV do you think has an enviable sense of style? Do you ever tire of seeing TV characters wearing pieces from Anthropologie even if their character's couldn't afford it in real life? (I'm not jealous, I swear.)

Simple Simon

2011-04-19T21:40:00.000-04:00

Materials

sweater : eddie bauer
skinny jeans : gap

button-down : eddie bauer

orange scarf : old navy

brogues : target

This is outfit was inspired by a photo I snapped last winter when my friend loaned me his enormous loafers to wear while my shoes dried out from being drenched with snow.

Not terribly exciting. Okay. This is a simple androgynous outfit (hence Simon). I have had this sweater forever and rarely wear it and would love to replace it. Like Simple Simon I enjoy seeing the new "wares" available in shops but when it comes to my penny, as a grad student, "Indeed I have not any!"

I am proud that I have purchased very few new items over the year since I started this blog, and better yet I have gotten a lot more wear out of my existing wardrobe than ever before. That said, some of my clothes are getting rather dull and I think it may be time to start replacing rarely worn items.

P!nk Mitigated

2011-04-18T21:02:00.000-04:00

Materials

dress : gap

pink tee, grey wrap, grey scarf : old navy

tights : target

boots : clarks
belt : aldo accessories
cap: knit by mom

Guys, I think today is the last day I wear my boots until summer is over. Fingers crossed. It's going to be warm from now on. I really do think so! Just watch. I'm not crazy, I promise (just Californian).

Because last night's forecast called for flurries today, I took this opportunity to whip out one last layered wintery outfit. This one was inspired by a lovely yellow ensemble sported by modestly chic Nina of All Tumble Down. (If you haven't noticed, I tend to dress rather modestly myself. This is for both cultural and practical reasons. As a woman in engineering I would prefer not to have my physical assets be the only ones by which I am evaluated.)

I love how Nina wore super punchy colors but mitigated their blinding brightness with black and grey. I wish I had awesome patterned tights like hers. If I ever get around to buying lace tights I would layer them over the hot pink tights to limit any visual damage caused by this blazing color. Do you have any idea how awkward it is to have people staring at your hot pink knees all day??

Shout It Out

2011-04-15T22:37:00.000-04:00

Materials

green tee, orange scarf : old navy

grey vest : American eagle

belt : gift from friend

flats : rocket dog via famous footwear

jeans: gap

I thought about dressing professionally today but instead I gave in to my casual grad student tendencies and found another excuse to wear my orange scarf.

Today's outfit is a shout out to my friend, J. J looks fabulous in green, wears bgrey as her neutral of choice, and really knows how to rock the wide belt. She is also an amazing engineer who is determined to stay stylish even while following lab safety protocols that prohibit all sorts of fun girly wardrobe pieces. If you're reading this, J, I hope you like this lab-friendly outfit!

Have a great weekend, readers!

Sail

2011-04-14T23:51:00.008-04:00

Materials

plum trousers, orange scarf : old navy

black tank : gap

white blouse : american eagle (from a friend)

sneakers : converse one star (target)

While I was walking to school yesterday I saw a lady dressed in a lovely outfit consisting of a white billowy blouse with puffy sleeves that was tucked into slim-cut trousers. She looked fantastic and I wondered if I could try this style out, so here is my version. In retrospect the weather was nice enough and I should have worn cute flats.

This billowy top is awkward and lumpy and sheer, and I look like a shapeless giant sail when I don't tuck it in. But, as I discovered on Monday, sometimes tucking in a billowy top can create shape. What do you think? Did it work?

And The Kitchen Sink

2011-04-13T23:33:00.000-04:00

Materials

skirt, sweater, plum tights : gap

lace tank : old navy

brogues : target

belt : handwoven

This is one of those outfits that looked better in my head than it did in person. Looking at the photos I think it just looks a little hodge-podge.

I recently acquired purple tights and I was really looking forward to wearing this sweater and the tights together. This sweater is long so I tried to use the belt to raise the waist. I liked the belt colors combination with the purple sweater. The skirt looks awkward and I can't tell why. Maybe it's because it's too long or the wrong shape, or maybe the light blue and the purple just isn't a good color combination. Oh well, live and learn.

Panic Suit

2011-04-12T23:11:00.000-04:00

Materials

jeans : gap

green blouse : old navy

beige cardi, scarf : h&m
sneakers : converse one star (target)

My day started with research at 7am before an 8am seminar and 10am lab meeting, followed by several hours of frantic writing while I tried to finish a term project report. I wanted to look presentable for the seminar but feel comfortable for stressful library time.

This outfit's color scheme was inspired by an old photo of A., reposted on Academichic. (If you've never checked out their color tutorials, I highly recommend them!)

Obviously I pulled matched the three basic color blocks (blue, green, and beige) in my outfit today. Uhm, this scarf goes with like everything.

Billowy Blouses

2011-04-11T23:59:00.000-04:00

Materials

floral blouse, grey trousers : old navy

jacket : casual corner outlet

skinny black belt : aldo accessories

flats : hush puppies outlet

Today's forecast and schedule called for warm temperatures, pouring rain, humidity, and a one-on-one meeting with a professor who is highly critical of my project management style. I wanted to wear something that looked good, felt cool and comfortable, and dried quickly, so I went for cotton trousers, a light-weight billowy floral blouse, and a structured jacket. Heeled pumps would have looked great under these trousers, and I have some adorable gray ones that would match just perfectly. Unfortunately I am very sore from exercising and couldn't imagine walking around in heels so I went with flats instead. Also the jacket is a little too big. But all in all I really like the way this outfit turned out.

Looking nice doesn't have to cost a ton of money! I bought all of these items on sale. I especially like how the combination of casual pieces like this floral blouse with structured, more formal pieces like the trousers and jacket, make the overall outfit look put together without looking stiff and formal. The neutral gray and black calm down the loud pattern on the blouse, leaving it as an accent.

Speaking of sales, I've been drooling over this Anthropologie blouse for a few days:

Chiffon Swing Shirt by Anthropologie

I'm totally in love with this color. It's got the orangey-rust tones that I am longing for in my closet. While I did not walk away with a new blouse over the weekend, I did I find a new way to wear billowy blouse: tuck it in. The trick is to find either low-rise or high-rise trousers, as demonstrated by the Anthro model below. Low-rise trousers have a more relaxed look, where the blouse drapes through the length of the torso, skimming the bust and waist.

Billowy blouse over low rise trousers - Anthropoligie

Billowy blouse over high rise trousers - Kendi Everyday

High-rise trousers, like what lovely Kendi is wearing above, might have more of a cinched effect at the waist, and would look cute with a wide belt for even more waist definition. I don't own any proper high-rise trousers but if I did, that's how I would wear them with this blouse. Except I would find pants with cute sailor buttons on the front.

Do you wear billowy blouses? How do you style them? Also what do you think of this 70's trend of high-waisted bell-bottoms that's coming back?

Comment Monster

2011-04-10T01:40:00.000-04:00

Dear Readers,

Thank you so much for participating in a fabulous discussion about how femininity and personal style fit into an engineering career. Your comments have all been so thoughtful and stimulating! This has been my first real dialogue with my readers and I am really appreciating your inputs. (Honestly I'm surprised that so many people even read this blog!) If you are new to this blog and are interested in this discussion topic, I highly encourage you to wander back to last Thursday's post and check out the posted comments.

I'm sorry that Blogger has been so bad about eating comments lately! Even my comments have disappeared a few times. I realize that it is tempting to leave long thought-out comments on some of my recent posts, so I might suggest that you compose the comment in a better editing window, then copy the text over to the box when you're done editing/organizing and ready to post.

As always, thanks for your interest and support!
The Engineer

Carnival

2011-04-08T19:08:00.001-04:00

Materials

striped tee, mustard tee : h&m

flowy vest : american eagle

jeans : gap

brogues : target

scarf : handwoven

This outfit was based on outfits featuring yellow and stripes worn on two of my favorite style blogs, What Would a Nerd Wear and Between Laundry Days.

What Would a Nerd Wear

Between Laundry Days

I am really loving the yellow and green color combination. (See other my other yellow/green outfits here and here.) My version of has a much smaller swath of yellow than what these ladies wore. Also I had a little pattern mixing going on with this scarf.

Something about the plaid/stripe combination reminds me of carnival clowns.

Relaxed Fit

2011-04-07T23:41:00.001-04:00

Materials

jeans : gap

scarf, cream cardigan : h&m

green lace top : eddie bauer

Thank you all for your comments on my last post. Sorry my thoughts were a little disorganized but I'm glad you were sort of able to follow my train of thought. It's great to hear other perspectives on these issues of gender in science and engineering, and what clothing is able to communicate.

More dull colors today. Judging by the colors I am wearing recently you would never know that it's spring! Still, there's something to be said for wearing clothes that make you feel comfortable. After a long hectic week this morning I just wanted to wear something I could lounge around in. I think this outfit is the closest I will ever get to actually going to school in my pajamas. It's super comfortable to wear and yet still has some interesting details, like the eyelet lace and buttons on this blouse, which I absolutely adore:

Now just picture me in a photo spread of an outdoorsy catalogue, hiking in some misty forest and voilà! There you have the extreme peace that filled my day. This no-fuss outfit helped me get through a bunch of errands today, focus in a critiqued presentation and plan ahead for a review article I was just invited to write! I am very much looking forward to the month of May.

