Recommended Reading

Academia and Sartorial: It's Homecoming weekend at my university, and when you live in a town that owes its entire existence to a university, Homecoming tends to shut everything down. The university, all of the schools, and many businesses are closed today for the Homecoming parade, and there's a big pep rally tonight. Cary and I are skipping all of that because 1) we've done it all several times before, 2) our football team kinda sucks right now, and 3) my grandmother's 80th birthday party is tomorrow. So we're at my parents' house for the weekend instead, and this is what I wore yesterday for work and the drive down.

Fun Stuff: Friend Friday is all about books today. I love to read, so I'm really excited about this. We're supposed to share either our five favorite or five that we've read recently. I'm going with my five favorite. In no particular order, here they are:

1. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. I've mentioned before on this blog how much I love this book, but I'll say it again. This is the best book ever. It has everything you'd ever want in a book. I named my cat after one of the characters. It's that great.
2. The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien. I'm counting the whole trilogy as one book, since that's how Tolkien wrote it. Best part: Frodo and Sam's final climb up Mount Doom. It's such a great trilogy that I hate to say there's a worst part, but here it is: the Council of Elrond. Five minutes in the movie, fifty pages in the book, during which the plot completely ground to a halt.
3. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. I know it's not politically trendy to like Ayn Rand right now, but I really loved this book. Beyond the philosophical message of the book, which is definitely interesting whether or not you agree with it, it had strong characters and a great plot. And now I know what "Who is John Galt?" means, so I feel like I'm on the inside of an inside joke when people say it.
4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling. It was hard to pick one Harry Potter book above the rest (shout-out to Prisoner of Azkaban), but Deathly Hallows really had it all: a fast-paced, heart-pounding plot, a killer battle scene, a make-out session inspired by house elves, and formerly tame characters being total badasses (what's up, Neville Longbottom and Mrs. Weasley). Plus, the whole book (and really the whole series) was a wonderful reflection on love and death, and the power the former gives us over the latter. Definitely not just for kids, y'all.
5. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. I read this book approximately 587 times when I was a kid. Really, every little girl should read this book. Even though it's 150 years old, what it has to say about young women and how they relate to each other and the world still holds up.

So there you have it, y'all. My five favorite books of all time. There are tons of books that I love, but these are the five that will stick with me for the rest of my life. What about y'all? What are your favorite books?

Puss in Boots

Academia: Fall is here! A cold front came through on Wednesday, and so the high temperature yesterday was about 68. I got really excited, as you can see by my tights and boots. It'll be back in the 80s by early next week, but for now, the weather is perfect for shaving hot chocolate with out-of-town cousins and snuggling under a down duvet, which is exactly what I did last night.

Sartorial: The theme of this Friend Friday is Halloween. I love costumes, and have nothing against Halloween, but since I live in a college town, all the adult Halloween activities seem to revolve around getting hammered and dressing up as a slutty [insert character here], e.g. the Slutty Pumpkin. I haven't really done Halloween in a few years, so this should be interesting...

1. Do you have plans for Halloween? What will you dress up as this year? My only plan is to hand out candy to trick-or-treaters. I love doing that, especially early in the evening when the littlest trick-or-treaters are out being adorable. I don't think I'll dress up, but I always try to have the best candy on the street. No sketchy paper-wrapped taffy here.
2. Where do you go for costume and makeup inspiration? When I dressed up for Halloween as a kid, I always wanted to be pretty, not scary. So I got a lot of inspiration from Disney. I haven't dressed up in several years, but wearing a princess costume still appeals to me, so I'd probably still take my cues from the Mouse :)
3. What was the best costume you've ever donned? When I was six, I decided I wanted to be Puss in Boots for Halloween. So I dressed as a cat, and wore cowboy boots. It was awesome. My inner literary critic was so pleased with herself. I was a character from classic literature! Yes, my six-year-old self had an inner literary critic. But no one got it. Everyone just said, "Oh, a cat!" My inner literary critic was highly offended.
4. What's the most creative costume you've ever seen? I didn't see this because it happened before I was born, but my mom says that one year, my dad convinced her that they should wear all black to a Halloween party and tell people that they were "shadows of their former selves." Not shockingly, no one got it, and they had to spend the whole night explaining their costumes. I love it though. And now the whole Puss in Boots thing is starting to make sense.
5. No holds barred - if you could dress up as anything, what would it be? Scarlett O'Hara. I need to wear a hoop skirt and a pretty ball gown. They just look like so much fun. Plus, Scarlett was the queen of refashioning - she made a dress out of curtains long before Maria von Trapp ever thought of doing it. She should be the patron saint of fashion bloggers.

