Unexpectedly Sunny with a Chance of Moral Superiority

In honor of a very Southern winter day, a little Scarlett O'Hara

Tunic: COIN, Florence, Italy, gift from parents

Leggings: Target

Shoes: TOMS (The link goes to the silver ones because the black ones aren't available right now.)

Earrings: Bazaar in Turkey

This morning I checked the weather online before I got dressed. It said there would be rain and a high of 69, which was a little disappointing because I really wanted to wear these cute faux suede flats with little netting rosettes. They would have gone perfectly with this outfit, but I didn't want to get them wet, so I went for my TOMS instead. I layered my favorite all-purpose gray cardigan to stay warm in the wet weather, grabbed an umbrella, and headed out.

Cut to 12:45 this afternoon, when I was walking back to my office from a class. The sun was out, the birds were chirping, and it was about 75 degrees. I felt like I had stumbled into April. Last month, I had to buy a hat (something you almost never need this far south) because the high was consistently 40. Today, there were shirtless guys playing soccer on the intramural field next to my building. And that, dear readers, is winter in the South. Arctic frigidness one day, tropical breezes the next. Our summers may be impossibly hot, but at least it's easy to dress when you know it's going to rain every afternoon at 4:00 and be 95 humid degrees the rest of the day.

So anyway, this outfit wasn't quite what I wanted, but I think it's okay. I love this tunic that my parents brought back from Italy in the fall. My mom said that all the Italian girls were wearing them, which makes me feel super-fashionable and honestly a little smug about my fashion-forwardness. Combine that with the self-righteousness I get from wearing my TOMS, plus the fact that my earrings cost one lira in a Turkish bazaar and are therefore international and cool, and you have an outfit that should send me to the top of the prayer chain at church. And I don't mean the "people who are sick and needy" prayer chain. I mean the "people whose souls need some help" prayer chain. Yikes.

The paparazzi for my photo session: Atticus

I Know Because I Got the Coat

Blouse: ModCloth
Pants: LOFT
Shoes: Gianni Bini via Dillards, gift from mom
Belt: Thrifted
Earrings: Thrifted
Purse: Shop in Florence, Italy, gift from parents

Okay, so I generally won't post about non-academia-related activities unless they're really interesting, but this one was really interesting. Cary and I had a date night last night, and this is what I wore. I built the outfit around the shoes, which I love but don't get to wear very often. (My mom and I joke that these are the Shoes of Salvation - check it out.) We went to a fancy restaurant in a nearby town that we have enjoyed in the past, but they were having an off night. We'll give them another chance because we know they're great normally, but last night wasn't our best experience there.

We wanted dessert but were kind of done being at that restaurant, so we came back to town and went to the Clock. The Clock is one of those small-town dives that is open 24 hours a day, serves what could loosely be described as food, and is the only option after 10:00 pm. When we were walking to our booth (which, not kidding, was held together with duct tape), we passed an older lady - in her 70s, gray hair, African-American, reading the business section of the USA Today. She saw my shoes and commented on how much she liked them, I said thanks, and I thought that was the end of our conversation.

15 minutes later, we were eating our ice cream sundae and she got up to leave, but first she came by our booth to talk more about my shoes. And boy, did we talk. Highlights of the conversation:

Her: I like those shoes. I know because I got the coat.

Her: Story about getting bullied for wearing a kelly green coat with leopard trim at a rural school in Georgia in the 50s (which I thought sounded kind of fabulous).
Me: I think you were just too fashionable for them.
Her: I know, I was!

Her: So anyway, I saw this girl with purple boots, because I'm a Red Hat Lady, you know we wear red and purple? And I said where'd you get those? And she said I might not be able to walk in them. And I said, girl, don't let the gray hair fool you. I'd be out to the club right now if I didn't have to go to work tomorrow.
Me: I believe you would.

Our ice cream was kind of meh, but this lady was a gem and I'm glad I got to talk to her. Any woman who believes she can rock purple boots at a Red Hat Lady meeting at the age of 72 (which was her age, she told me) is okay by me. Plus I'm kind of curious if anyone still makes that kelly green coat. I might need one.

Local Safari

T-shirt: LOFT

Jacket: LOFT

Jeans: Levi's 545s

Shoes: Converse

Purse: Gift from my sister, via e-Bay

Necklace and earrings: Family heirlooms

I'm not sure if I will always post on Saturdays, but I had to do a work thing today, so I think this falls into the category of "academic wear." Part of my job is to supervise groups of students who come to the US for short-term study abroad programs, and today we took a group to see some local wildlife and then for a barbecue. The wildlife part of the day involved a lot of walking, so I needed to be comfortable, and winter days this far south start 35 degrees and end up 70, so I needed layers. Besides all that, I overslept and had zero time to get ready, so I fell back on one of my favorite t-shirts, comfy jeans, and my well-worn Converse All-Stars. I felt good in this, so I think it worked. My husband Cary took these pictures as I was running out the door. I think we spent approximately 30 seconds on pictures. Some days are like that, even in Australia (name that children's book!).

A word about the necklace. Cary asked me before Christmas if there was any one piece of jewelry that I was missing, so I told him that I didn't have a long pendant necklace. He mentioned to his mom that he was looking for one for me, and she offered this one, which belonged to her mother and was one of her favorites. I was so touched that she gave it to me that I wore it pretty much every day for at least two weeks. I'm really blessed to have such an awesome mother-in-law.

Finally, some pictures of what I got to see today. Even though I live here, I'm still amazed by what nature has to offer.

One of about 50 that we saw

You can't really see them well, but these are wild horses.

Last-Ditch Inspiration

I've been thinking about starting a blog for a while. I went back and forth on what to call it, whether anyone would read it, whether my clothes were cute enough to warrant a blog, and on and on. Then this morning, I overslept, tried on at least five different outfits, threw on the sixth in an act of complete surrender to my closet, and ended up loving it. I was so tickled that my last-ditch effort turned out so well that I had to document it. And thus the blog.

So what was this last-ditch effort? Here it is. I thought it was very schoolteacherish and therefore an appropriate first post for Academia Sartorial.

Blouse: LOFT

Skirt: Target

Sweater: Target

Stockings: Target

Shoes: LOFT

Earrings: Brian Moody

Today was obviously the LOFT and Target show. Like educators everywhere, I don't have tons of disposable income, so I frequent these two stores (and LOFT only when there's a sale or I find an outlet). My earrings, however, were made by a dear friend who is an artist and jeweler. Love you, Brian Moody!