On femininity, wearing skirts, and being a female engineer

2011-04-06T22:42:00.001-04:00

I found the dress that I am wearing today at "stuff fest" during my junior year of college. Stuff fest was a giant pile of stuff that people didn't want to pack away or keep with them when they moved out. You could find some cool things in there sometimes but mostly it was a lot of junk. I always went to look for clothes, noting that many of my dorm-mates were more stylish than I was. Lo and behold I found this dress which I am a bit too modest to wear (it has a low sweetheart neckline and spaghetti straps) but I didn't own a casual dress at the time and I figured I would find a way to wear it eventually. Actually it was a challenge to figure out what to do with the dress. I didn't start wearing it really until 3 years later, when I finally got around to raising the hemline.

The story of how I obtained this dress is continued in this endeavor towards style blogging. I had many goals when I started this blog. One was to make better use of items sitting idly in my closet (there are still some items that haven't made it on this blog but I am trying to figure out what to do with them). Another was to try out different styles that weren't part of my jeans+t-shirt+sweatshirt college fare. This change in style specifically meant dressing in a more feminine way, but that has had some unexpected consequences.

When I was in college I almost never wore skirts. Look how far I've come! Just this week I plan to wear a skirt or dress three times. But the strangest thing about frequently wearing skirts now is that I'm still not used to it. While I don't think that wearing a skirt means I'm "dressing up" anymore, I still don't think of my dresses/skirts as go-to items in my wardrobe. I still think of myself as something of a tomboy. Sometimes I wear these skirts because I have them, not necessarily because I love wearing them. Recently, however, wearing a skirt or dress has felt a little like wearing a costume. Some of my female engineering colleagues have this impression that because I "dress up" and wear skirts and dresses semi-frequently that I am very girly or feminine, but I don't view myself that way at all. To me, the challenge of making a new outfit every day is first and foremost an exercise in creativity in the face of material and monetary constraints, and to a lesser degree it is a tool that I use to manipulate the way that others view me.

While sitting in a classroom before an engineering lecture today I had a particular disconnect between the way I viewed myself and the way I was dressed. I suddenly became very aware of both what my clothing communicates to others and how it affects the way I perceive myself. Concentrating and thinking about signal processing and computation and physics today made me completely shed certain parts of my identity, especially my age, race and gender. Perhaps this is the way it always should be, but it nevertheless felt odd and refreshing to escape from all the implications of identity and sink into some hardcore technical work. Some of my favorite moments are when I feel like I could be a brain on a stick and would be all that mattered.

For a split second I wondered if identifying myself simply as an engineer and not specifically as a female engineer pushed one small component of my personality to the "masculine" end of the identity spectrum by default? (Does concentration for an extended period of time itself place one more on the masculine end of the spectrum?) If so, what on earth was I doing wearing a skirt to an engineering class?

I don't think about femininity/masculinity or gender roles very often. Admittedly I have had masculinity/femininity on the brain recently, having met men and women who live certain aspects of their lives on the opposite end of the spectrum than one might expect. Theoretically I suppose you shouldn't have to carry your gender, age and race around with you and ought to be able to identify yourself simply as an "engineer," without falling into any default category due to the exclusion of other modifiers. Perhaps I have thought of myself as the tomboy for so long that it is taking time to become comfortable with my femininity. I'm not sure to what extent (if at all) the way I view certain aspects of my personality as masculine or feminine is a function of operating in the field of engineering or science for over 10 years.

If you've made it this far, I am seriously impressed by your ability to tolerate rambling. If you leave a comment I will thank you personally. Readers, I'd love to hear your thoughts on these matters. Also I noticed that many grad student style bloggers are not in the science and engineering professions. Who are your favorite science/engineering style bloggers?

Plaid Problems

2011-04-06T21:25:00.001-04:00

Materials

plaid dress, worn as skirt: stuff-fest
green sweater: old navy
white tee: gap
tights: express
boots: miz mooz via nordstrom

Here's an outfit I wore one day in the fall but never posted. My wardrobe is becoming seasonless: I have frigid-weather outfits, cold weather outfits, reasonable weather outfits, and hot weather outfits and they span the full range of colors, lengths, accessories, etc. So here I present a spring/summer dress worn as a skirt, surrounded by fall colors and accessories (tights, boots, etc.). Even I felt a little confused by what I was wearing today.

While I like the green I do think this sweater does a disservice to the dress by making the torso a bit too boxy and taking away from the fitted part of the dress. I also think I should have worn a tank underneath instead of a tee shirt because the large swath of white is both distracting and makes the whole outfit look really, really casual. Somehow it didn't look that bad in the morning but looking at these photos later I can say this outfit is not my best effort. All in all I think I liked the way I wore this dress last time better because it was more polished.

Flare and Flair

2011-04-05T23:14:00.000-04:00

Materials

jeans : gap

sweater : j crew

button-down : eddie bauer

scarf : old navy

boots : clarks

Another re-appropriated outfit today, this time from lovely S of Academichic. I am always looking for non-boring ways to style my button-downs and pairing it with a big sweater and a cute neck scarf seemed like a great idea. This outfit works for a lot of reasons. First, the contrasting shapes between her flared sweater-cape and skinny jeans is visually interesting. Second, the handkerchief fits with the overall color scheme of the outfit but adds a subtle pop of color.

I don't own a sweater-cape. They look lovely but remind me of that one episode from 30 Rock where Liz Lemon takes sleeping pills and thinks she meets Oprah on an airplane (ah what a great show!) so I don't think I will ever purchase one now. So I don't have a sweater cape but I do have this bulky light-grey sweater with a similar collar that I could button in a similar fashion, so I tried to use that. It definitely lacks the flare of the sweater-cape, which is somewhat disappointing. In this outfit S matched the deep shade of grey with a darker wash jean and dark boots. My sweater is lighter so I wore light jeans but kept the black boots, which admittedly isn't as chic. Finally I wore a super bright neck-scarf for my pop of color. Not as subtle and I think it makes my version of the outfit look a little crazy. Overall I'm not too thrilled with this attempt to recreate an outfit, but on the plus side I had a decently good hair day.

So, dear readers, I pose two questions to you:

Do you have any funky associations between articles of clothing (either that you own or that you refuse to own) and pop culture or strange experiences? If it is an item that you own, does this association affect the way that you wear it? (I'm not just talking, "my mom told me never to mix black and brown"... dig deep!)
What would you do with a bright orange scarf?

Black and Navy and Gray, oh my!

2011-04-04T20:16:00.001-04:00

Materials

grey ruffle tank, grey tights : gap outlet

floral blouse, pencil skirt : old navy

belt : gifted

boots : clarks

I've bookmarked a handful of outfits that I've seen around the blogosphere and at one time or another hoped to shamelessly re-appropriate. Today's is one of those. I've had this adorable black-and-navy combination bookmarked from What Would a Nerd Wear for ages and today I finally decided to try it out. Before I admit yet again to being a total copy cat I would just like to say that I'm surprised that my body shape is different and I own few of the same items as bloggers that I follow but still manage to re-create some of the styles, which I find to be a cool and unexpected consequence of being part of this community.

Today is the first time I've ever worn a wide belt and I must say it was an enjoyable experience. I've drooled over the way that other bloggers wear this chic accessory but have been hesitant to wear this one that I got for Christmas because I wasn't sure how it would bisect my torso which is already somewhat short. But I think it worked out okay. I can't wait to see what else I can wear with it. Any suggestions? Do you like to wear wide belts? If so, what's your favorite way to style it?

Finally, those same frolleagues (friends/colleagues) who made some interesting criticisms on my outfit last week seemed to like today's outfit. The question I kept getting over and over again is, "Why did you decide to dress up today?" I'm guessing this was mostly because it was a very gloomy, very rainy day. Well here are my reasons for wearing this particular outfit today:

I couldn't think of anything else. (Seriously! This is why I copied Tania, yet again.)
The day was bound to be gloomy and stressful, and dressing nicely always makes me feel better and more prepared to handle the day when I'm expecting a bad day. I must say, being able to put together a good outfit in the morning does put a "win" in my bucket that helps to mitigate whatever happens in the following hours.
I hate wearing wet jeans when it rains. They take forever to dry and dirt gets stuck to them. Tights on the other hand dry quickly and it is easy to brush dirt off of them, which makes them much better for walking 20 minutes to school in pouring rain. (I would have worn tall boots but it was way too warm for that. Yes, you read that right, I'm complaining about heat now.)

As a side note I cannot claim to be completely indifferent to other peoples' comments on my clothes, even though I would like to be. One year into this style blogging project I seem to be getting much more sartorial commentary both on this blog and in real life. I really appreciate the feedback, support and constructive criticism, and still endeavor to create new styles on my own.

As a member of the style/fashion blogging community, do you ever feel like a copy cat? How do you incorporate comments and feedback into your style choices?

Peacock

2011-04-01T23:58:00.000-04:00

Materials
navy tee, blue sweater: gap

green ls tee, purple trousers, scarf: old navy
earrings: gift from sister
sneakers : converse one star (target)

I've been inspired by turquoise/navy/orange/yellow combinations that a few bloggers have been sporting recently. In particular I really loved the colors and geometry of this turkish pattern posted on Academichic:

I wanted to try out a green and blue combination, but instead I pulled colors from peacock feathers for this outfit: purple, green, dark and light blues, and a touch of gold.

I also went to see one of my favorite bands from high school play a show tonight. Wearing skinny jeans to the show felt anachronistic, so I opted for loose-fitting cotton trousers atop my converse shoes, which is much more in line with early 2000s nerd style.