So there you have it, friends. Apparently I'm destined to always want to dress as literary characters, be it the hero of a fairly obscure fairy tale or the original steel magnolia. What about y'all? Are you dressing up for Halloween this year? What have been your best (and worst) costumes?

"Fall" in the South

Academia: I'm taking the day off today (Epcot Food and Wine Festival, yay!), and yesterday was the kind of easy day that segues so wonderfully into a long weekend. I started the day with a good doctor's appointment, and then I spent the afternoon out of the office - working, just not at my desk. Besides being out enjoying the sunshine, it was nice not have to nag anyone all afternoon. I was thoroughly relaxed by the time I got home, an unusual feeling for the end of a work day. It was very nice.

Sartorial: Today's visual Friend Friday is hosted by Iris of 260 Days No Repeats, and the assignment is to dress in a quintessentially "fall" outfit. Here in the Deep South, fall happens for about three weeks in December, definitely not October. It's still in the mid-80s in October, and that's a huge improvement over September, when it was in the mid-90s. By mid-October, we're all sick of being hot and we're ready to wear fall clothes, but the weather just won't catch up. So for me, a quintessentially "fall" outfit is like this one: it looks cozy and warm, but the blouse is paper-thin and the pants are very breathable, so I can stay cool while pretending I live in a state that has all four seasons. Seasons we actually have: A Sauna in Hell, What New Englanders Consider Summer, and January.

Trendsetter (Or Not)

Skirt 

Academia: Nothing to note, except a big apology for not replying to any comments over the past week or so. The combination of being sick, having family in town, and the normal busyness of life has turned me into a bad blogger. If you've left me a comment and I haven't replied to it, or commented on your blog if I normally do that, I promise that I will catch up over the weekend. Y'all are awesome, and your comments mean a lot to me.

Sartorial: It's Friend Friday, and topic this week is trends. I wouldn't consider myself remotely trendy, so this should be interesting. Here goes!

1. Do you ever see a fad hit the stores and immediately dislike it? Has that fad ever begun to grow on you? Yes. When leggings came back a few years ago, I hated them. They reminded me of everything that was wrong with early 90s fashion, and every girl on campus wore them as pants. But then I started to see them paired with tunics and minidresses, and I realized that they were way more comfortable than regular pants, and I loved them.
2. Has the popularity of a certain piece of clothing or line ever convinced you to try on something (or purchase something) you dislike? Maybe when I was a teenager, and my top fashion priority was blending in, but not in recent memory. I don't wear things I don't like. For example, I have never owned a pair of Uggs.
3. Have you ever changed your mind about a trend after seeing it around for a while? Well, there's the leggings example I gave in #1. But I also have started to like color blocking more than I used to, especially close colors like pink and red or blue and green.
4. Do you feel a certain pressure to have specific items in your closet because everyone else does? Not really. Like I said, I tend to just buy what I like. But I do get inspired by seeing other people wear trends that I didn't think I'd like at first. For example, I wasn't sure at first when wide-leg jeans came back in, and then I saw a bunch of other bloggers wearing them and really wanted to try them myself.
5. Be honest, what did you think of the Missoni line? Did you grab any items? Is it worth the eBay prices? Honestly, I liked some individual items, but Missoni isn't really "me." My first reaction was "whoa, that's some loud print," and then I saw some pieces that some blogger friends bought and thought those pieces looked pretty good on them, but I still wasn't really motivated to run out and buy any for myself. So for me, no, it's not worth the eBay prices, but I see why it would be for someone whose personal taste lines up with Missoni's look a little better.

So those are my thoughts on trends. What do y'all think? Do you consider yourself trendy?

