What I wore this week

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The transition to warm clothes is happening! A rant about clothing fit. The power of dyeing clothes. And some exciting academic news.

Hello internet it is me back with some outfits. I want to start by saying that I’ve been frustrated by clothes lately. I can’t really tell what kicked this off but this year has made me aware and appreciative of clothes that feel good and fit and, well, most of my clothes just don’t fit well. I know, they probably look fine from out there on the internet but there are still so many items that I cannot find in tall sizes and I’ve come to the realization that…maybe all my clothes need to actually be in tall sizes.

Take shirts. There are definitely pants with long inseams now but tall shirts? I get a fair amount of Instagram comments that say “I love that you rolled the sleeves on that!” and they make me laugh because my sleeves are always rolled because otherwise you could see that they are never long enough. And lately I’ve just been like…why? Why do I buy these things that will always feel too short on me? Why am I compromising? But also, why are retailers still pretending that the only thing that needs to be made in longer sizes is pants?

I know this is a silly problem in the grand scheme of many other big and heavy problems (and clothing sizes are a much more significant problem for people shopping for plus sizes), but when I put on clothes that fit I feel better. Confident. Protected, even. There are so few tall size shirts, let alone from companies that are considering ethics (J. Crew and Banana Republic seem to be my only lead, tall friends!). I’m thinking it’s time to pivot in this category to buying fewer things (even if they’re from a fast fashion retailer) and being sure they fit me really well.

Anyway, this went on for longer than I intended it to, but here’s a shirt in an actual tall size that I was happy to wear this week. Plus one of those trendy beach bags that I got from a bachelorette party and am committed to rocking this summer 🙂

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Another clothing adventure this week was that I dyed this Brass top fuschia. The blush color wasn’t superb on me but I loved the fabric, and then the top got a stain from self-tanner and I embraced the opportunity. Now I have 3/4 of a bottle of fuschia rit dye and am FEELING THE POWER. What should I dye next?

I also dyed a couple of pairs of jeans and tops black that were already black but were starting to fade. I was pleasantly surprised by what a refresh this was and it only took about an hour!

This is just me trying to lighten up my outfits for spring. Picking all white instead of all black is still a new thing for me.

I got to go to a patio happy hour last week so I picked an item that needed some love according to Style Book, this black jumpsuit (thrifted). I didn’t mean to Rosie the Riveter it but on my way to tying this bandana around my neck I tried it as a headband and experienced the joy of getting my hair out of my face. There was no going back.

Clearly once I wear black and red one day I am thoroughly influenced to keep it up the rest of the week.

And finally, here is my face (and the main reason I am out of words to describe outfits) on the day I finished my book!!!

I have been steadily writing a book based on my dissertation since last May and it is finally done 🙂 I remain deeply superstitious that the publisher will read it and, despite the contract, tell me it’s garbage and they’re not printing it (thanks impostor syndrome) which is why I haven’t mentioned it until now. But I’m probably going to have to get more comfortable talking about it and promoting it (blehhh) so yeah. If you have academic publishing questions let me know and I’ll do my best to answer!

Last and best: here’s an outfit that has nothing to do with work and the best part of my week every week!