Moving On

2011-03-31T23:00:00.000-04:00

Materials

peach tee, white lace tank: old navy

yellow cardigan, belt : gap outlet

scarf : h&m

jeans : gap

brogues : target

Sorry I've been such a Debbie Downer lately. Things at school are frustrating and I am not coping with recent challenges very well. It's still pretty cold and grey outside too but I'm pretending that it's spring anyways. Here's a preview of one style that I've been longing for: pale colors and light-weight layers.

By coincidence, I found this photo of peach/white/yellow in What Would a Nerd Wear's pinterest folder... yay for spring colors! It's not quite warm enough for white skirts but when it is you can bet I'm going to try out this look.

Do you use pinterest? I just heard about it and it looks really cool. I think having a visual bookmark folder would be super helpful! Hopefully I'll get around to making a board soon.

Misfit

2011-03-30T23:39:00.000-04:00

Materials

teal mock-neck tee : express

orange scarf, black cardigan : old navy

jeans : gap

flats: hush puppies outlet

Something isn't quite right about this outfit, other than the overall feeling of "blah." I think it would have looked better if I had a caramel-colored cardigan (cream is boring, plus I wear this teal shirt with my cream cardigan all the time) that I could have worn with my brogues. I'm not too crazy about the black and teal combo. Also the way this cardigan ties in the front is odd, and would have looked better if I'd left it open perhaps. Maybe I should have worn bigger "statement" earrings, the teal ones that match. (Or maybe I'm just obsessed with oversized earrings.)

Today someone told me that my stubby pigtails look like "baby matterhorn" (not sure what that meant), one lab-mate said I always wear an orange scarf (which isn't true, I usually wear the grey one that looks just like this), and another lab-mate told me this sweater makes me look preggers. (Unlike many ladies in the fashion/style blogosphere I am ... surprise! ... most definitely NOT preggers.) Okay, so this was not my best style day.

It's the day before the last day of March, and it snowed two inches this afternoon. I'm so happy this month will be over soon.

Grad Student Chic

2011-03-29T20:21:00.001-04:00

Materials

orange blouse : eddie bauer

gray wrap & scarf : old navy

headband & dark skinnies : gap

sneakers : converse one star (target)

I spent the day organizing my academic life, so I went for super casual. The scarf is a mild attempt at making myself look stylish. 1 part recycled outfit + 1 part grad student movie inspiration = today's outfit.


Recycled Outfit from 2/3/2011	Ariadne (Ellen Page) from Inception

PS I am totally in love with gray. There, I finally said it.

Done

2011-03-28T20:06:00.000-04:00

Materials

tuxedo dress : gap

cardigan & belt : gap outlet

grey leggings : express

boots : clarks

earrings : gift from sister

Winter, I am so over your frigid temperatures. Classes, I am so done with your heinously time-consuming assignments and cruel early morning and late evening hours. Life, I am so finished with the crazy curve balls you are throwing my friends. I can't wait for spring and warmer weather and research and cook-outs and ceremonies and milestones.

Lately the days when I dress "up" have been the days which are the most trying. My lab-mate tells me this is a reason to go back to jeans and sweatshirts but I'm struggling to stick with the daily challenge of finding something interesting to post on this blog. I must admit I get a little boost every time I put together a brand new outfit out of workhorse pieces.

Cocktail Umbrellas and Tiki Torches

2011-03-25T21:39:00.000-04:00

Materials

yellow blouse : h&m
pink cardi : gap (hand-me-down)
scarf : h&m
trousers : gap
brogues : target

The temperature didn't even reach 30 degrees today, but it was bright and sunny. In continuation of my denial that winter is still here and propensity for escapist island fantasies, today's outfit is built around warm colors. I was actually inspired by the bold red-and-yellow combination found in this Obey Elephant print which is currently on my computer's desktop wallpaper:

I think the result of this outfit is less geometrically interesting and looks more like a misfit party favor from an ill-timed luau, but at least the warm colors are there. Surprisingly I really liked the brown shades in today's outfit. I even wore these brown earrings to tie in with the pants and brogues.

Why Not

2011-03-24T23:19:00.000-04:00

Materials

skirt : h&m

ruffle tank : eddie bauer

mock-neck : express

cardigan : h&m

leggings : express

boots : miz mooz (nordstrom)

What gives, Spring? How cruel of you to lure me outside with 50-degree sunny weather only to dish out frigid snowy insults just days later. Well too bad, I'm going to dress springy anyways.

This outfit emerged from a pile of clean, to-be-sorted laundry that has been sitting on my shelf for two weeks. I love it when doing laundry leads to inspiration.

Also, I love little ruffles. I may have to join The New Professional's ruffle-lovers club.

Yet Again

2011-03-24T00:03:00.000-04:00

Materials

black blouse : old navy

grey layering tee : old navy

grey scarf : old navy

dark skinny jeans : gap

boots : clarks

Yet again I am wearing black and grey. I know some of you must be thinking, "What gives, Engineer? Don't you own any colors?" Well I did wear some colorful earrings.

But seriously about the black and grey... I can't help it! Something about the monochromatic palette draws attention to textures, fabrics, details in stitching. My sister helped me pick out today's outfit. She is the most amazing comfy-chic dresser I have ever seen.

Today's outfit was designed for sitting all day - in the library, in the lab, in class. Drab colors for a drab day with drab weather. Oh well, at least I'm not wearing cream.

Spring weather has been such a tease. It's going to be 30 degrees tomorrow and I am at a total loss for what to wear. I'm racking my brain for winter outfits that I didn't get to try out, but only half-heartedly since I just want it to be warmer already.

Shades

2011-03-17T21:10:00.000-04:00

Materials

black tee : old navy

embellished cardigan : old navy

tree necklace : summer arts festival

jeans : gap

brogues : target

I broke out my sunglasses today. Spring is finally here!

With today's outfit I was aiming for a draped top beneath a cropped sweater, but I fear that either this shirt is too fitted or I am too shapely for draped tops. It didn't help that this cardigan isn't exactly cropped. I'm not sure how I feel about the brown shoes. I wish I'd worn black flats instead, but I didn't have time to pull them out from storage.

My, I am really on a black and grey kick. I'll incorporate a lot more color into my outfit tomorrow.

Spring Forward

2011-03-16T21:55:00.000-04:00

Materials

green blouse : old navy

orange scarf : old navy

blue cardigan : gap outlet

jeans : gap

sneakers : converse (target)

Hooray for the first day above 45 degrees! A girl could really get used to this warmer weather.

This was a pretty simple outfit for sitting around in the lab working with Matlab and sitting through classes in the afternoon.

Sorry for being MIA the past couple of days. The beginning of this week was super stressful so I just wore repeat outfits. Luckily the rest of this week is looking less hectic and warmer, too.

Busted

2011-03-11T20:48:00.001-05:00

Materials

striped tee : h&m

scarf : h&m

wrap : old navy

belt : aldo accessories

earrings : forever 21

skinnies : gap

boots : clarks

This post is exposing many things that I have tried to hide on this blog.

I frequently wear the same pair of jeans many times before washing them. Part of the reason is because I'm lazy and part of it is because I'm cheap and don't want to be dealing with mountains of laundry every weekend (hills of laundry on a bi-weekly basis is much more manageable). An unusual combination of illness, laundry and weather-related circumstances have led me to wear the same pair of jeans three times in one week. Please don't judge.
Whenever I'm completely lacking inspiration I usually look to see if I can re-appropriate any of the outfits on What Would a Nerd Wear. This usually works because Tania lives in a similar climate as I do, and I love her sense of style. Today's outfit is my version of this one... only it's severely lacking some red. I don't think the belt adds enough.
I never put my earrings away. They just sit on top of my dresser so I keep wearing the same 2 or 3 pairs over and over again for several days in a row. Today is no exception. I wore these earrings yesterday and last weekend.

Anyways, I wore this because I thought it would be suitable for lab work and seminars during the day, and an art gallery tour in the evening.

Research Casual

2011-03-11T00:23:00.000-05:00

Materials

elephant graphic tee : shirt.woot! (gift from sister)

black sweater : old navy

necklace : gift from dad

earrings : forever 21

skinnies : gap

boots : clarks

The title of this post is shamelessly stolen from a blog post label frequently used on Academichic.

My sister recently sent me this awesome t-shirt in a gift box. I love elephants! This is my first attempt at working in a super casual item like a graphic tee into a slightly more sophisticated style. I tried to "dress" it up with fancy earrings.

Effortless

2011-03-09T21:43:00.000-05:00

Materials
tee : h&m
dress : gap
scarf : handwoven
tights : target
belt : aldo accessories
boots : clarks

This is one of the nicer outfits I've worn in a while. It was so easy and comfortable and I got tons of complements today! I love that I'm wearing my favorite color (goldenrod), favorite scarf with an awesome geometric pattern, a dress, and bright tights without looking heinous. Ahh, I love it when things in my closet just work.

Hand me down and call it style*

2011-03-08T19:06:00.001-05:00

Materials

vest : cross jeans (purchased in Berlin)

floral blouse: old navy

skinnies : gap

brogues : target

necklace : gift from dad

Oh, hello 50 degrees. Long time no see. How have you been? Spring is here? I'll toast florals to that!

When I was a kid my mom used to have this bright teal sweater vest and I feel like a transplant from the 80s every time I wear this knit blue vest. I love it, but it is one of the "stranger" items in my closet. It therefore takes a little effort to style this outer layer in novel ways.

I tried for monochromatic today. The outfit photographed surprisingly well, and I was super comfortable to wear, too.