Like It's 1999

Skirt, Brian's Etsy Shop 

Academia: Nothing particularly remarkable happened yesterday. The most out-of-the-ordinary occurrence was that an off-campus meeting got out way earlier than I expected, so I used the extra time to go to a coffee shop downtown. Sometimes it's nice to have a quiet day like that.

Sartorial: Today's visual Friend Friday is hosted by Shelley of GS Lillian, and the theme is "Decades." I was a little stumped about what to wear at first. I wore some things earlier this week that seemed decade-y - my 70s 12-year-old get-up from Monday or my 60s mod outfit from Wednesday - without really thinking about needing to wear either of those things for today.

Since I had a meeting yesterday, I wanted to wear my blazer, and then it came to me: the 90s. The 90s weren't too long ago, but styles have definitely changed since then, and I thought it would be fun to honor the decade of my adolescence through fashion.

While this outfit may not scream "party like it's 1999," the skirt and blazer are definitely 90s-inspired. Remember this?

Via

And this?

Via

This is just an updated version of that. I wasn't interested in breaking out the shoulder pads and combat boots (not that I have those things anyway), but it was nice to pay subtle tribute to the decade that saw everything in my life from my obsession with Laura Ingalls Wilder to my first kiss. Which was during practice for my eighth grade English class's performance of Romeo and Juliet, if you were wondering, and the final performance was so bad that I'm surprised Shakespeare didn't rise from his grave just to punch us all in the teeth.

Blackbird Singing in the Dead of Night

Dress, Brian's Etsy Shop 

Academia: New students, foreign professors, etc. etc. I want to talk about clothes today!

Sartorial: Today's visual Friend Friday is hosted by JK from Adimpleate, and the challenge was to create an outfit inspired by your favorite song. I immediately thought of "Blackbird" by the Beatles. Of all the Beatles' great songs, I think "Blackbird" is one of the very greatest. The simple guitar accompaniment and uplifting lyrics have always made me feel better about any difficult situation I've happened to be in. If you're not familiar with the song, you really should be. Listen here.

The obvious first step in dressing like this song was to wear a black dress, but I struggled to come up with the details that would really say "Blackbird." I don't have any feathers or bird-related accessories, other than an owl necklace that is brightly colored and really has nothing to do with the song. And then I thought of this awesome jacket that my dear friend Brian thrifted for me a few months ago ($2!). It's so cute, but kind of heavy and it's been 100 degrees almost every day since Brian gave it to me, so I have been waiting forever to wear it.

So when the temperature finally dropped into the 80s today, I thought of this jacket and thought, "All my life, I was only waiting for this moment to arise." Just like the eponymous blackbird! And the outfit ended up looking a little 60s, which was perfect for a Beatles-inspired ensemble.

And now it's getting late, so excuse me while I fly into the light of the dark black night. Man, the corny song references just keep on coming! I'll be here all week, y'all.

Five for Fall

Academia: How do you fix a day that starts with a bad doctor's appointment? You get an iced chai on the way to work, giggle with your girlfriends when you're supposed to be listening to a presentation, go out to dinner with your husband and good friend, and end the day on the couch watching reruns of Friends and Will and Grace. At least, that's how I did it yesterday. Clapping along with "I'll Be There For You" makes me happy every time.

Sartorial: Today's Friend Friday assignment is to list the five fall trends that we're looking forward to trying out. I'm horrible at noticing trends before they're so ubiquitous that Cary's fifth graders are wearing them, but this year I bought the gargantuan September issue of In Style, so I've done my research. Here they are, my top five favorite fall trends:

1. Ladylike. In Style says this is happening, and I'm psyched. As someone who wore only dresses and multiple plastic necklaces at once as a child and a tiara to her wedding as an adult, I can't get enough of girly ruffles, Mad Men-esque full skirts, and demure necklines.
2. Maxi skirts. This trend is still going on, which is great for me because I just now got on board and bought a maxi skirt. A skirt that keeps me warm in the winter and doesn't require me to shave my legs? Yes, please.
3. Midi skirts. This length is so ladylike (see Trend 1) and glamorous. Midi skirts are also timeless. They feel something both my mother and grandmother would have worn in their youth. I have an early 80s-ish one now, and I love it.
4. Wide leg pants. Way more comfortable and universally flattering than skinnies, and I caught on to this one early, so I actually already have a pair.
5. Bright colors. Take a look at my pictures, y'all. See that tan? That's right, you don't. We fair-skinned folks have suffered through the Year of the Neutral, trying to pull off beige-on-white and looking like a bowl of oatmeal every time. Bright colors are where it's at for the pigmentally challenged. They catch the tiny bit of color that our skin manages to produce and amplify it so we look less like the Cullens and more like people who go outside occasionally and don't even know who the Cullens are.