*Today's title brought to you by Metric, "On A Slow Night"

Slow to Start

2011-03-07T23:38:00.000-05:00

Materials

plum cords : gap

blue v-neck tee : old navy

lavender lace tank : old navy

scarf : handwoven

shoes : sketchers

After spending a week in sweatpants and flannel pajama bottoms it feels really weird to wear normal clothes again. I like the light blue/gold/navy combination on the top of this outfit, but I think today's outfit would have looked nicer if I was wearing khakis instead of these plum pants.

It was super sunny today and very cold. I think this is the first time I've seen a blue sky in over two weeks. Spring, come faster!

A Valiant Attempt

2011-03-07T23:33:00.000-05:00

Materials

grey cords : gap

red long sleeved tee : old navy

creme tank : eddie bauer

embellished cardigan : old navy

ankle boots : clarks

I wore this last Tuesday when I foolishly hauled myself to school while sick. After sniffling through two hours of class and coughing through an hour of lab meeting I declared defeat and retreated to my apartment for sleep and soup and Sudafed. At least I looked okay. Seems like I can never go wrong with grey and red...

Brief Blogging Hiatus

2011-02-27T13:41:00.000-05:00

Hello readers,

Last week is catching up with me and I am currently bedridden with a fever. I will be happy if I can drag myself to school in sweats to take my exams next week. I'm sure you wouldn't want to see that, so I'm going to take a brief blogging hiatus and will return to the stylish world in about a week.

Take care!

Canary (in a coal mine?)

2011-02-26T00:21:00.000-05:00

Materials
cardigan : gap
yellow blouse : h&m
purple henley : old navy
jeans : gap
boots : clarks
scarf : h&m

I'm going monochrome today! Initially I picked up this blouse as a token yellow item to wear this week, and noticed that the shade of yellow on the blouse and on the cardigan match very closely. I had on a purple henley underneath it all to add some warmth, and added a purple scarf on top for when I ventured outside to trek to campus.

This morning my compulsive email addiction finally paid off. I got up at 6am to get ready for class and found out that morning classes were cancelled. So I promptly went back to sleep til 9am, when I checked my email again and learned that the university was closed for the whole day. I wasn't just happy to get a snow day today, I was thoroughly relieved. This week has been so busy and so stressful that I welcomed a day to sleep in, spend inside relaxing, sipping tea before catching up on reading and homework. I realized today that I need to have an hour or two every day to sort of zone out - no music, no homework, no radio news. This "dead time" is really when I do my best thinking, and when all my ideas rearrange themselves, when I can collect my thoughts and prepare for the next day. I haven't had any dead time in over a week and I am stressed out, agitated, and unmotivated as a result. Having a few hours to zone out this morning, I was surprisingly incredibly productive the rest of the day. This outfit was basically designed so that I could wear tall waterproof boots to hike through snow, and so that I would feel comfortable and focused in the lab on my day off.

Go With The Flow

2011-02-24T23:09:00.000-05:00

Materials

navy twofer dress : BeBop ($20 at Nordstrom Rack)

cream cardigan : h&m

black belt : h&m

pearl necklace & earrings: gifted

black tights : express

boots : clarks

The awesome aspects of todays outfits are:

Pretty dress for $20. Seriously?!
I'm mixing navy and black. Usually this is totally not okay. It's one of those color combinations that makes me worried. But throwing in a third neutral shade like the cream in the cardigan somehow made it all look okay. I was tempted to wear red accessories (belt and necklace) but I figured if I kept the accents in the neutral range than it might look more polished.

Today was one of those days that started out with great expectations. I planned to collect some data with a new protocol, fix mistakes from an old protocol, give a fellow student a tour, meet the CTO of one of the largest healthcare companies in the world, and present a poster at a networking banquet. In preparation I dressed my best today. A close friend enticed me to buy this amazing dress (which got lots of compliments) which is visually interesting yet still professional. (Also, any store where I can find a nice dress for $20 is officially on my blacklist, because I cannot afford to indulge in similar shopping adventures even on a semi-regular basis lest I be tempted to buy every item that I find which fits.) I wore this necklace that is a gift from a mentor and close friend, and earrings that are a gift from my dad - two figures in my life who have encouraged and supported me in my academic and personal endeavors - as a reminder of personal strength.

Sadly none of the great things I was expecting for the day actually materialized. I wasn't able to collect the data I wanted, and I had to put off using the new protocol until another day because the postdoc who was supposed to help me got pulled away at the last minute. I had to tack on my study using the old protocol onto another person's experiment. The student whom I was supposed to give the tour didn't show up at the right time. I didn't even tell the visiting CTO my name, much less what I am working on. The poster I presented at the networking event garnered attention from a silent patent attorney, a postdoc (who already works in my lab and knows my research), a former colleague (who just wanted to chat), a current colleague (who actually asked me to explain my research), and two drunk undergraduates (who were guilted into listening to me because I made eye contact and introduced myself to them).

Met with one disappointment after the next I somehow was not upset. Today was, despite it all, a good day. Because you know what? Today was challenging. And I brought my best game, and I was prepared to do well. And none of the disappointments today were my fault (except maybe not engaging more interesting people at my poster session). Someone once told me once that luck is where opportunity meets preparation. I was expecting to get lucky today, and I was prepared, but somehow the opportunity just wasn't there. Oh well, such is life, tomorrow is another day, and I'm just going to go with the flow and keep bringing my best so that I'm prepared when opportunity comes along.

Feisty

2011-02-23T23:45:00.000-05:00

Materials
grey wrap : old navy
red blouse : gap
necklace : aldo accessories
black trousers : old navy
boots : clarks

Today is one of those days when I was surprised to find that I look put together and dressed up with very, very little effort. This is a very similar outfit to one I wore last spring. It's amazing how just changing the pants, shoes, and necklace make it seem like a completely different look!

Between the bold red shirt, pounding heels, tinkling of the beads on my necklace, and running around the hospital shadowing a very busy doctor I was in a very feisty mood this morning. I soon had the song "Revel In Contempt" by Buke and Gass stuck in my head. (Gladly - it's an awesome song!) I felt like a flamenco dancer, confident and engaged, marching around to my meetings today.

Time is a Luxury

2011-02-22T22:25:00.000-05:00

Materials

goldenrod tee : h & m

green sweater : gap

gold cloth belt : gap

necklace (& earrings): world market (& hand-made)

black pencil skirt : old navy

black leggings : express

boots : clark's

The green sweater is back by popular demand. It's turning out to be much more versatile than I expected when I bought it several months ago. Today's outfit was professional, comfortable and warm enough for spending 13 hours running around campus, to lab meeting, class, a networking luncheon, and business development seminar. I knew today was going to be a really long day so - for once - I allowed myself the time to prep in advance.

I finished my homework the night before. I went to bed crazy early yesterday (11pm... usually I'm up past 2am) and opted to wake up early. Before I went to bed I made a long list of things to do in the morning and how much time I would budget for each task. I leaped out of bed this morning a bit after 5am, did a little yoga, made breakfast and sat down to eat it, straightened my hair, got dressed, fixed my makeup, took outfit photos, and I was out the door at 6:30am, leaving me more than an hour in the lab this morning to review some journal articles before heading to class at 8am. The best part is that I didn't have to ingest more than my normal amount of caffeine to get through the day. For once in my life, I didn't just look put-together, I actually was put-together in real life!

Paraphrasing

2011-02-21T21:54:00.001-05:00

Materials

blue cardi : gap outlet

orange plaid button-down : eddie bauer

white lace tank : old navy

necklace : cambridge, uk market

silver earrings : mom-made

skinny jeans : gap

brown speckled wool socks : mom-made

boots : sketchers

Greetings readers, happy Engineers Week! Life at school is crazy for the next few days. Today was actually relatively low-key, with large blocks of lab time that I tried to use to debug some simulation programs. But the rest of the week is overflowing with E-Week activities, including networking luncheons, special seminars, a poster session and banquet, and will be followed immediately by my department's open house for recruiting new graduate students. So I apologize in advance for the brief posts and lack of commenting that will follow this week. I hope to catch up with all your recent posts soon!

What does an engineering grad student wear when it's time to trudge to lab through a "wintery mix" of snow, sleet, rain, and anything else cold and wet that could possibly fall out of the sky? This engineer looks to What Would a Nerd Wear to figure out how to style clunky winter boots. Today's I "paraphrased" two of Tania's button-down/jeans/boots/cardigan outfits: one in blue and one in orange.

My version uses blue and orange as complimentary colors. I also used a lace tank and a necklace to add my own style to the look.

Third Time's the Charm?

2011-02-18T17:43:00.001-05:00

Materials

blazer : casual corner annex (outlet)

pink blouse : gap

black skinny belt: aldo accessories

grey scarf : old navy

skinny jeans : gap

brogues : target

I really enjoyed wearing this today, but the photo was taken at 7am and I had only slept for 3 hours (thank you, concealer!) so you must understand why I'm not smiling.

It seems that I am perpetually late to the style party, but I was really inspired by everyones wonderful outfits from the Everybody, Everywear Blazer event. I especially liked the outfits on Snappy Casual and What Would a Nerd Wear, where the girls wore a longer shirt underneath the blazer and rolled the sleeves. I don't have a long white shirt, so I wore my long pink shirt instead. Also my blazer sleeves aren't lined, so I folded my blouse over the cuffs.

This is my third outfit this month which uses the black/pink/grey color combination (see others here and here). I must admit, since such a large percentage of the clothes in my closet are pink or black, this combination is bound to come up again.

Alright, time to relax and catch up on some sleep. Enjoy the weekend!

Feels Like Home

2011-02-16T19:54:00.000-05:00

Materials
teal mock-neck : express
blue cardi : gap outlet
khaki trousers : gap
scarf : h&m
brogues : target
earrings : forever 21

It was above 40 degrees today. This is my "normal" winter weather (I'm originally from norther California) so walking to school this morning felt oddly as if I was on vacation. What a great way to start the day! Not quite tropical, but any temperature that melts snow and ice will do.

I'm a blue copy cat today. This outfit is inspired by something worn by A at Academichic. She looks chic and put together. When I examined her color scheme I realized I have many of the same blues and greens. This is my version. I even wore brown shoes! I only wish I had a cute headband to wear, too. Halfway through the day I untucked my green shirt so that the color pairing was more apparent. These pants are old (from 2006). Somehow I've lost so much weight since then that these trousers sit awkwardly low on my hips. Also I was really proud of my curly hair for not looking awful. Way to go, curls!

Originally I planned to wear this outfit to shadow a doctor, but those plans fell through. Turns out it was just a comfy outfit for lab and class.

Islands

2011-02-15T22:01:00.000-05:00

Materials

jeans, tee shirt, cardigan : gap

scarf : handwoven

shell earrings : claire's

This outfit was born out of a frustrated rant yesterday in which I contemplated dropping out of grad school to go live on a tropical island. A good night's sleep however was enough to convince me to stick it out, and wear my island fantasy to school instead: white sand (tee shirt), pink flowers (cardigan), green palm trees (scarf), and sea shells (earrings).

This bright color palette is the closest I think I'm going to get to a red-green complementary color scheme.

Firework

2011-02-14T20:56:00.000-05:00

Materials

black turtleneck : charter club (wicked old)

jeans : gap

hat and scarf : knit by mom

tiered shell earrings : claire's (also wicked old)

I knew when I picked out my outfit yesterday that today was going to be a long, frustrating day. (And the day was indeed frustrating. Self-fulfilling prophecy? Of course.) So I looked for something simple and comfortable that would keep me warm first. Then I realized that a simple pop of color would not suffice to brighten my day - I need an explosion of color! And so this outfit is really all about the scarf and the hat.

My mom is one of those Molly Weasley types that always has hand-made crafts ready at the holidays. This scarf and hat are hand-knit from hand-dyed, hand-spun yarn. It's the brightest scarf I own and one of my favorite things to wear because these are super energetic colors.

Today's outfit isn't terribly chic but there are simple things that I could have done to make it more stylish. I could have worn dark wash skinny jeans and heels to make a more streamlined silhouette. Adding in my skinny black belt would have added a bit of shiny patent leather detailing and made the sweater a little more shapely.

Weekend Edition: The Pixie

2011-02-12T23:31:00.000-05:00

Materials

black blazer : casual corner annex
pink blouse : h&m
black skinny trousers : style & co. (macy's)
grey scarf : old navy
ankle boots : clarks

Today was laundry day so my weekly "Assessments and Planning" post is going to be delayed.

Here's an outfit that I have been wearing to "fancyish" events such as holiday parties, new years celebrations and, tonight, to a performance by our city's orchestra. I love the sheen on this pink drapey satin blouse! This isn't exactly what I'd call "professional" so I made a new category/label called "evening." You don't usually get to see my after-hours outfits (there are admittedly very few, I haven't been out much recently) but I will try to post more if I put something cute together.

Also in case it's not already obvious I think this is officially my favorite scarf. It is so versatile! It's really fun playing with all the different ways that I can wear it.

Resilience

2011-02-11T23:28:00.000-05:00

Materials

green sweater : gap outlet

grey ls tee : gap

gold belt : gap

purple cords : gap

scarf : handwoven

ankle boots : clarks

Please forgive me if the sentences in this post make no sense. I'm a little brain fried.

I think I've found a new favorite pairing for this scarf. The discovery that the balance between the light blue and shiny gold matches the hue of this green sweater was as surprising as it was beautiful. Like some other outfits this week, this is one pairing that just clicked. I suppose it's a mark of a good idea when it suddenly seems simple and obvious when you finally see it. It almost makes all the mediocre and bad style days worth it.

I'm not a huge fan of the belt with this outfit. If I were to do this again I might leave it out. On the other hand I'm glad I decided to be a little adventurous and wear the purple pants with the green. It didn't look as bad as I'd expected. Someone made a comment to me today that my pants are loud. Seriously, cord flares were the worst invention ever in terms of noise control. Between the heels and the flared cords you can here me coming from a mile away. It's sort of embarrassing, actually! So when this person commented on the volume of my pants I had no choice but to agree, laugh and move on with my life.

Incidentally the same thing happened this morning. When I went to pull my car out I noticed that my apartment's parking lot looked like an ice rink. I gave driving a shot anyways but my little car couldn't make it up my equally icy and sloped driveway. It was almost as if winter was laughing at me cruelly saying, "Hah you think you can do whatever you want!" And so I gave up on the car (after a little cursing) and decided to walk 30 minutes also over ice to get to school today. The cursing and anger helped out for a few minutes but eventually I just started thinking, "Winter, I'm so done with you. It's going to be 40 this weekend so take that, ice!"

Anyways what these anecdotes are meant to show is that I did a good job both sartorially and personally of being resilient to obstacles and past failures today. And as I've said so many times before, the greatest thing is that next week I get to do it all over again - the mistakes and the success.

Soft and Warm

2011-02-10T19:47:00.001-05:00

Materials
plum ls tee : gap
grey sweater : j crew
belt : handwoven by sister
jeans : gap
necklace : world market
matching earrings : handmade

I planned to wear skinnies and tall boots with this outfit but decided to wear roomier pants to accommodate tights and thick leggings and tall Smart Wool socks because the temperatures were in the single digits today! (On a side note, every time I think it's cold here, I always think that I would never ever survive the winters in Minnesota. Which is sad, because I spent a summer in Minneapolis and really liked it there.) Anyways I had to bundle up today because I decided to slide to school on a foot of ice instead of drive. Even so, wearing a bulky sweater made the rest of my outfit feel relatively slim.

This belt has reds, golds, and navy woven through it. Even though a plum purple isn't in the belt, I thought the dark color tones matched well enough.

I bought this necklace on sale at World Market just after Christmas, and made earrings to match. They mirror the gold tones from the belt and the purple from my shirt, and add just a bit of shine to the outfit.

Sorry no shoes today! I wore clunky boots to school (better for watching on ice) and grey converse sneakers in the lab.

Fade to Black

2011-02-09T23:01:00.000-05:00

Materials
pink button-down : gap
black cable knit sweater : express
grey cords : gap
ankle boots : clarks
necklace : aldo accessories

My goodness, every time I stand in my closet and think "professional" I end up looking at all the black and grey clothes in my closet. What gives?

Ok what actually happened when I put this outfit together was I looked at my collection of sweaters and pulled out the one that I've never worn on this blog before. I bought this sweater from Express several years ago, and it is the warmest and itchiest sweater I own. What that really means is that it's perfectly suited for layering over a button-down on an icy day with a high in the teens.

In any case, I was comfortable and put-together while judging engineering projects at a middle school science fair and presenting potential markets for a newly disclosed invention. Thanks so much to reader Rosiecat for suggesting that I wear this necklace! I think it looked fabulous, and was just the right thing to keep this outfit from looking vanilla or masculine.

Probability

2011-02-09T00:37:00.000-05:00

Materials

black dress : gap

grey flower cardi : old navy

leggings : express

red belt : aldo accessories

black boots : clarks

If style can be modeled by a stochastic process, where the event of having a good style day out of all days where one is wearing black, white, and grey has a nonzero probability, then eventually an amazing outfit will materialize.

I was pretty proud of how I looked today!

This was comfortable and chic and surprisingly warm. I think I've been a wimp about the cold temperatures lately. Today I just wore tights, tall socks, wool socks and leggings. A slip kept my dress from sticking to my leggings, and I layered a featherweight tee underneath the dress. (Okay maybe that is still a lot of layers.) Everything is nicely tucked together so it didn't feel too bulky.

Color palettes

2011-02-09T00:12:00.000-05:00

Materials
gold tee : h&m (purchased in Berlin)
vest : cross jeans (purchased in Berlin)
jeans : gap

I love this sweater. It may not look like much but it is an odd pop of color and style in my closet. I love the buttons and the gathers at the top, and the way the collar can be worn up or down.

I bought the sweater and shirt while visiting Berlin in the fall if 2009. Jewel tones were in style that season, and given 80's inspired styles common in that city there were lots of bright colors that I could not pass up. (as a side not, one of my favorite things about H&M is that each city has sells different styles)

I have worn this sweater with white previously, but I've decided to slowly move around the color wheel and find other color pairings. I might try it with salmon pink, orange, maybe even peacock green.

Have you looked up color palettes for 2011? What about the Color of the year? (Last year it was Turquoise, this year I think it's Honeysuckle - some shade of pink.)

Assessments and Planning

2011-02-05T23:11:00.000-05:00

Hello readers!

Thanks for bearing with my grumpy blogging over the last week. Do you ever have days where no matter how everything looks it just doesn't feel like it fits right? Where it's almost not worth it to bother wearing anything other than sweats? It doesn't happen too frequently to me (I know it may not sound like it -- I admit I am very self-critical in my blogging... I'll be working on that) and when it does it takes a tiny bit of joy out of blogging. But you all left such sweet comments! I really appreciate your support. There are always going to be good days and bad days, both inside the closet and outside, so I'm just going to stick with it and see what else I can put together.

The past few weeks when I was putting together my outfit choices I just kept adding components, especially layers and accessories. Part of the reason was because it was frigid beyond belief, and somehow I thought all my layers had to show. All that meant in the end was that I felt bulky and like I was just wearing too much stuff.