Casual, Cousin, and Categorization

Academia: Nothing academic happened today, because I'm at the beach! We had quite a lightning storm last night, which knocked out power for about four hours, and today is still overcast and stormy. But the beach is the beach, and I'm happy to be here.

Sartorial: I'm pretty low-key at the beach fashion-wise, so you're seeing my first makeup-free (and shoe-free) blog entry today. Now you can see my TOMS tan on my feet too. We all walked down to the beach this morning, where my dad snapped these pictures. I also want to take a minute to introduce you to a special guest on Academia Sartorial, my cousin Wil:

Wil is going into ninth grade, and is representing an entirely new fashion dynamic on Academia Sartorial: teenage boy athletic style. I don't know many teenage boys, so this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Wil has informed me that his necklace is actually called a phiten and is supposed to enhance athletic performance through magic titanium molecules or something. I don't know. I duck whenever sports equipment of any kind comes my way.

Finally, some Friend Friday questions! This week's questions are about labeling, something I hadn't given much thought to until now.

1. As someone who writes/blogs about fashion, have you placed yourself into some sort of blogging category? I would call myself a personal style blogger generally, and an academic style blogger in particular.

2. What keeps you from or encourages you to label yourself as a certain kind of blogger? I always enjoy blogs that have a specific focus the most, so I try to maintain that in my own blog. For me, giving myself the label of "academic style blogger" helps me focus my writing, which I think makes it better. I have a clearer idea of what parts of my life to include in what I write, as well as what outfits to post. Blogging about my style and my job allows me to take the weekends off from blogging pretty easily as well, since I don't do academic work on Saturday or Sunday generally.

3. When picking blogs to read or follow are you drawn to ones that indicate a certain group or way of thinking/being? Not always. I like reading other academic style blogs, because I'm interested in how other women in academia navigate what can be a very anti-fashion field, but I don't read those blogs exclusively. I tend to like personal style blogs the best, because I find personal style choices much more fascinating that what the fashion industry puts out. But other than that, I'm drawn to clever writing, good pictures, and an attractive layout.

4. Do you think there are benefits in labeling yourself or others? Yes. Like I said earlier, labeling myself helps me as a writer. And it certainly helps me in getting a quick and general idea of what other bloggers are about. I've found that good blogging transcends labels, so I'm not likely to bypass reading a well-written blog just because their self-label isn't something I normally read.

5. Agree or disagree - we're all just people; we don't need all the labels. I agree, especially when it comes to life in general, not just fashion blogs. Like I said, good writing and photography will shine through no matter the label. Labels are useful to me in my own blogging, but when it comes to others, I like what I like, labels or not.

Dresser's Block and Friend Friday

Jeans, Brian's Etsy shop

Academia: After work, Cary and I went to the AT&T store and he got an iPhone 4, which we used to take these super-high def pictures on campus this evening. Brian was with us, and it was fun to pose in a pretty location with what felt like my personal team of photographers. Maybe this will inspire me to venture out into the world more often, which I'm sure will be a relief to y'all - you must be starting to feel like you've been trapped in my backyard forever!

Sartorial: Y'all ever have a day where you're just plain out of creativity? Today is that day for me. Can we call it dresser's block? Inventing a catchphrase like "dresser's block" would be really exciting for me. I know you've seen these jeans with pretty much every t-shirt I own, but I just wasn't feeling any of my dresses or skirts today and I didn't have time to iron my other pants. So I put this on and added a fancy necklace in the hope that you would be distracted. Did it work? No? Ummm... oh look, Friend Friday questions!