So this week I'm still going to bundle up but try to make my outfits appear less busy by using fewer colors and simpler layering patterns. Here's what I've got:

Monday: blue knit vest, mustard tee, jeans

(accessories to be decided - what would you wear?)

Tuesday: black dress, grey cardigan, red belt, black boots

(to make this warmer I may layer a skirt underneath or wear thicker leggings)

Wednesday: pink button-down, black wool sweater, grey cords

(accessories to be decided - what would you wear?)

Thursday: maroon tee, grey sweater, handwoven belt, dark skinny jeans

Friday: green pullover, blue/gold handwoven scarf, plum cords

(accessories: gold belt? knit cap?)

I may swap Wednesday's grey cords for Friday's plum cords. It depends on if I feel adventurous enough to mix those shades of pink and purple. It might clash, but then again most of my top half will be black so it might not matter either.

Enjoy your Superbowl Sunday!

Hello shorty, are you ready to party?

2011-02-04T20:58:00.000-05:00

Materials

white lace tank : old navy
navy v-neck tee : old navy
pale yellow cardi : gap
red belt : aldo accessories
jeans : gap
boots : clarks
red cord necklace : gift from dad

I was really excited today. I left my basement office to go to class and discovered the sun was shining. I might have gone a little crazy, too. Three hours of sleep will do that to you.

I basically thew this outfit together as an excuse to wear this red belt. It doesn't quite stand out but I was just happy to wear it all day. I even wore my red cord necklace to match!

This week seems to be challenging in terms of the proportions of my garments. I suppose it didn't help that it was really cold and I am wearing thick leggings underneath these jeans. With all my shirt layers tucked in my hip area was basically all padding. I can't wait til it's warmer.

But the real issue is that these jeans are mid-rise, and the sweater is cropped, so where they meet in the middle is a little too high up on my body I think. It makes my legs look uber long and my torso look crazy short. I ought to have worn my navy shirt untucked, over my hips. That might have equilibrated the length and actually let the cropped sweater show where my waist is. But, then I wouldn't have been able to wear the belt and, as I stated before, that's really why I wore this outfit today!

My outfits this week were really complicated. There were lots of layers, lots of colors, and lots of accessories. I think next week I'm going to go back to basics - simpler color outfits, streamlined layers, modest accessories.

Have a great weekend!

Almost

2011-02-03T19:22:00.001-05:00

Materials

orange button down : eddie bauer

grey wrap : old navy

necklace : aldo accessories

black pencil skirt : old navy

leggings : express

booties : clarks

This outfit was almost a good one. But I must admit that it looked better on the hanger than it did on me. C'est la vie. I might just be crabby because it was in single digits today and I am wearing a tank and a tee underneath that orange shirt, plus tights and tall socks and Smart Wool under those leggings.

I was really looking forward to pairing the necklace with grey and black, and wearing the shirt as a pop of color. One of the big problems with it was the length of the grey wrap. I hoped it would look more like a cardigan but it is too long for the length of this skirt. It also flares out oddly which doesn't jive very well with the straight lines from the skirt either.

This sounds like an excellent excuse to buy a little black cardigan, but I fear that if I owned one it would very quickly become my go-to sweater and all my creativity might go down the drain. And so I'm sure I will eventually pair this shirt with every other cardigan I own until I find a suitable way to layer it. (Stay tuned).

I love the look of button downs tucked into pencil skirts. Tania from What Would a Nerd Wear totally rocks this look. So does Angeline from The New Professional. I, however, seem to have some trouble with it, as is evidenced today and a few months ago.

I'm starting to think I just don't have the hips for it. The straight lines of the pencil skirt tend to exaggerate my inverted triangle proportions, especially since my button-downs tend to be a bit lose in the shoulders and chest. The one time I was able to wear the skirt successfully I paired it with a cardigan and top that were a little more shape-defining in the torso. I wonder if a wide belt might have worked, too?

Are there any practical items banned from your closet? How do you keep pencil skirts from looking boxy?

Been There, Done That

2011-02-02T22:36:00.001-05:00

Materials

pink cardi : gap

blue mock neck tee : express

purple henley : old navy

dark skinnies : gap

black boots : clarks

Okay let me explain. I wanted to do a complimentary color scheme today but I wasn't sure that the pink cardigan and nearly-teal blue mock neck really matched. Rather I thought they clashed. Awfully. I think the problem really is the saturation of the different colors. Take a look at the black and white version of this photo - that pink sweater is just so bright it overpowers everything else.

So I thought this purple henley would match the teal better and it would go with the pink better... and really the result is just a combination of this outfit and this outfit and this outfit. If my style were a pice of intellectual property, I certainly would not be getting a patent on this outfit for lack of originality (it's too "obvious" given prior art).

PS this blue shirt is the same as the black one I wore yesterday in a different color.

The Up-and-Coming

2011-02-01T20:20:00.000-05:00

Materials

black mock neck tee: express

grey ruffle tank: gap outlet

blue cardi: gap outlet

black skinny trousers: macy's

ankle boots: clark's

I'm on a neutral kick this week, apparently. Here's another outfit I planned a few months ago. I discovered that these skinny trousers fit right over my ankle boots, which is awesome because then I don't look like an army person with trousers stuck in tall boots.

I paired the blue sweater and grey ruffle tank with silver jewelry with turquoise beads. I really like the way this outfit turned out. It's simple, with just a few details like the ruffles.

The Geography Professor

2011-01-31T20:43:00.000-05:00

Materials

vest: h&m

white blouse: forever 21

grey layering tee: old navy

belt: gap outlet

khakis: gap

boots: miz mooz

Geography reminds me of safaris and neutrals - grey, white, and khaki. I felt like Indiana Jones today.

The first time I tried this outfit in November last year (when I was on blogging hiatus) I used darker trousers and a collared shirt. I think this blouse works a little better because it's a little more fitted. Also I like the keyhole-type opening in the front that allows the grey of my layering to peep through. I also love the asymmetry of the vest, although the tails did look silly sticking out from underneath my coat!

Anyways, this was pretty comfortable to wear. I'm not sure how I feel about the belt. The shiny gold buckle and folds of the vest reminded me of something out of Star Wars. (Don't ask me how I thought of that.) It accentuates the waist but also segments my torso in an odd way. Without the belt though there is a bit less shape to the garments. Perhaps if I could have used a thicker belt?

Assessments and Planning

2011-01-30T23:42:00.001-05:00

Hi readers! Last week was all about "shopping my closet" to get out of my style rut.

What worked:

I dressed professionally, or near-professionally three times.
I didn't wear skinny jeans once.
No repeated scarves
A variety of cuts, colors, textures and styles.
Favorite outfit: Yellow sweater with neutral flowered skirt (Wednesday).

What didn't work:

Proportions on Tuesday. I still think that outfit looked a little top-heavy with the bloused shirt underneath the sweater.
Simplicity on Thursday. I think if an outfit is going to have few components, they should at least mesh well in terms of color, texture, etc. The shiny scarf material clashed with my bright pink sweater. I think I like wearing that scarf with more neutral colors better.
Color mixing and layering on Friday. I could have done without that pink shirt inside, and maybe should have tried different colored pants.

So for next week I will still be shopping my closet, but I think I might tone down the experimentation. Here's what I'm thinking:

Monday: khaki trousers, white blouse, grey vest, brown belt

Tuesday: black trousers, black mock neck, grey blouse, blue cardigan, silver jewelry

Wednesday: (experiment) blue mock neck, purple henley, pink cardigan, skinny jeans

Thursday: black skirt, black leggings, orange button-down, grey wrap, long necklace

Friday: dark jeans, white lace tank, blue tee, yellow cardi, red belt

The order of outfits may change depending on how snowy it is and how far I'm walking to school, but this is the plan.

Not My Favorite

2011-01-28T20:51:00.000-05:00

Materials

yellow sweater : gap

orange henley : old navy

pink tee : j crew

camel cords : gap

boots : miz mooz

This is not my favorite outfit, and today was not my favorite day. Today was a dreary combination of "meh" and "bleh." But the great thing about getting dressed is that tomorrow I can wear something completely different.

I liked the orange and yellow pairing, and the yellow with gold earrings. The yellow and khaki pairing didn't turn out as bad as I had expected, but it still wasn't great. I was fussing with the layers all day, too, which wasn't much fun. Bleh. One of my labmates laughed at my insane layering. Another one thought I was being stylish though. You win some, you lose some. Meh.

I think this outfit would have looked a lot nicer if ...

I only wore one color underneath instead of 2. The orange and pink sort of blended together in an odd way. Perhaps the combination is a little too analogous. Adding in the yellow just made my top half look like a scoop of tropical sherbet.

I had worn grey slacks instead. Something about grey and yellow speaks to me.

Or maybe plum slacks instead? This color combination speaks to me, too. It says "grad student lab monkey." But let's be honest. That's exactly what I am!

I wonder if I could have tucked in this sweater? It's rather form-fitting and very long and bunchy. Is it weird to tuck in sweaters?

Stay tuned for a weekly style assessment and planning for next week!

Bold and Shiney

2011-01-27T21:22:00.001-05:00

Materials

scarf: handwoven

pink sweater: gap (hand-me-down)

brown tee: old navy

brown trousers: gap

boots: miz mooz (via nordstrom)

I know this isn't a blog about academia or life in general, it's a blog about my clothes, but today's outfit reminds me of one of the best mentors I've ever had. We actually became very good friends and she gave me this sweater. (Is that weird? I don't really care.) The point is, this mentor was very open and really easy to talk to, both about engineering methodology as well as matters concerning life and growing up and becoming independent. I try to carry this balance between practical career advice and good listening and relating to the challenges of life at university when I mentor my undergraduates as well.