1. How often do you get your hair cut? Even though I'm growing it out right now, I still go every five weeks or so. Short hair can get ugly real fast when it's in an in-between stage, so I regularly check in with the salon to keep it maintained. Once it's the length I want (a little above shoulder-length), I'll probably go every 2-3 months to keep it the right length and looking healthy.
2. Do you go to the same stylist each time, try someone new, go to the cheap hair cutting chains, or live it up in a salon? I go to the same stylist each time, and she works in a salon. She charges $20 for a shampoo, cut, and blow dry, which I think it pretty reasonable, considering the peace of mind I get from never having to worry that she's going to wreck my hair.
3. Do you color your hair? How often? What's your natural color? This is my natural color. I've never colored my hair, except with Sun-In at the beach once or twice. Coloring seems like an expensive regimen (if it's done well) that's hard to quit once you start, and I like my natural color anyway. I'm not anti-coloring, it's just not for me.
4. The one thing you always do to keep your hair looking great is: Wash every day with volumizing shampoo and conditioner, and blow dry with a round brush. I have super-fine hair that looks greasy after 24 hours of not washing, so washing every day is a must. And if I don't blow it dry, it just hangs there, looking flat, so I blow dry upside down for a minute, then stand back up and use the brush to help dry from the roots and turn the ends under.
5. What hair trend do you love and wish you could rock? I've had short hair since high school, and I really miss being able to put it up. I'm anxiously awaiting the day when it's long enough to put in the milkmaid braids or bun that every fashion blogger seems to wear so well!

A portrait of the artist. This is Brian, whose jewelry I wear pretty much every day.

Friend Friday: Y-O-U-R Means "Your"

T-shirt, Jeans, Earrings

It's Friday again, which means another set of Friend Friday questions. Let me quickly go through the Academia/Sartorial sections, and then we'll get straight to the good stuff: talking about blogging pet peeves.

Academia: Today is going to be a short day at work and a long day in the car for me. Cary and I are heading three hours south to the wedding of a young woman who was my junior counselor when I was a camp counselor in college. We're pretty excited because we met and got married at that summer camp, and the wedding tomorrow is in the next town over. We're going to spend the night at the hotel where we had our reception (and where, Cary points out, we've never actually stayed together, unless you count separate rooms on opposite ends of the hotel the night before our wedding as "together"), and we're going to see lots of camp friends. I'll post outfit pictures on Sunday.

Sartorial: Still not tired of the jeans. Glad to know y'all aren't either. I really like them with this t-shirt. I feel like the grown-up version of the cast of ET. I almost wore my Chucks just to drive the early-80s point home, but sandals are easier to take off in the car.

On to the questions! Or rather, the list of my blogging pet peeves. Honestly, I don't have that many. But here are the ones I do have, in no particular order:

1. Misspellings and bad grammar/punctuation. I know that blogs are informal and that everyone, including me, falls victim to typos every now and then. But habitual errors bother me. I'ma let my buddy Ross Geller break it down for you. Seriously, "I'ma?" "Break it down?" Who am I?
2. A billion pictures of other people's outfits, none of your own. This is really just a personal preference, but I can go to the mall and look at what designers and retailers have put together. What I want to see is what you put together, because you are a lot more interesting.
3. Music. I like music. But I don't like having to turn your music off when I visit your blog, especially when I'm surreptitiously looking at blogs at work. A sudden blast of "I Hope You Dance" makes people stop and look in my office to see what's going on. And then I have to pretend I'm writing an important email. So please, no music.
4. Everything you're wearing costs more than $100, and it was all free because you're a super-awesome, super-successful blogger. I'm just jealous and wish I had free clothes. It's not your fault. Keep doing your thing, and I'll try to be a grown-up about it.
5. Buttons out the wazoo. Buttons are fun. But when it's hard to find other features of your blog because there are so many buttons, you start to look like the internet equivalent of a college girl who only ever wears the t-shirts from her sorority's latest party or weekend away. Those shirts are fine in moderation, as are buttons. But with too many of either, it seems like you're really desperate for people to know you participate in stuff. This has to do with the organization of your homepage as well. If you have a lot of buttons but keep them all in one place and it's easy for me to see other features, I don't even notice that they're there.