This outfit is very much something my mentor might wear - trousers, a simple sweater or blouse, and nice jewelry. They are practical clothes for a practical person, but bright and bold as an expression of inner strength. And it's what I wore to a meeting with my mentee today.

I had expressed some initial hesitation about how to make it dressy, and decided that a very shiney scarf might do the trick better than my light grey cotton one. This handwoven scarf is made from tencil fibers which have a gorgeous sheen and make the scarf very soft and slinky. The colors don't match terribly well. I wanted to pair bright pink with gold. In spite of the strange colors I think the light blue in the scarf lightens up my outfit a little bit and separates that bold pink shade from my face.

Do you have a mentor? Does their inspiration ever make it into your wardrobe?

Mustard and Flowers

2011-01-26T20:20:00.000-05:00

Materials

mustard sweater: old navy

olive tee: gap

white scarf: h&am

skirt: h&m

black leggings: express

brown boots: miz mooz (via nordstrom)

Although it may not look like it, I'm busting out of my comfort zone today:

I rarely wear black and brown together. I wore black leggings and brown boots beneath this skirt.
I always feel like something has to match a color in this skirt. But this skirt has a very neutral color palette (black, white, brown), so really any color should go with it, right? This is the first time I'm wearing color with this skirt. Usually I wear cream shades or very pale pink.
There is nothing tucked into this skirt. I tried a high-waisted skirt kick and I don't think it's quite right for my proportions. I like how the skirt hits right at my knee, and the sweater covers a substantial portion of my torso. I think it makes me look a little less top-heavy.

You may also note that it's in the middle of winter, and yet I am wearing a skirt that I usually only sport in the warmer months. These black leggings are super warm and an excellent alternative to tights. I wasn't cold at all during my 20-minute walk to or from school today. I also layered a black fold-over jersey skirt (from Old Navy) underneath the patterned one. I'm not a huge fan of jersey skirts, but they do make for excellent layers in the winter months. The double skirts were surprisingly not clingy but I think the fullness of the top skirt may have helped a little in that regard.

So in summary, this outfit was super comfy, super warm, super easy to wear. Outfit score this week: 3/5!

Dottie

2011-01-25T23:20:00.000-05:00

Materials

black trousers : old navy

polka dot blouse : rue 21 (outlet)

grey embellished cardi: old navy

red belt : aldo accessories

booties : clark's

I think it's a lot easier to manage patterns in monochromatic outfits. Today I used a black/grey/white combination with lots of different things going on. The polka dot blouse has ruffles down the front and a darling rounded collar. The grey sweater on top tones down the pattern and its flower embellishments compliment the ruffles on the blouse. to add a tiny bit of color I wore a red belt.

This morning when I got dressed I discovered that these pants actually don't have belt loops. Oops! The cardigan is short enough such that belting over it looked awkward. Also the polka dot blouse is actually quite long (it covers my hips). It pleated in an odd way when I left the bottom out of the cardigan because the cardi isn't cropped enough at the waist. Next I tried to tuck the blouse in and wear the belt over the cardigan at the waist, but that looked bunchy, too. So I decided to let the shirt and sweater do their natural blousing thing and just wore the belt where I would have worn it if my pants actually had belt loops.

I'm actually tremendously happy with the way this turned out. It's conservative and modest for a professional setting, and just quirky enough to express a bit of personal style. So my outfit score so far this week is 2/5!

Whad'Ya Know?

2011-01-24T20:53:00.000-05:00

Materials

grey scarf: old navy
pink ls tee: gap
green blouse : h&m
blue cardigan : gap
grey cords : gap

... Not much! (Is anyone else an NPR junkie?)

I was not expecting this outfit to work out as well as it did. That pink shirt is so bright, so it was a good idea to cover it up with more toned-down colors. The green and blue paired with the pink is sort of a split complimentary color combination.

I love the way the neckline of the green blouse and cardigan line up. Also the grey from the scarf and the grey from the cords ties the top and bottom of the outfit together.

On the hangers this outfit looked like kindergartner's clothes. On me, not so much. Score so far this week: 1/5!

I'm Adopting...

2011-01-23T22:12:00.000-05:00

... this new "following" technology. If you'd like to follow my blog, there's a link on the panel on the left. Happy reading!

Assessments and Planning

2011-01-22T17:49:00.000-05:00

Friends, I am in a style rut. I wear my skinny jeans all the time. I wear the same scarves all the time. I wore so much black last week! I am not keeping to me resolution of dressing "up" twice a week. Part of the problem is that getting myself out the door at 7AM makes it a lot harder to do a dance in my closet trying to pick out things to wear.

So this weekend I've engaged in a little cleaning and organizing, which led to pulling out clothes that I haven't worn in a while, which lead to planning for next week. I don't know many style bloggers that post their planning pictures, but in the interest of self-improvement I will be process blogging today...

Monday: pistachio blouse, pink tee, blue sweater, grey chords, grey scarf

Tuesday: polka dot blouse, gray sweater, red belt, black trousers

Wednesday: yellow sweater, black patterned skirt, white scarf

Thursday: pink knit sweater, brown trousers, grey scarf

Friday: yellow sweater, pink tee, orange tee

Obviously some of these are more fleshed out than others. I'll be wearing the same grey scarf twice. I may switch out Monday's scarf for an orange one, if it doesn't clash too much. On Friday I think I will attempt to wear that yellow-pink-orange combo over camel chords, maybe with a gold belt. Thursday's outfit is undeniably plain. I may add a white collared shirt, but I'm afraid it will look too bulky. Thoughts?

Finally, I noticed that I have some "rules" when it comes to putting outfits together. For example, I hesitate to wear two knit items together, like a knit scarf over a thicker knit sweater. Do you have style rules, and do you ever break them?

Red, Beige, and Blue Paisley

2011-01-21T22:59:00.000-05:00

Materials

red ls tee: old navy
beige cardi : h&m
blue scarf : h&m
belt : gap outlet
jeans : gap

Yes I know I wore the same scarf two days in a row. It happens. Frequently. That's my real life, and I'm not going to try and hide it.

Yesterday's outfit was my attempt to recreate the cut/shape Tania's Simplicity outfit. After some more careful observation I realized another thing that stands out about her garments is big, bold blocks of color, specifically red from the scarf, white from the cream sweater, and blue from her jeans. Her cognac boots bring the red and gold shades from her scarf to her feet, balancing colors vertically in the outfit.

And so today I tried to make an outfit in red white and blue, too. I don't have a red scarf, so I used my blue paisley one instead. The red tee behind a beige cardi completes this not-quite-flag-colors trio.

So, this doesn't look anything like what Tania wore, and it's not terribly sophisticated, but it was comfortable and the layers kept me warm when the temperature outside was in the teens.

Dark and Stormy

2011-01-20T22:37:00.006-05:00

Materials

grey tee: old navy

grey wrap : old navy

blue scarf : h&m

jeans : gap

These are troubling times, my friends. Matrix indexing has gotten out of hand and is threatening my productivity.

This outfit was designed for sitting in front of Matlab wrestling with matrices all day. I won a few battles with Matlab today, but overall seem to be losing the war :(

Tania of What Would A Nerd Wear posted this beautifully simple outfit this week that I drew inspiration from today. I don't have an asymmetric solid garment like her creme sweater, but I tried to recreate that solid shade by wearing a grey tee inside my grey wrap. This didn't look as awful as I had expected. I'm surprised at how grey can look so different. When placed next to each other, my wrap looks brownish while the tee takes on shades of blue.

Overall, the look is pretty monochromatic and low-contrast. Hmm sort of like the fuzzy images I'm reconstructing with my poor Matlab indexing...

2011-01-19T23:23:00.000-05:00

Materials

black sweater : old navy

yellow knit blouse : gap

grey scarf : old navy

skinnies : gap

boots : clarks

This scarf is one of my favorites but I often wear it in the same way (as depicted).

The yellow shade on this blouse reminds me of Tweety Bird, which is why I don't wear it much.

This sweater has a bow tie at the front that doesn't always stay put, which is why it can be very annoying to wear.

Despite its faults, I liked this outfit. I was surprised how much dark skinnies inside dark boots made my legs look super duper long today. Adding a dark sweater with a bright shirt inside looked nice too, and the grey scarf lightened (in texture and color) the outfit near my face.

I think red accessories would have looked really cute here. Should have tried this with my new belt. Also I have red LEGO earrings that are cute and very engineeringly nerdy but not exactly the greatest fashion statement. (I think I've just found another challenge item in my closet!)

These Boots are Made for Walking

2011-01-18T20:15:00.000-05:00

Materials

black blouse: old navy

grey boatneck tee: old navy

belt: aldo accessories

skirt: gap

leggings: express

boots: clark's

earrings: local summer arts fair

necklace: world market

My there were some good sales over the long weekend! Don't worry, I didn't get any new clothes. Only some basic wardrobe staples that I thought would be versatile. Look out for these newly acquired materials in upcoming posts:

Tall waterproof boots - good for rain and sleet and snow, yet stylish enough to pass as a "dress" (ok, dressy casual) boot.
Long necklace - sparkly for festive occasions! My be looped, knotted, etc.
Skinny belts - in black and red.

I had another long day of classes, meetings, and research today. But I walked all over my challenges in these awesome new boots! I liked all the different textures in black that I wore today. The belt is shiny patent while the blouse is airy with textured sleeves and a knit band at the neckline. All the accent metal in my earrings, necklace, belt, and boots was silver. There is something really simple about this that makes a statement.

My biggest complaint about today's outfit is that I maybe should have used a wider belt. I couldn't tell where the best place to belt was. Belting under the bust made my shirt billow out as if I were pregnant. Belting at the waist or hips yielded too much bulk in the front of the blouse. How do you get around these belting issues? Suggestions would be appreciated.

Art Hunter

2011-01-14T07:36:00.001-05:00

Materials
black mock neck tee: express
patterned tank: express
pink cardigan: gap
necklace: art fair
dark skinny jeans: gap
boots: miz mooz

I still haven't done laundry and am still finding ways to remix a new outfit. Win!

Here's something I put together for a day full of class and lab work followed by a scavenger hunt at the local art museum. I chose dark colors to transition the outfit from day to night. Keeping my jeans and boots dark makes that beautifully bold pattern on my tank top pop out. I wish I had worn black boots, but alas I don't have any (yet... this shall be remedied shortly).

Scraps

2011-01-12T22:43:00.000-05:00

Materials
white blouse: american eagle (from a friend)
grey tee & skinnies: gap
black crochet scarf: gift from friend

Today was cold and snowy and cozy clothes in shades of grey were in order since I intended to curl up in front of my computer, read articles and debug code all day.

It's been a shamefully long time since I did laundry so I'm really digging around my closet these days. Here's a blouse that I picked up from a friend who was moving away. It's a little big but I like the puffy sleeves, the ruffles on the front and the little tie around the back. It's rather low cut I'm not a huge fan of the crew neck underneath, since the necklines just seem to clash. In any case, it was indeed a cozy outfit, in all its poofy lumpiness.

On A Good Day

2011-01-11T21:32:00.000-05:00

Materials
blue ruffled button-down: old navy
beige cardigan: h&m
jeans: gap
scarf: h&m
booties: clarks

Wrinkled shirt: proof that I've been at school for 12 hours... YES 12 HOURS. And you know what? It was a thoroughly enjoyable 12 hours.

I donned dark jeans and a button-down today in order to bring a little formality to my 8 am class. I actually made it to school at 7:30 this morning, which never happens. I started my day off right.

Well I'm glad that I dressed up a bit. Because at 9:55 my advisor asked me to present a research update at our 10 am lab meeting. Why not? (Okay I'd been sitting on slides since November, and when your advisor asks you can't really say no.) Despite a few opening jitters I sailed through my talk and got complements from every investigator in the room. Again, this never happens.

My day just got more awesome. I collected data in the hospital all by myself without any trouble for the first time. I gave my undergrad mentee some tips on finding a research position. I gave a pep talk to a friend. And later in the evening I went to an entrepreneurship lecture and actually participated in the discussion.

Sure, none of my accomplishments today were earth-shattering. I attend class several times a week, lab meeting presentations come up every few months, friends often seek advice, and seminars occur all the time. Still, positive energy was practically erupting from my head. I can't remember the last time this happened. Writing it all down now it sounds tacky, like that one dance scene from (500) Days of Summer.

This is all a bit off-topic. What did my clothes have to do with my unusually good day? What I'm wearing isn't a particularly stylish outfit. It's simple and clean-cut and just a bit above average. I wore dark jeans instead of light jeans. I wore a collared shirt with a little embellishment instead of a plain one. I wore heels instead of sneakers and pearls instead of fake crystal studs.

These seem like simple decisions, but I think they really jump-started my attitude for the day. A bit of effort and energy on a simple upgrade to my clothes (nothing outrageous or experimental!) in the morning meant I was assertive and on time when I walked out the door this morning. Being on time turned into being an alert participant in class. Being a good student (and well-dressed) turned into confidence to get me through a barely-rehearsed presentation. Doing well on my presentation turned into focus while running my experiment. Running a good experiment made me feel comfortable advising others. Being able to think about other situations rationally sparked my curiosity to explore other opportunities.

And that is why on a good day, style feeds confidence and confidence feeds style. I am more than what I wear, and what I wear can certainly help to remind me of that.

Making Lemonade

2011-01-10T22:29:00.000-05:00

Materials
pink tunic: gap
maroon layering tee: gap
brown tiered skirt: gap
belt: gap
scarf: h&m
boots: miz mooz

Please don't make fun of me for gazing "wistfully" at the wall in my hallway. I would put art there if I had enough art to hang. Bear with me - I'm still working out the photo location thing. In any case, this is my first outfit post for 2011! Hurray!

I love this skirt but it is hard to wear. (The last time I wore it was last February.) The ruffles on the bottom are great. I enjoy watching them bounce around as I walk about. I like how the length just meets my boots. What I don't like is that it is very high waisted, and that there are only three ruffled tiers. This means there is a tall fitted section that just doesn't flatter my body much.

I love this shirt but it is also hard to wear. (I wore it plain in April and tucked in August) The salmon color is gorgeous. I like the minimalist collar and texture of the fabric. The length is interesting, and longer than any other blouse in my closet. Unfortunately it is large in the shoulders and wrinkles easily. The length makes it hard to wear over most anything.

And what do you do when you have to work with two items that don't seem to be easy to wear with anything? You wear them together, of course! What I like about this outfit is that each layer meets the next. The base of the blouse meets the top of the ruffle. The hem of the skirt meets the top of my boots. I added the belt in order to raise and define the waist.

By the way, it was frigid today but this outfit was quite warm. I craftily wore leggings under tall knit socks inside my boots. I also layered a jersey skirt underneath the brown skirt, and wore a long layering tank underneath my layering tee.

Do you have items in your closet that are hard to work with? What do you do to keep them incorporated in your wardrobe?

Style Resolutions

2011-01-09T22:27:00.001-05:00

Hi readers! Happy new year!

Ever the delinquent blogger, I finally finished posting all my photos from fall. Unfortunately blogging got put on the back-burner after the middle of October. I did come up with a few new outfits off-line. Imagine...

The Geography Professor: brown trousers, white button-down, vest under belt
The Holiday Pixie: black skinny trousers, ankle boots, festive pink blouse, black blazer, grey scarf (worn as bow tie)
The Carnival: dark skinnies, ankle boots, yellow tee, striped tee, vest, green scarf
The Winter Flower: ice blue skirt, white blouse, grey embellished cardi, new grey pumps from Target
The Up-and-Coming: black skinny trousers, ankle boots, black mock neck tee, grey ruffle tank, blue cardi

I'm sure there were others. The problem with not blogging is that I don't remember them because I don't have a photo to look at later.

Anyways, for 2011 I need to first find a new place to take photos. But for the rest of the year I have some resolutions:

The addition of any item to my closet must result in an item being removed, donated, gifted, etc.
I want to mix patterns more.
I want to be more adventurous in my color choices.
I need to dig into my closet more. While keeping this blog has been a great way to find ways to use clothes that I hardly ever used before, now I have neglected some clothes that I wore frequently before. I want to both incorporate recent finds and reincorporate old items in my daily wear.
Aim to dress "up" or "professional" least twice per week.

Do you have style resolutions?

Going Brogue

2010-10-14T21:44:00.000-04:00

Materials

white lace tank: old navy

pink blouse: forever 21

blue cardi: gap

skinnies: gap

green headband: gap

oxfords: target

Yes, I did just make that awful, awful pun.

I've been eyeing cute oxford shoes for a long long time but can't part with the money to pay for a nice pair. So I settled for these Target knock-offs. If it turns out that I wear them a ton then I'll probably invest in a nicer pair when I have more cash.

In any case, I think this style of brogues and rolled jeans is super cute! Here's my first outfit to show off these new shoes. (They are actually a nice cognac color that is a bit lighter than the way they look in the photograph.) I offset the androgynous shoes with a lace tank, pink blouse, and floral headband.

Tight Statement

2010-10-04T21:31:00.000-04:00

Materials

purple tee: old navy

black shift dress: gap

belt: gap

purple scarf: h&m

green tights: target

booties: clark's

Whoa, bright tights! I've had these stashed in my drawer for a while and finally decided to wear them again. Because the tights are so, so bright I toned down the outfit by going all-black. Ok, almost all black. This big scarf has a similar green/teal shade, as well as purple, blue, and light pink. So I layered a dark purple shirt underneath.

I'm wearing a brown belt today over this black dress. Surprisingly it doesn't look too awful since the belt is thin and the leather is really dark. I love the gold buckle on this belt - it has a pretty flower motif on it that mirrors the floral pattern in my scarf.

City Suit

2010-10-01T21:15:00.000-04:00

Materials

pink blouse: forever 21

black blazer: casual corner annex

white scarf: h&m

skinnies: gap

shoes: converse 1 star (target)

I don't have many blazers, and I don't wear them very often. So here is my first attempt at pulling off this timeless fall trend. I decided to play with layers of varying lengths. Starting off with a "classic" pairing of black, white, and denim, I added the pink blouse for a bit of color. The tiers of the bottom of my blouse stick out below the jacket when it's buttoned up, adding a little more of a flare at my hips and making my waist look smaller.

Variations on a Theme

2010-09-29T20:58:00.001-04:00

Materials
beige cardigan: h&m
white tee: gap
skirt: h&m
white scarf: h&m
belt: gap
flats: rocket dog via famous footwear

I found this skirt on sale many years ago and didn't wear it for the longest time because I could never figure out what matched! The brownish red shade at the hem is really hard to work with. So today I decided to go with the KISS method. Specifically, I just let the skirt and its patterns be the centerpiece of the outfit, and layered shades of white/cream/beige which are in the print of the skirt.