So there you have it. And let me disclaim: if I've ever commented on your blog, you don't do these things and I'm not talking about you. All y'all are fabulous.

Fashion Beauty Friend Sunday

I forgot to answer the Friend Friday questions on Friday, and didn't want to post them without including a picture of some kind. So here I give you a spinning picture. It's not even from Friday, and I look like a goober. I'm not sure how other bloggers manage to pull spinning pictures off gracefully.

1. What magazines do you subscribe to? I subscribe to Southern Living, which has nothing to do with fashion, and everything to do with my not-so-secret desire to be a combination of Scarlett O'Hara, Paula Deen, Scout Finch, both of my grandmothers, and Queen Elizabeth (who isn't Southern, but is gracious enough to qualify). Cary subscribes to Mental Floss, which I love to borrow from him. I honestly don't like fashion magazines very much - they're all ads and everything feels so inaccessible.

2. Do you watch any fashion TV shows? I love Project Runway. Cary and I get together with my sister and brother-in-law and another couple on Thursday nights to eat dinner and watch it together (we DVR). I really need Tim Gunn to follow me around giving advice like, "Emily, this worries me," or "Make it work!" I also love What Not to Wear. I think I could be BFFs with Clinton and Stacy. Clinton and Stacy, if you're reading this, I promise I'm not crazy, just a big fan. And I love/cringe at Fashion Police. I laugh while praying that I never meet Joan Rivers, and if I do, that it's on the best-dressed day of my entire life. Girlfriend is a little scary.

3. Beyond blogs, what websites do you frequent for fashion inspiration? Hmm. Like I said in Question 1, I'm a little turned off by the big fashion magazines, so I avoid their websites. There's just so much high-concept stuff that looks ridiculous and is basically unwearable by most women, and I don't like feeling like I'm supposed to applaud and rush out to buy whatever is put forth. Maybe I'm unsophisticated. I don't know. I do like looking at online shops like ModCloth for inspiration, but that's about it.

4. Advertisements play a huge role in forming public opinion about a product or brand... what ads do you like and why? Since I don't buy fashion magazines and I now have a TiVo so I can skip commercials (hooray!), I'm not exposed to as many ads anymore, but I really liked Dove's campaign a few years ago about embracing real beauty. They had women of all colors, shapes, and sizes in their ads. I bought a lot of Dove products for a while there, until I had to scale back my budget and start buying store brand stuff.

5. Do you own any fashion books? No, but I sort of did for a minute. I bought my friend Adrienne Clinton Kelly's book Oh No She Didn't for her birthday and read the whole thing before giving it to her. It was hilarious and I would recommend it to anyone. I almost kept it and just gave Adrienne a card, but then I remembered that I'm an awesome friend and handed it over. Actually, I remembered that Adrienne is an awesome friend, felt bad for being selfish, and handed it over.

So, what have I learned from answering these questions? That I really don't like fashion magazines, for one. Is that okay for a style blogger to say? I'm kind of waiting for lightning to strike me. Or for Tim Gunn to turn up saying, "Emily, this worries me." Which would honestly be fantastic, so maybe I should say it again: I don't like fashion magazines!

Nothing, Tim Gunn? I'm still waiting. Feel free to intervene any time.

Graduation, Inspiration

Brian's Etsy shop (Happy birthday, Brian!)

The end of the semester at any university is a time full of pomp and circumstance. Commencements happen left and right at my giant state university, and everyone always knows someone graduating (in my case, it's my brother-in-law Mike, from pharmacy school. Congrats, Dr. Mike!). The program in which I work is a transitional program for international students to improve their English before continuing their education elsewhere, so no one ever really graduates. As a result, we have a commencement ceremony at the end of every semester and recognize everyone, whether they're returning or not.

Commencement was this morning and since I'm one of the hand-shakers, I wanted to look nice. I normally wear flowery dresses and skirts to spring commencement, but today I switched it up a little. I borrowed liberally from Jessica at Monster Cakes, who wore something very similar yesterday and looked adorable. I added some new nude heels, a trend that I was reluctant to embrace at first, but am seeing the benefits of now. Hello, longer-appearing legs!

And now, some Friend Friday inspirational questions for this inspirational commencement day:

1. What celebrity/celebrities do you look to for fashion inspiration? I tend to draw more inspiration from real life people and other bloggers, but my favorite sartorial celebrity is Audrey Hepburn. Everything she wore was timeless and figure-flattering. I like to wear feminine, simple clothes like hers.

2. When it comes to your own personal style, what inspires you? Reading other blogs really inspires me. Since joining the blogging community, I've taken a lot more fashion risks (for me) because I can watch others try them out first. I also grew up with a very fashionable mother and grandmother; in fact, my grandmother was a model in the '40s. They both taught by example that caring about style isn't shallow or silly, but an important part of taking care of and expressing yourself.

3. How do you hope to inspire your readers? I hope to show my readers what I just described learning from my mother and grandmother. Too often in academia, fashion is associated with shallowness. Serious academic women wear serious academic clothes, and style is left to the sororities. I just don't think that has to be true. I have a master's degree and I work in a highly accredited program at a highly accredited university; if I can wear cute clothes, everyone can.

4. Outside the realm of fashion, who/what inspires you? Well, my husband inspires me. He's intelligent and passionate about his field of work (and really, life in general), and fearless about trying new things. I tend to be more cautious, so his willingness to give anything a try inspires me to do the same. I've already described how my mom inspires me, but my dad does too. He is a real renaissance man - an engineer who writes music and take pictures and reads Dostoevsky, and a great example of pursuing a life of many interests. Finally, my students inspire me. The courage it takes to move to a new country is immense, and they all adapt with enthusiasm and an open-minded approach to their host culture. I want to be equally brave and flexible when I travel.

5. And since Idol is ending, what songs inspire you? I've always been inspired by the Beatles - I've listened to them so much, I feel like they're old friends. (If you're reading this, Sir Paul McCartney, I think we could be friends in real life. Please?) I'd say "Blackbird" is their most inspiring song for me. Blackbird singing in the dead of night/Take these broken wings and learn to fly/All your life, you were only waiting for this moment to arise. How could you not be inspired by that?

This Is the Solution on Friend Friday

Blouse

It's Casual Friday (or for me, Even More Casual Than Normal Friday), so I decided to put the Power of the Blazer to the test and see how much it could dress up light-wash jeans and Converse All-Stars. I wasn't sure it was working, and then I had this conversation with a Middle Eastern male student about my age (name changed):

Abdullah: Emily, I have question. Maybe it's stupid, but I want to ask.
Me (anticipating serious grammar question): Sure.
Abdullah: Every day I want to look nice. Then I am late to school because I can't decide which clothes.
Me: Ooookaaaay...
Abdullah: And then I think, Emily always look nice. So how you do this every day and not late to work?
Me (quickly shifting gears from grammar): Decide what to wear the night before. Then you won't be late.
Abdullah: Okay. I decide before one night. This is the solution.
Me: Yes. This is the solution.

So, big shout-out to Abdullah for affirming my fashion choices today, and here's hoping he won't be late to class on Monday.

Now for some Friend Friday questions about gratitude:


1. When it comes to me personally, I owe a lot of who I am to: My parents and my husband. Obviously, my beliefs, my faith, my outlook on life, and many of my interests have to do with who raised me. I'm very blessed to have parents who are emotionally and spiritually healthy people, and who have encouraged me to be and independent and healthy person myself. I owe a lot of loosening up to my husband. When we met, I was pretty tightly wound, and while I'm still not the most relaxed person on earth, I'm much better at laughing instead of crying at what life brings me now because he is good at it too.


2. When it comes to me professionally, I owe a lot of who I am to: My 4th-6th grade teacher, Mr. Mason. I loved to read when I came into his class, but when I left, I had a huge appetite for language and literature. We did everything from diagramming sentences (the beginning of my love of grammar) to performing abridged Shakespeare plays (I was Ophelia in my 5th grade production of Hamlet). I also got to see what a teacher who is truly talented and passionate about teaching looks like. I give a lot of credit for my being an English teacher today to Mr. Mason.


3. When it comes to the art of blogging, I'm grateful to these people for helping me through some rough spots: Well, I haven't been blogging that long, so I haven't had many rough spots. I am grateful to my husband for getting excited about my blog. He reads it every day and always has comments about what I'm wearing or what I wrote, so I can never say, "No one is reading this!" He's an awesome advertising force too - when the women he works with talk about fashion, he says, "Well, my wife has a fashion blog, and here's what she wore. You should check it out!" I'm also grateful to Brian Moody for lending me jewelry to wear because I feel like a "real" blogger with a sponsor, even though no money was exchanged and I might end up stealing some of the jewelry.


4. One blogging challenge I'm grateful happened because it made me stronger was: All of the EBEW challenges I've participated in, for pushing outside of my sartorial comfort zone and making me like clothes I had given up on.


5. To my readers, I'd like to say: You are few, but mighty. Interacting with y'all is so much fun, and I really appreciate the feedback you give me. I find a lot of inspiration in your own blogs. Please keep reading (and tell your friends)!

Welcome Back, Trouser Jeans, and Friend Friday

T-shirt: Target
Trouser jeans: LOFT
Shoes: Rack Room
Scarf as belt and necklace: Inherited from grandmother
Earrings: Gift from parents


So first, the news: I have been eating healthy and going to the gym in order to fit back into these pants, and now I do! Yay! I celebrated by wearing them with one of my favorite t-shirts, and in one of my favorite color combingations: red, white, black and denim. And I felt great in this all day, which is my main litmus test of a good outfit.


And now, the reflection. I have been aware of, but haven't participated in, Modly Chic's Friend Friday questions before now, but I thought today's questions about feminism and fashion were really thought-provoking and wanted to join in. Feminism and academia are linked in a lot of ways, and I think the idea of feminism has taken on an ugly meaning with some people. The word conjures up images of women who hate men and want to see them brought low. In academia, those images are of women who are devoted to the study of hating men and bringing them low.


I am, and always have been, a big fan of men. I've been blessed to be surrounded by good men who respect women my whole life - first my father, now my husband - so I've never felt abused or oppressed by men. I recognize that not all men are like that though, and that some societies systematically abuse and oppress women. I consider myself a feminist because I believe men and women were created equal by God and deserve the same opportunities and respect.

1. Do you think there is an incompatibility between feminism and a love for fashion? No. To me, the end goal of feminism, is for women to be able to choose what they want and be given the same respect as men would be given for those choices, for better or for worse. Those choices include fashion. If a woman wants to dress like Audrey Hepburn or k.d. lang or Lady Gaga or Cinderella, or if she wants to cover her hair or dye it purple or shave it off, that's her choice.
2. There is more to each of than a love for fashion, how do you incorporate every aspect of yourself into your blog? What I decide to wear is affected by the rest of my life, so I talk about the rest of my life. I talk about my family, my career, my interests, and how I spend my free time. That stuff is my life. What I wear is a creative outlet.
3. With the fashion industry still being a male-dominated profession, how do you think it would differ if women played a larger role? I think more clothing would be suited for the average woman's body, and it would probably be more comfortable. Women are uniquely able to know what other women need from their clothes, in terms of both figure-flattery and comfort.
4. How is your self-image and the way you carry yourself informed by your beliefs? I'm a Christian, and I believe God loves me. I've believed that since I was little, which has given me a lot of self-respect. When you think the same Person who made the stars cares about you, you tend to like yourself more. I haven't always loved my body, my hair, or my skin (hello, adolescence), but knowing that I was created the way I am intentionally has helped me maintain an overall positive view of myself. That doesn't, on the surface, appear to have anything to do with feminism, but I believe it actually does. I respect myself, as a woman, because God values me as a woman. If he chose for me to be female, why should I feel any less than a man?
5. Do you think clothing/makeup/hair helps communicate the truth about yourself or are those things superfluous add-ons? I see my wardrobe as a way to express myself creatively, so I guess in that sense, I use it to communicate the truth about myself. I don't see my clothing/makeup/hair as superfluous, but rather as a means to let the way I see myself on the inside show through on the outside.

In the end, for me, being a woman is part of who I am, and liking clothes is part of who I am, and wanting other women to have choices and opportunities is part of who I am. I don't see any conflict between all those parts of me. And if feminism has achieved the goals for which I believe it exists, I don't think there should be.